I had a couple of questions this week from users who hate the contact cards in Outlook, especially when they are trying to save a new contact. They want to use the familiar Outlook contact form, not the contact card, when they use the Add to Outlook Contacts command.
While you can't turn the contact cards off completely, you can force Outlook to use the contact form when you turn on the Legacy GAL dialog. In addition to using the contact form when adding new contacts from an email address, you'll get the older Properties dialog when you view address properties instead of the contact card, such as when you need to see if Send using Rich Text Formatting is enabled for an address. If you've ever double clicked on an address in contacts and were frustrated when the new contacts card came up, you'll want to use the legacy gal dialog. You'll also need to use the legacy GAL if you want to add digital certificates to existing contacts.
Normally, when you right click and choose Add to Outlook Contacts, the new Contact Card opens (shown in the screenshot below) with the name and address field filled in. When the Legacy GAL key is set, that same command opens an Outlook Contact form.
In Outlook 2013 (and 2016), the default behavior when you double click on an address in a message or contact is a contact card opens. When the Legacy GAL key is enabled, the address properties dialog (or the contact for the person) opens.
Another useful registry edit turns off hover card - this is the mini-contact card that pops up when a mouse hovers over an address (shown in the first screenshot). With hover functionality turned off the mini-card only comes up when you click or right click on an email address in Contacts or in the message header. It won't come up when the mouse slides over the address.
Outlook 2016 and newer (all Office 16.0 versions)
DWORD: TurnOnLegacyGALDialog
Value: 1 (enable)DWORD: TurnOffHoverFunctionality
Value: 1 (turn off)
Outlook 2013
DWORD: TurnOnLegacyGALDialog
Value: 1 (enable)DWORD: TurnOffHoverFunctionality
Value: 1 (turn off)
Administrators can set these values in Group Policy. These policies are under Office 2013, not Outlook, under Contact Card.
Although Outlook 2010 doesn't use the Contact cards in the same way Outlook 2013 does, you can turn off the hover cards and use the legacy gal dialog in it.
DWORD: TurnOnLegacyGALDialog
Value: 1 (enable)DWORD: TurnOffHoverFunctionality
Value: 1 (turn off)
Do it for me
I have ready-to-use registry files to turn off the hover card and turn on the legacy GAL dialog at Using Outlook's New Contact Cards
To use, right click and save the .reg file then double click to run it. You'll need to Ok several dialogs to add it to your registry. You'll need to restart Outlook.
Turn Off Hovercard & Use LegacyGAL:
Outlook 2016 and newer (all Office 16.0 versions) Outlook 2013 Outlook 2010
Policies key to Turn Off Hovercard & Use LegacyGAL:
Outlook 2016 and newer (all Office 16.0 versions) Outlook 2013 Outlook 2010
This short video shows the address property dialogs that are affected when the TurnOnLegacyGALDialog value is enabled.
Alex says
Thank you for this but it does not work in the Outlook (New) version.
I changed computers and now the following registry path do not work.
Neither in
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\common\
nor in
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Contact
nor in
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\16.0\common\
Using Outlook (new) 1.2024.1216.300
Any idea?
Thank you
Alex
Diane Poremsky says
Correct, these instructions are only for c;assic outlook. New Outlook does not support editing it;s registry.
Ghassan says
Thank you very much, I have been struggling for 3 days unable to sort out this problem, I dounloded your program and all is fine, thanks again
Kiff says
I'm using Microsoft® Outlook® 2021 MSO (Version 2307 Build 16.0.16626.20086) 64-bit and the issue is till present
Laurel says
Diane, thank you for this and and your other Contacts article https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/people/turn-contact-cards/!
The contact auto-popup in Outlook 365 was driving me nuts.
Your articles are from 2021, but I don't recall the issue being so incredibly annoying then. For me the really intrusive 'feature' turned up early in 2023 in a recent Office 365 auto-update. With the help of your other article I found that it's now controlled via software policy, so I had to add the relevant registry value to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\16.0\common\
rather than
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\common\
Marlin says
Oh thanks God I found this. Never understood why anyone thought those crappy contact cards were a good idea. I could always get to the old style, but had to click around each time as I could not remember how to get them to open. What a lifesaver.
Niek says
Hello,
How does this work in Office 2021?
Diane Poremsky says
Yes, it does. Use the same key as in Outlook 2016. It works exactly the same as it does in the other versions.
Pascal says
Hello, Six months after latest post would anyone have an update? Here I have version 2017, build 14228.20250, click to run, French language. The silly contact cards are still showing up first instead of the Legacy GAL where one can directly edit. Best regards,
Diane Poremsky says
The bug that affected this was fixed.
Do you have TurnOnLegacyGALDialog and TurnOffHoverFunctionality set? That should bring up the legacy gal when you click and not show the cards on hover.
Pascal says
Hello Diane, I'm so sorry. Yes, both values values were set to 1 and the Add to Outlook Contacts bug is fixed. However in the past, I believe that these values also allowed me to display full Outlook Contact when selecting a contact after looking up for contacts in the mail welcome menu bar. Now the display is contact card. Is this issue another topic somewhere?
Martin says
Version 2011 (Build 13426.20332) MS365
YES - They broke something!
Diane Poremsky says
Yes, they did. I'm waiting to here from support if it was intentional or a bug.
Martin says
Pls share the Answer :-)
Diane Poremsky says
I will. Not sure how long it will take - many of my contacts are on holiday. :(
Edward Foy says
Any update on a fix for this?
Diane Poremsky says
Nothing definite yet on whether it was intentional or accidental. They do want everyone using the contact cards, so its possible it was intentional and will not be reversed. But that is just conjecture at this point.
Edward Foy says
I'm not even getting the contact card. It's pulling the info into this useless format, doesn't even let me click to dial number or send email.
And has the option to "add contact" which is odd, since it pulled the info from the already added contact...
Edward Foy says
searches aren't even pulling contact at all, notice "Add to Contacts" which is odd, given the fact that it is pulling all of the contact info.
Andy says
I have the exact same problem - this DWORD contactcard fix has worked for me for years on multiple machines. Then seemed to stop working as/when I upgraded each machine to Win 10 version 20H2 (which might have had an Office/Outlook update associated with it too, I'm not sure).
I'm on Windows 10 version 20H2 (Build 19042.685), running MS Office 365 with Outlook version 2011 (Build 13426.20404 Click-to-Run)
Diane Poremsky says
Per Gabe in support"
"The fix to get the registry key back working is in build 13801.10001. This build is expected to go out to Current Channel ~3/1/21.
The fix was just checked in so it should be in Current Channel Preview in the next update. The fix is in Beta (Insider Fast) in version 13808.10000. The Insider Fast build should be out in the next few days."
Martin says
It´s working!
Edward Foy says
I now get this instead of the full contact card. Any ideas/suggestions?
Diane Poremsky says
What version of Outlook? I'll test it again - its possible Microsoft broken something.
Marc says
Did you have a chance to look into this? I'm seeing the same thing now also and have the turnonlegacygaldialog registry edit enabled. Thanks!
Diane Poremsky says
It is a bug or change in behavior - waiting to hear from Microsoft on which it is.
Edward Foy says
Any update on this?
Edward Foy says
Outlook 2016, 64 bit
Edward Foy says
Is there a way to default people search to only pull full contact card and NOT email properties
Paul D says
Hi Diane,
The .reg file did not work on my machine (Outlook 2016). The registry key is there, but the contact card still comes up when I right-click on an email and hit "Add to Contacts". Am I doing something wrong or has Microsoft changed the behavior? Note that I have a 17.0 under 16.0 in the registry, but very little is there.
Diane Poremsky says
You should not have a 17.0 key - 2016/2019/365 all use 16.0.
I will test it again as Microsoft keeps changing things, but if you use the ready-to-use keys, and it doesn't work after restarting outlook then Microsoft changed something.
Larry S. says
The new registry key has a different (& not helpful) effect on Outlook 2019.
Is there another way to force the program directly to the full contact form?
Thanks.
Diane Poremsky says
No, unfortunately not.
What effect did it have? When i tested it, it was fine - there are other keys that are a problem though.
Larry S. says
Tnx for your response. I essentially never use People directly, always using the "search people" box from within Mail or Calendar views. I find contact cards useless as, among other problems, they show a single phone # w/o revealing whether it's landline, cell, or other. I need the full "edit contact" form, preferably w/o extra clicks to get it.
I've investigated further, & find, w/your new DWORD in place:
--typing a few letters in the search people box predictably brings up a list of contacts, on which I can left-click
--with some contacts, I immediately get their full contact form
--with other contacts, I get their email properties box, with no option to continue to their contact form
--repeating the same search always produces the same result
--I can find no pattern...but while looking for clues in contacts, I discovered that which name I select controls behavior, e.g.
----when looking for "Betty Jones," if I search B-E-T-T & then select, I always get her email properties
----when searching J-O-N-E & then selecting the same "Betty Jones," I always get her contact form
I haven't used enough for meaningful stats, but guess I'm getting the contact form approx 60% of the time. I'm completely baffled & will welcome any insight or suggestions. Tnx again--Larry
Trent Yonkers says
Hello! I just ran the registry key, and I like the part that allows me to instantly access the contact without the hovering contact card, but now when I enter a search in the "search people" box it comes up with something other than the contact. I really need to change this back. Are there instructions for undoing it?
Thank you!
Trent
Trent Yonkers says
Sorry! I was doing something wrong. All good, and this is a great thing!! :)
Diane Poremsky says
To undo, you delete the key. :)
Harvey Vedder says
my Office 2016 does not show "contact card" when I go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\common\ ...am I doing something wrong?
Diane Poremsky says
the key isn't added until you change an option - so if it doesn't exist, you'll need to create it.
Harvey Vedder says
Thanx so much Diane, it' working ducky!
You make it so easy that even a neophyte (I never bfr touched regedit) could make it work. You're a godsend!
H Middleton says
Worked like a dream - thanks so much for this helpful post. This has been really bugging me because I have to add then categorise dozens of contacts each day and the new two-step process was slowing me down.
Ryan Heil says
Hello Diane, I added the regkey to my Win10/Outlook 2016 system but I still do not get the legacy contact form when I right click and use Add to Outlook Contacts ... do you know why this may not be working?
Cyrus says
I have the same issue as Stefan:
The issue: If I view an email contact card associated within inbox, sent items etc, the contact card (expanded) only displays the email address (link) and Schedule a Meeting (link) and no other contact data. (Un-expanded) the Contact Card phone icon is greyed out.
Nikki L. says
I don't find "contact card" in this string under "common". Any ideas? I'm using Outlook 2013 and would love to get the contact form back.
Diane Poremsky says
if the key doesn't exist, you need to create it (or use the reg file I posted) - many of the reg keys aren't in the registry until you change from the default.
Mirza says
Dear Diane
Is there any way to hide all these informations for other user in the same domain? In my companys domain, we are hosting our customers in different Organizational Units and therefore they all have they own GAL. But they still can see my personal informations (mobile number, calendar appointments...). These contact cards informations are nice for my co-worker in the same OU and GAL, but I would love to hide them for other users.
I already tried to deny access to my AD-User (where these informations are stored) and also to our GAL. But it can still be seen by the other users. Even if I use these registry modifications, the problem is still there for Hosted Exchange users and OWA users.
Have you got any advise for me?
Many thanks and best wishes.
Mirza
Diane Poremsky says
If the GAL permissions are set correctly, they shouldn't see anything if its not in their own gal or in their contacts. I'll see if i can repro.
ed hansberry says
DIane, the registry download for Office 2016 doesn't match the text above. The text shows:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\common\contactcard
The reg file shows:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\16.0\common\contactcard
Which is it? I think the reg file is wrong since after doing this on Win10, there is nothing below Policies/Microsoft except this new entry.
Diane Poremsky says
Either one works. Policy path is typically used by the admin, so end users can't change a setting (this particular key doesn't have a setting in the UI) but they can be used on home computers too. Some keys only work in the polices path, others will work in either the user or policy path. I usually put the policy key up in a reg file so both end users and admins can use one file.
Keys do not exist until a setting is changed or the key is added to the registry. If a key doesn't exist, you (or the reg file) will create it.
Andrew says
I have no contactcard entry under Common. The reg files don't do anything but open in Notepad. Advice. Running 2013 with Hosted Exchange. Thanks!
Diane Poremsky says
If the entry doesn't exist, you need to create it.
To download the reg file in some browsers you need to right click on the link and choose Save Link as or Save Target as.
Stefan says
Not sure if my problem is related to this.
I use Windows 10 Pro and have Outlook 2016.
I use GASMO (Google Apps Sync for MS Outlook) to work with email in Outlook.
The Outlook Address Book shows all of my (sync'd) contacts and email addresses.
Under the People tab in Outlook all the contacts are populated with full contact info -phone, address, company etc.
The issue: If I view an email contact card associated within inbox, sent items etc, the contact card (expanded) only displays the email address (link) and Schedule a Meeting (link) and no other contact data. (Un-expanded) the Contact Card phone icon is greyed out.
Having just discovered a great calling app "Remote Phone Call" for Android with Outlook add-on and now there are no numbers to dial!!
Any ideas on getting the phone numbers to populate in email Contact Cards??
Thanks
Stefan
Loretta Yeo says
19 months later and I still haven't gotten a Windows Phone - same reason. Still hate "People" too. But I'm retired now so I don't get frustrated that much anymore.
Decided to go ahead and make the registry changes, even though I still don't edit my Contacts from the email header. Also used one of your tips to empty the AutoComplete list to get rid of obsolete emails.
Thanks Diane for all of your great info. ;c}
Loretta Yeo says
Holy crow - I've had Office 2013 for two years and I didn't even know about the downgrade to Contact Cards. I just tried to save an email address and sure enough the little watered-down card showed up.
Why oh why does Microsoft keep "fixing" things that aren't broken? It would be better if MS just let the dumb/lazy people get their hand-holding from Apple and Android, and stop degrading OUR software to accommodate them. Better to have loyal power users, than a bunch of kids with ADD.
At some point I may need this fix, but it's just as easy to copy the email link, then switch to the "People" screen and click on an open space to get a new contact. I guess that's why I've been doing...
BTW - That's another blasted back-engineering of a feature - more than 3/4 of my Contacts are businesses, not "People." It's unprofessional to have to click on "People" to get the contact info for a client or vendor. I gave back an HTC Arrive Windows7 phone after two weeks because I couldn't sync it by USB to my PC, and translating it through "the cloud" screwed up my files. Not to mention, there isn't even a File As field, so all those contacts with an empty Name field got lost. That was March of 2011, and AFAIK they still haven't restored direct sync in Windows Phone 8.1. I'm using my Motorola Q9c running Windows Mobile 6.1 as a PDA and a cheap flip phone on a Consumer Cellular subscription for $18 instead of $70. I don't need the Internet on a phone.
Stan Brown says
Diane, your Outlook 2010 version .REG file references Office 15.0 instead of 14.0.
Diane Poremsky says
Thanks! It's fixed now.
N. Linsley says
I use Outlook as part of Office Pro 2013, on a home computer ... no Exchange ... and I do not have HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\common\contactcard
I get as far as HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\common but there is nothing for "contactcard."
My registry also does not contain the phrase "TurnOnLegacyGALDialog" ... I've searched the entire registry.
Diane Poremsky says
Many keys are not created until you change a setting. If the key does not exist, create it or use the reg files I made available. The legacygal value won't exist unless you add it.