Tip 1134: Find the Email Address Properties dialog in Outlook 2013

In older versions of Outlook, you could click on a Contact’s email address to bring up a dialog that allowed you to always use Rich Text format, Plain Text format, or to let Outlook decide the best format when sending email or meeting and task requests to the address.

Outlook's email address properties

In really old versions Outlook, double clicking on an email address brought up the dialog, while in Outlook 2010, you needed to right-click on the email address then select Outlook Properties from the menu or use the Options button on the hovercard and select Outlook Properties.

Although the Options button was removed from Outlook 2013’s hovercard, the Open Outlook Properties command is on the right-click menu, but you have to be really fast.

If the hovercard comes up before you right click on the address, the Open Outlook Properties command disappears. Once the command disappears from the menu, you’ll need to restart Outlook and try again. If you view the properties dialog and want to look at it a second time, you’ll need to restart Outlook.

The only exception is for users with an Exchange mailbox: with contacts for people who are also in the GAL, you don’t have to be fast – the Open Outlook Properties command is always available, but only for your contacts who are also in the GAL. (That's about as useful as a fifth wheel on a wagon. :))

Is there hope for someone who uses this dialog a lot or can't right-click fast enough? A little. Set the TurnOffHoverFunctionality value in the registry and the hovercard won’t pop-up until you right-click on the email address. Once you bring up the hovercard, the Open Outlook Properties command disappears, but you won’t have to be quite so quick to right-click the first time since the hovercard won't come up automatically.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\15.0\common\contactcard
DWORD: TurnOffHoverFunctionality
Value: 1 (turn off) or 0 (enable)

You can download a ready to use .reg file from Don't show the card when you hover over the address

If you use Outlook 2010 and don't like the hovercard coming up automatically, the TurnOffHoverFunctionality value works with Outlook 2010 too, using Office\14.0\ path of course. (The link above has a *.reg file for Outlook 2010 too.)