(Updated) Outlook: retiring “Contact Masking” (hide suggested recipients) - March 31, 2026

🚨 The Signal: Outlook is retiring the 'Contact Masking' feature by March 31, 2026, which allowed users to hide suggested recipients from the AutoComplete list. This change simplifies recipient management but removes a user-level privacy control.

The Impact

All Outlook users with Exchange Online mailboxes are affected, with a low security risk related to potential accidental email misdirection.

• Exchange Online users: Cannot hide suggested recipients, minor privacy concern.
• Security Teams: No direct security control impact, but awareness of user experience change.
• Compliance Teams: No compliance posture change, feature removal is UI-centric.

Domain: Exchange · Impact: low · Workload: Exchange Online