Hide fax numbers in microsoft teams

Question

Hi there,

when going to teams -> calls and search for people that are stored in outlook or maybe also in aad there are several findings that we like to remove cause they are not relevant for calling.

At first there are the fax numbers that are listed as others, since there is no way to fax by teams it is not needed there. But also there is the vanity number dialing that we dont use in germany as well.

Is it possible to hide theese numbers?

Answer 1

Dear @Tobias,

Good day! Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum!

Based on your description, I understand that you’re seeing fax numbers and other non‑relevant entries (such as vanity dialing numbers) in Microsoft Teams under Calls when searching for contacts synced from Outlook or Azure AD. Since these numbers can’t be used for calling in Teams (for example, fax numbers or vanity numbers not used in Germany), you’re looking for a way to hide or remove them from the search results to keep the calling experience clean and relevant.

Regarding the fax numbers and vanity‑dialing results you’re seeing in Teams > Calls > Search, this behavior is currently by design. Microsoft Teams surfaces phone number information directly from Outlook/Exchange and Azure Active Directory. Fax numbers are treated as contact endpoints in Outlook, so they appear in Teams search results even though Teams itself does not support faxing. The same applies to vanity number translations, which can show up during dialing even if they’re not used in your region, such as Germany.

At this time, Teams does not offer a supported setting to selectively hide only fax numbers or disable vanity‑number results while keeping other phone numbers visible for the same contact.

The only available workaround is to change how those numbers are stored in Outlook or Exchange, for example, moving fax numbers to a non‑fax field or notes field so they are no longer recognized as callable endpoints.

Please note that this approach affects how contacts appear across Outlook, Teams, and other Microsoft 365 services, so it’s best evaluated carefully before making bulk changes.

Therefore, I strongly encourage submitting this as a feature request through Microsoft Feedback Portal so it can be considered for future improvements. Once submitted, you could send the link to your feedback here so other users with the same query could add their votes to your feedback.

Note: As Microsoft Community moderators, please note that we are not involved in product design decisions and do not have direct access to the development roadmap, we want to assure you that your feedback has been acknowledged and is valued.  

Thank you for your kindness and understanding!

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Answer 2

Hi @Julie-Hu

thanks for your quick reply. I had submitted this as an feature request here: https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/idea/4bd52d6b-0a13-f111-83da-7c1e52a5b151

Answer 3

Fax numbers and other non-callable numbers that come from Outlook or the directory cannot be selectively hidden in the Microsoft Teams Calls search.

Relevant behavior and options from the provided information:

1. Outlook/Exchange behavior
   • In Outlook, fax numbers are treated similarly to email addresses and appear as separate entries in address books by design. The only supported way to “hide” them is to move fax values into non-fax fields (for example, Other phone or Notes) so they are no longer recognized as fax/contact endpoints.
   • This can be done in bulk by exporting contacts to CSV, editing the fax fields, and importing back. However, this affects how contacts are stored and used across Outlook/Exchange, not just Teams.
2. Teams directory scoping
   • Teams supports scoping who users can see in directory search via information barriers or Exchange address book policies, and by enabling “Scope directory search using an Exchange address book policy” in the Teams admin center.
   • These controls work at the user/directory-object level (who appears in search), not at the individual phone-number type level. They cannot hide only fax or vanity numbers while leaving other numbers visible for the same contact.
3. Phone number publishing
   • In corporate environments, work phone numbers coming from the directory cannot be unpublished or edited from the client side. Other numbers (mobile, home, other) can be added/removed or excluded from the contact card, but this is a per-number publishing decision, not a way to hide only fax numbers in Teams Calls search.

Given the above, there is no supported configuration in Teams to:

• Hide fax numbers only, or
• Disable vanity dialing display only, while still showing other numbers for the same contacts in the Calls search.

The only available approaches are:

• Change how numbers (including fax) are stored in Outlook/Exchange (for example, move fax numbers to non-fax fields so they are not treated as callable endpoints), understanding this impacts all clients.
• Use directory-scoping features (information barriers or address book policies) to limit which users appear in search at all, not which specific numbers appear.

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References:

• Contacts in the Outlook Address Book are listed multiple times
• Limit who users can see when searching the directory in Teams
• Set Phones options and numbers