How to exclude contacts and/or calendar from a given account

Question

I'm using the latest outlook for windows. I have multiple accounts across gmail, yahoo and outlook.com. I'd like to only use calendar and contact/people from outlook.com account and not the other accounts. How do I set it up?

Thanks

Answer 1

Hi redhonker,

In Outlook, contacts and calendar folders are handled as part of the overall mailbox experience. When a shared mailbox (or shared account) is added to an Outlook profile, Outlook brings in the full set of default folders: Mail, Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, and others together.

Because of this design, Outlook doesn’t currently offer a built‑in option to hide or exclude only Contacts or Calendar while keeping mail access. These folders are not treated as separate components that can be enabled or disabled individually at the client level.

A couple of points that may help clarify what you’re seeing:

• Folder permissions control what can be accessed, but they don’t control whether a folder appears in Outlook. So even if permissions are removed from Contacts or Calendar, those folders may still be visible.
• Disabling automapping and adding the mailbox manually can change how the mailbox is added, but Outlook will typically still show the standard folder set once the mailbox is connected.

Practical alternatives

• Collapse or de‑emphasize the folders in Outlook While this doesn’t remove them, it can help keep them out of everyday view.
• Use Outlook on the web (OWA) for more focused access OWA allows you to work with specific folders such as just the Inbox without fully surfacing the entire mailbox structure, which can be helpful when mail‑only access is the goal.

Continue using permissions for access control Permissions remain effective for preventing viewing or editing of Contacts and Calendar items, even if the folders themselves are still listed.

So this behavior is simply a reflection of how Outlook currently integrates shared mailboxes, rather than a configuration issue on your side. If strict mail‑only access is required, Outlook on the web is usually the most flexible option at the moment.

If this is a capability you’d like to see improved in the future, you can also share the suggestion through the Outlook Feedback portal. Product teams do review that feedback when considering enhancements, especially around shared mailbox scenarios.

Hope this helps explain the behavior and the options available.

Answer 2

In new Outlook for Windows, contacts and calendar are managed per account. To effectively use only the Outlook.com account’s calendar and contacts while keeping Gmail/Yahoo for mail, configure and view only the Outlook.com data in the People and Calendar areas.

For contacts (People):

1. Switch to the new Outlook if not already: in Outlook on Windows, turn Try the new Outlook to On.
2. Select People.
3. Use only the contacts associated with the Outlook.com (Microsoft) account for adding, editing, and searching. Contacts from mobile, Google, iCloud, and Skype may also appear if synced via Microsoft services; manage them there if needed.

For calendar:

• Ensure the Outlook.com account is the one used for creating and managing events. When creating new meetings or appointments, select the Outlook.com calendar as the target calendar.
• If other accounts are IMAP accounts and their meetings are landing in the default calendar that is shared, either:
  1. Stop sharing the default calendar, or
  2. Set the desired account as default, or
  3. Use a separate profile for accounts whose calendars should not be visible together.

To isolate an account’s calendar (classic Outlook profile-based approach):

1. Create a separate mail profile that contains only the Outlook.com account if exclusive calendar/contacts use is required.
2. Optionally remove the other accounts from that profile and keep them in a different profile.
3. Use the Outlook.com-only profile when working with calendar and contacts.

If Outlook is needed purely as a personal information manager for contacts and calendar (no mail from other accounts):

1. Close Outlook.
2. Press the Windows key, type Run, and open it.
3. Run: Outlook.exe /PIM <profile name> to create a profile without an email account.
4. Store contacts and calendar items there. Note that these items remain local to that computer unless an email account that supports syncing is added later.

To change which contacts are visible (People app model):

1. Open People.
2. Go to Settings → Options.
3. Under Show only these contacts, clear the check boxes for accounts whose contacts should be hidden. Favorites remain visible and all contacts stay searchable.

Using these approaches, only the Outlook.com account’s calendar and contacts are actively used and/or shown, while Gmail and Yahoo remain available primarily for email.

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References:

• Start using new Outlook for Windows
• Your Microsoft account, your data, your choices
• Set default calendar
• Use Outlook without an email account
• People app help