In theory it should be OK to have the PST in a common network location, as long as you don't try to access it from both machines at the same time. It is strictly a single user application file. You will need to copy the file to the common location then one PC at a time, open the file from Outlook, set it as the default data source and then close the original. Close Outlook and any application accessing Outlook and then repeat for the other PC.



With laptops particularly, you may hibernate/sleep with Outlook running. That will cause a problem when the laptop is next started if accessed on the other OC in the interim, so ensure that you always shut down Outlook completely before hibernating the laptop.

Make sure that you always have a good backup of the PST in case you screw it up.

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Graham Mayor - MS MVP (Word) (2002-2019)
Visit my web site for more programming tips and ready made processes www.gmayor.com

Thank you, gmayor, the backup is a must, yes, I have a lot of stuff going through there that I don't want to jeopardise ... I'm going to have to figure out how best to do this then, so I don't have Outlook open on both machines at the same time

It's a good starting point though, so thanks again

EDIT ...

Do you think (or know) if I would be able to invoke a VBA program on Outlook startup that would check if Outlook was already running on my other machine (I will only ever be doing this from the Laptop or the Desktop, so the check would be on the other machine presumably via the Home Network, this isn't something that needs future proofing or expansion ...) and Exit it if so ? It's something I think I will look into, so if there's anything you know that will help with that, or inhibit the possibilities (i.e. if it's not possible !!!) then please let me know, thanks ...