How to Hide Contacts in Global Address List in Outlook?

 Whether using Office 365 or on-premise Exchange, you can hide contacts from the Global Address List in a few simple steps.

Note:

1) This is for users who you do not want to delete from Active Directory, but do not want to show up in the GAL.

2) This How-To assumes that if you use Office 365, that DirSync is being used. If it is not, this process can be accomplished in the Office 365 Administrator portal.

4 Steps total

Step 1: Launch Active Directory

Launch Active Directory from your Domain Controller.

Step 2: Enable Attribute Editor for Users

In the Active Directory window, click the View tab and choose Advanced Features so there is a check-mark next to the entry.

Step 3: Access Attribute Editor

Manually navigate to the user you want to hide from the Global Address List. Note that if you use the Action > Find... feature, Attribute Editor will not appear.

Right-click the desired user and select Properties. Once in the user properties, choose the Attribute Editor tab.

Step 4: Hide User from Global Address List

Under the Attribute Editor tab, scroll down to the msEchHideFromAddressLists attribute. By default, this attribute will contain a value of .

Select this attribute and click Edit. In the window that appears, click the radio button next to True and click OK.

The edited user will no longer appear in the Global Address List in Outlook. If they do, restart Outlook and re-open the Global Address List.