How to hide columns in the Address Book in Outlook
You can hide one or more columns in the Address Book in Microsoft Outlook by using the ABHiddenColumns registry key. To do this, add the ABHiddenColumns registry key, and then set the appropriate value for it.
Original KB number: 970144
Important
This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, see How to back up and restore the registry in Windows.
Select Start, and then select Run.
In the Open dialog box, enter regedit, and then select OK.
In Registry Editor, locate and then select the following registry subkey:
For Outlook 2019 and Outlook 2016:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Preferences
For Outlook 2013:HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Outlook\Preferences
For Outlook 2010:HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Outlook\PreferencesOn the Edit menu, point to New, and then select Binary Value.
Enter ABHiddenColumns, and then press Enter.
In the right pane, right-click ABHiddenColumns, and then select Modify.
In the Value data box, type a value according to the rules and guidelines in the next section (ABHiddenColumns values), and then select OK.
Exit Registry Editor.
To hide one or more columns, select one or more values from the following table, and then combine these values with the following number:
0# 00 00 00
For example, to hide the Business Phone, Location, and Alias columns, use the following value for the ABHiddenColumns registry key:
03 00 00 00 1f 00 08 3a 1f 00 19 3a 1f 00 00 3a
Note
- The number sign (#) placeholder is an integer between 1 and 6 that equals the number of columns that you want to hide.
- The Name column in the Address Book cannot be hidden.
| Column | ABHiddenColumns value |
|---|---|
| Title | 1f 00 17 3a |
| Business Phone | 1f 00 08 3a |
| Location | 1f 00 19 3a |
| Email Address | 1f 00 fe 39 |
| Company | 1f 00 16 3a |
| Alias | 1f 00 00 3a |
| Department | 1f 00 18 3a |
The ABHiddenColumns registry key lets you hide these columns in the Address Book only. After you hide these columns in the Address Book, they are is still available in the Properties dialog box. The Properties dialog box is displayed when you double-click a user entry in the Address Book.
To hide these columns in the Properties dialog box, modify the details template in the Exchange System Manager. For more information about the details template, see How to Add, Edit, Change and Revert Address and Details Templates.
The following table lists some special field mappings between the Address Book and the Properties dialog box in which the field names differ.
| Address Book | Properties |
|---|---|
| Business Phone | Phone |
| Location | Office |
The ABHiddenColumns values for columns that can be hidden are determined by using the Property ID value and the Data Type value for the following properties.
| Properties | Property ID and Data type |
|---|---|
| Title | 2.1115 PidTagTitle Canonical name: PidTagTitle Property ID : 0x3A17 Data type : PtypString, 0x001F |
| Business phone | 2.672 PidTagBusinessTelephoneNumber Canonical name: PidTagBusinessTelephoneNumber Property ID : 0x3A08 Data type : PtypString, 0x001F |
| Location | 2.874 PidTagOfficeLocation Canonical name: PidTagOfficeLocation Property ID : 0x3A19 Data type : PtypString, 0x001F |
| Email Address | 2.934 PidTagPrimarySmtpAddress Canonical name: PidTagPrimarySmtpAddress Property ID : 0x39FE Data type : PtypString, 0x001F |
| Company | 2.689 PidTagCompanyName Canonical name: PidTagCompanyName Property ID : 0x3A16 Data type : PtypString, 0x001F |
| Alias | 2.570 PidTagAccount Canonical name: PidTagAccount Property ID : 0x3A00 Data type : PtypString, 0x001F |
| Department | 2.663 PidTagDepartmentName Canonical name: PidTagDepartmentName Property ID : 0x3A18 Data type : PtypString, 0x001F |
These properties are described in the [MS-OXPROPS]: Exchange Server Protocols Master Property List document that is available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:
Download the [MS-OXPROPS] package now.
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