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What is the right way not to show inactive users in the Organization tab under the Address Book?

Karthikeyan Selvarajan 0 Reputation points
2025-12-11T16:42:59.55+00:00

Hello,

We’re trying to ensure that inactive users do not appear in the Organization tab within the Outlook Address Book / People card.

A few points for context:

  • The user accounts are already disabled/inactive in Entra ID.
  • However, they still show up in the Organization tab (manager view / direct reports section), which is causing confusion for end users.

In the image below, the user [Moderator note: personal info removed] is already disabled but still shows up

User's image

Outlook | Windows | New Outlook for Windows | For business
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  1. Killian-N 6,815 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2025-12-11T17:57:54.1066667+00:00

    Hi @Karthikeyan Selvarajan,

    Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.

    I can understand how inconvenient it is to see disabled accounts under “Organization” (Manager/Direct reports) in Outlook.

    The Organization tab (People/Profile card) in Outlook/Office apps is built from Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) “manager/directReports” relationships and Exchange directory visibility. Simply disabling an account in Entra ID does not remove its manager relationship or automatically hide it from the GAL/Address Book, so it can continue to appear under the manager until you update the reporting relationship and/or hide the user from address lists.

    Here are a few steps that often help:

    1/ Hide the inactive account from all address lists (GAL):

    • In Exchange admin center > Recipients > Mailboxes > choose the user you want to hide > Manage hide from GAL.
      User's image
    • On the Apply changes to 1 selected mailbox(es) > toggle it On > Save.
      User's image

    Propagation can take up to 24 hours, cached Outlook clients may need an Offline Address Book re‑download.

    If you want to use PowerShell or need more detailed guidance: Manage address lists in Exchange Online

    2/ Remove (or reassign) the disabled user’s “Manager/Direct reports” relationship in Entra ID:

    The Organization tab is fed by Entra ID hierarchy. Clearing the Manager for the inactive user (or reassigning reports to an active manager) ensures they no longer appear under the manager in the org card.

    In Entra admin center: Entra ID > Users > choose the inactive user > Properties > Manager > Remove (or reassign).
    User's image

    Once the user is hidden from address lists and their manager link is cleared/reassigned, they will stop appearing under “Direct reports” in the Organization tab after directory/OAB refresh. (Completely removing the Organization tab for everyone is not supported).

    I hope this information is helpful. Please follow these steps and let me know if it works for you. If you're using hybrid, just tell me and we can work together to resolve this.   

    Thank you for your patience and your understanding. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please feel free to share them in the comments on this post so I can continue to support you.

    I look forward to continuing the conversation.

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