How do you stop search box from showing up in a message when you type "@"?

Jax Planet 61 Reputation points
2021-11-02T16:05:24.75+00:00

I am experiencing this problem in Outlook 2019.

If you use any of the 4-other current versions of Outlook, experience the same issue and know how to stop it, please share.
(E.g. Outlook 365, Outlook.com, Outlook App or Outlook Web App)

Specifically, the moment I type @ in the body of the message, a box covers what I am typing and tries to search my contacts.

So far, I tried unchecking all of the boxes in Outlook search options and removed Outlook from the search index.

Any other ideas?

Thank you in advance!

Outlook Management
Outlook Management
Outlook: A family of Microsoft email and calendar products.Management: The act or process of organizing, handling, directing or controlling something.
4,900 questions

1 answer

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Faery Fu-MSFT 17,021 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor
    2021-11-03T09:53:22.65+00:00

    Hi @Jax Planet ,

    Based on your description, seems like what you are experiencing is because of the Mentions feature which is available for recipients using Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Online, or Outlook.com.
    Here is an official document for reference: Use mention to get someone's attention.

    According to my search, an option has been added since the Office Insiders build (version 2004, build: 16.0.12718.20010) that allows users to disable the @mention in mail/meeting body. If you are using the retail version of Office 2019 with a latest build of Version 2110 (Build 14527.20234), this option should be available to you and you can use the steps below to change the setting:

    1. Click File> Options> Mail
    2. Uncheck the box “Suggest names to mention when I use the @symbol in a message (requires restarting Outlook)”.
    3. Restart your Outlook to see if it takes effect.
      146143-24725-1.png

    In case you are running a volume licensed version of Office 2019 which doesn’t have this option, I’m afraid currently it’s not feasible to disable the feature. If this applies to your scenario, personally I’d recommend pressing ESC after entering @ to dismiss the search box prompts.

    If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".
    Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

    0 comments