How to LINK CONTACTS to APPOINTMENTS in Outlook 2013

[mitchellvii]

With every new version of Outlook, MS has made it increasingly difficult to link Contacts with Calendar Events. In Outlook 2013 they removed it altogether.

Sometimes I honestly believe that MS is intentionally trying to break their products. What possible reason could they have for eliminating the ability to link a Contact with an Appointment? It is simply insane. This is a close second to destroying sales on Windows 8 by getting rid of the Start Button. It is as if they made a list of all the things people used the most and eliminated them while adding functionality no one asked for.

Well anyway, there is a workaround but you have to edit the Registry to do it (thanks for nothing MS). Here is the article on doing it:

Link a Contact to an Appointment | MSOutlook.info

Once you enable this you will be able to add Contacts to Appointments without sending them an invitation. This is quite helpful in case you might want to do something really nuts like email or call someone you had an appointment to see - yeah I can see why MS would think we would never need THAT ::facepalm::

** For those not accustomed to editing the Registry, the article may seem a bit confusing. Allow me to simplify:

Navigate Here: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Outlook\Preferences
Right-click inside the target folder and select >> New >> DWORD (32-bit) Value
Add This Value: ShowContactFieldObsolete
Set the Value to: 1

Close it up and now at the bottom of a new appointment in Outlook 2013 you'll be able to add a Contact.

 

[tonyz3]

i have a quest. I use the mini contact cards that pop up by either using the search people on top or by hovering, etc. After doing this REG in appt will it open a contact card on the screen to pin or does it open the full contact page. Also does this effect the contact cards at all- meaning cant use them anymore.

 

[mitchellvii]

It opens a list of your Contacts. You pick the ones you wish to add. Then if you want to pull up the card for that Contact later you simply double click their name on the list. A simple card appears and you can click for more info there to get their whole card which will allow you to map their location, etc. This does NOT send invitations to these people nor does it require the person to have an email address on file to appear. It is simply for linking Contacts to events.

Why MS considers this incredibly useful function "obsolete" I will never know. I swear those guys at MS need their heads examined sometimes.

 

[tonyz3]

It opens a list of your Contacts. You pick the ones you wish to add. Then if you want to pull up the card for that Contact later you simply double click their name on the list. A simple card appears and you can click for more info there to get their whole card which will allow you to map their location, etc. This does NOT send invitations to these people nor does it require the person to have an email address on file to appear. It is simply for linking Contacts to events.

Why MS considers this incredibly useful function "obsolete" I will never know. I swear those guys at MS need their heads examined sometimes.

Thanks This is a great function. But there has to be some reason it was left out. Perhaps it is because of the kickstand.

 

[mitchellvii]

Thanks This is a great function. But there has to be some reason it was left out. Perhaps it is because of the kickstand.

Have no idea. Why in the world would MS go out of their way to eliminate this? It's like MS has a "Department of Making Everything Harder".