If you use Microsoft Outlook in a corporate environment, you may have noticed that every time you try to create a new calendar event, Outlook automatically inserts a Microsoft Teams meeting link into the invitation. While this is incredibly helpful for remote meetings, it can be annoying and confusing if you are simply trying to schedule an in-person lunch, block out focus time, or set up a meeting on a different platform like Zoom.
You can easily stop Outlook from forcing a Teams link into every calendar invite by disabling a single setting in your calendar options.
How to Turn Off Automatic Teams Links (Outlook Desktop)
If you use the classic Outlook application on Windows, follow these steps:
- Open Microsoft Outlook and click on File in the top left corner of the ribbon.
- Select Options at the bottom of the left-hand menu.
- In the Outlook Options window, click on Calendar in the left sidebar.
- Under the “Calendar options” section, look for a checkbox labeled Add online meeting to all meetings.
- Click the checkbox to uncheck it.
- Click OK at the bottom of the window to save your changes.
How to Turn Off Automatic Teams Links (Outlook on the Web & New Outlook)
If you use the web version of Outlook or the “New Outlook for Windows” app, the settings menu looks slightly different:
- Open Outlook and click the Settings gear icon in the top right corner.
- In the Settings menu, navigate to Calendar > Events and invitations.
- Look for the setting labeled Add online meeting to all meetings.
- Toggle the switch to the Off position, or uncheck the box (depending on your specific version of the interface).
- Click Save at the bottom of the screen.
From now on, when you click “New Meeting” or “New Appointment,” the location field and description box will remain completely blank. If you ever do need to add a Teams link, you can simply click the “Teams Meeting” button in the ribbon menu while composing the invitation.