Microsoft Outlook 2013 is the most recent version of Microsoft Outlook – a component of Microsoft Office suite 2013 for Windows platform. In fact, Microsoft Outlook is the most preferred email client amongst the Windows users across the globe. This version of Outlook is fully compatible with the latest editions of Windows platforms, i.e. Windows 8 and Windows 8.1. However, users do face Outlook 2013 compatibility issues with both of these editions.

Windows 8 and 8.1 Compatibility with Outlook 2013

Microsoft released Windows 8 as successor to Windows 7, which is mainly targeted at touch-screen based devices, such as Tablet PCs, Smart phones, and the like. In fact, the debut release of Windows 8 was built-in with Microsoft's Surface Tablet, which also introduced Office 2013 suite to the users worldwide. Thus, you should not have a doubt about the compatibility of Office 2013 or any of its components, including Outlook 2013, with Windows 8 .

Windows 8.1 emerged as a fix for the issues that Windows 8 users encountered and reported to the manufacturer through forums or a like medium. In other words, Windows 8.1 was not a major release of Microsoft's Windows operating systems, but it was released as a free update to fix the errors, issues, or users' dislikes for Windows 8 Start Screen and security issues. Well, even this Windows update is fully compatible with Office 2013 and all its components, including Outlook 2013.

In case you are doubtful over whether or not your Outlook version compatible with Windows 8 or 8.1, or you are facing compatibility issues, see how to create a profile in Outlook 2013 in the below section.

Create Outlook 2013 Profile

Creating a profile in Microsoft Outlook is not a problem; however, you may not be able to configure an email profile correctly, in case you lack in the required knowledge. Consequently, you fail to send/receive the email messages. To create your email profile in Outlook 2013 on Windows 8, go on with the following steps:

1. With Microsoft Office Outlook 2013 installed on your PC, go to the Control Panel. Make sure Outlook is not running in the mean time.
2. In the list of items shown in the Control Panel, locate the Mail and double-click it.

Note: If you fail to locate Mail in Control Panel, use the search box to locate it. Simply type in Mail in the search box to locate it. Remember, if Outlook is not installed on your PC, no Mail option will be there in Control Panel.

On the Mail Setup dialog box, you see the name of the profile that is configured currently. You can click the Show Profiles option to choose another existing profile. Highlight the name of the profile, and then choose Properties from the context menu.

1. Click the Show Profiles option, and then click Add.
2. Type in a name for the new profile and click OK button.

In case you have already created an Outlook 2013 profile and it fails to download your emails and other stuff from the server, you can edit that MS Outlook profile and make the required corrections in its settings.

Edit Outlook 2013 Profile

This particular section of the post will discuss how you can make edits in the settings of your MS Outlook 2013 profile, in case it fails to download the emails and other stuff from the server. Below mentioned are the steps that you need to follow:

1. With Microsoft Office Outlook 2013 installed, but not running, open Control Panel on your PC.
2. Locate Mail or type Mail in the search box, in case you failed to locate it.
3. Do the edit(s) out of the following:

◦     Click 'E-mail Accounts' to create another email account.

◦     Click 'Data Files' to edit Outlook data storage options.

◦     Click 'Show Profiles' to view all existing profiles as a list.

In case you have more than one email accounts configured on Outlook 2013, you can use any of them whenever required.

Switching Between Profiles in Outlook 2013

Microsoft Outlook 2013 does not allow you to switch between multiple profiles as long as the client is running. However, you can set Outlook to allow you to choose between available profiles when you open it. See how you can do it in Microsoft Outlook 2013:

1. With Outlook client exited, open Control Panel on your PC.
2. Locate Mail amongst the items and double-click it.
3. On the Mail Setup dialog box, click Show Profiles option.
4. Below the 'When starting Microsoft Outlook, use this profile', choose the require option:

◦     Prompt for a profile to be used

◦     Always use this profile

1. Click OK to save the new settings.

With these settings saved, Outlook will prompt you to choose one profile out the available ones. On the dialog box that appears, select the profile that you want to open.

Now, I guess I have made it clear that Microsoft Outlook 2013 is compatible with both Windows 8 and Windows 8.1. You can create, edit, and set Outlook to allow you to choose one profile in multi- profile environment. In case you still have issues and Outlook fails to download emails and other stuff from the server, you may contact your ISP (Internet Service Provider) or contact Microsoft experts regarding the issues along with the error message appeared.