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.

  1. Select Start, and then select Run.

  2. In the Open dialog box, enter regedit, and then select OK.

  3. 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\Preferences

  4. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then select Binary Value.

  5. Enter ABHiddenColumns, and then press Enter.

  6. In the right pane, right-click ABHiddenColumns, and then select Modify.

  7. In the Value data box, type a value according to the rules and guidelines in the next section (ABHiddenColumns values), and then select OK.

  8. Exit Registry Editor.

ABHiddenColumns values

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

More information

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.

Microsoft scanned this file for viruses. Microsoft used the most current virus-detection software that was available on the date that the file was posted. The file is stored on security-enhanced servers that help prevent any unauthorized changes to the file.

For more information about how to download Microsoft support files, see How to obtain Microsoft support files from online services.