Forum Discussion
Workaround: How to 'Delete A Category' in the People tab in New Outlook
Current State: Currently, you can create and assign a category to a contact card. However, you can not easily delete the actual Category.
Background Info: The categories for contacts in New Outlook are separate from the Inbox and Calendar categories. The Delete a category icon in the People Tab appears to have been missed.
Workaround Solution: I had to remove the category from each contact by pressing the X by the category. Then, I closed and reopened New Outlook, and the category was no longer in the left navigation in the People tab.
More Information: I know Microsoft is working on improvements for Contacts. I have reported this issue.
If you find this information helpful, please mark it as best response.
/Teresa
#traccreations4e 02/05/2024
18 Replies
Still no change in the behavior. Microsoft has not announced a timeline for when it will be fixed.
#traccreations4e-r25 6/29/2025So here we are over a year later and this still isn't fixed.
Cmon MS - this is basic functionality!
I have just discovered this issue as well. I have just migrated my business from Google Workspace to Office 365 and was stumped after importing our contacts into Outlook (web) that I could not find in any way to edit Categories or delete them. This is very frustrating as I would like to use this feature as easily as I could in google. That is, add and remove categories, colour code them and assign to the correct people as it is a very handy thing to have.
It seems in Dec 2024 that I am stuck with categories that I no longer need or want and I can't change any of the existing ones.
Please Microsoft, this is basic functionality and for people migrating over from another service provider this is disappointing to have ran into this issue so early in the journey. On the whole it's been pretty positive but theres some strange errors like this that take the shine off the experience.
I am having this exact same issue after migrating from google. I cannot believe there is no way to delete these old categories.
Microsoft is aware of this issue. As you can see, this post is about ten months old.
Here is another heads-up. In a recent post I monitored, I learned that users can only delete ten contacts simultaneously. The delete button will turn grey on the 11th contact.
12/16/2024
- Unfortunately, this workaround did not work for me. Upon closing and reopening Outlook, the Contact Categories that I had are still there even with no contacts in them. I'm hoping that maybe if I restart my PC sometime soon it'll force it to go through though.
Teresa_Cyrus Outlook online is showing Categories on the left Categories drop down that don't exist anywhere. Neither in any Contact nor in the Main Categories log in Settings. I am also aware that Outlook online does not differentiate between Categories and Folders. And some of the 'Categories' showing were indeed folders, however they no longer exist. neither online nor on Desktop version.
Thanks Teresa_Cyrus
I have an "interesting" variant. A couple of weeks ago I tested the Phone Link app (with a device/mobile that's not fully compatible). When the apps (Outlook & Phone Link) paired a new Category named MyPhoneName (contacts synced by Link to Windows) was auto. created. Everything worked well but 1 thing that was probably due to my incompatible device
I bought a fully compatible (with Phone Link) device. Awaiting that new device I broke the link between the Phone Link app & Outlook and did exactly what you suggest
Unfortunately the MyPhoneName (contacts synced by Link to Windows) Category still shows up, even after uninstalling/reinstalling Outlook New. Also tried to get rid of it going to outlook.com with no luck (no Delete Category option there either)
Any advice will be more than welcome
Thanks
@L
I will try my best to assist you. I don't have Outlook.com to test it and be confident of my response.
With my MS365 plan, here are a couple of things to try. Read these steps first to ensure you are comfortable with implementing these steps.
1) Let's see if your mobile devices are listed in Outlook.
- Open Outlook | View Settings | General | Mobile Devices (noted in the red boxes)
- If your screen looks different from mine, type Mobile in the Settings Search Bar.
- Next, you will see a list of devices you are connected to—image 1.
- Click on an Outlook device, review the mobile device details, and close this screen. See Image 2.
Image 1
Image 2 - By the way, never share your Device ID. I am looking for the First and Last Sync dates and Device models, which usually help identify my phones.
2) From both your mobile devices, uninstall the app and restart both devices. This way, you are starting from scratch.
3) Open Outlook and navigate to the Mobile device page again (from Step 1). Please allow time for the apps to sync. Give it 5 minutes.
- If they were not listed before, you can skip this step.
- If you could see your devices on the list before, they should be removed.
- If they are still there, click the trash can icon to delete both mobile devices only. Close and reopen Outlook. (See image one and green box.)
4) In Outlook, navigate to your Contacts. Here is what I see for Categories on a Contact Profile. Press the X to remove the category. If you don't see the X, I am out of options.
5) Finally, install the Outlook Phone App to your new phone only from Google Play or the App Store. Here are the images to ensure you are downloading the proper app.
That's all I have for you. I hope this works for you, and enjoy your new phone.
If you find this information helpful, please mark it as the best response, which will assist others with the same question.
/Teresa
#traccreations4eIf you don't mind and knows. What are the UniversalOutlook "device" supposed to do?
Asking as in trying to fix the problem on my own, I probably deleted one that I shouldn't have
