How to change default journal entry type in Outlook?

When we create a new journal entry in Outlook, "Phone call" is selected in the "Entry type" box by default. See screenshot below. In some cases, you may prefer another journal entry type rather than "Phone call", and it’s inconvenient to change the entry type every time. Actually, you can change the default journal entry type in Outlook.

To change the default journal entry type in Outlook, you need to modify the registry and add a new string value. Please follow these steps:

Step 1: Press the "Win" + "R" keys to open the Run dialog box, type "regedit" in the "Open" box, and click the "OK" button.

Step 2: In the User Account Control dialog box, click the "Yes" button.

Step 3: In Registry Editor, locate the "Phone Call" key at the following path:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Outlook\Journaling\Phone Call

Step 4: Locate and select the "DescriptionID" DWORD, then delete it by pressing the "Delete" key. Click the "Yes" button in the confirmation dialog.

Step 5: Create a new string value by clicking "Edit" > "New" > "String Value", and name it as "Description".

Step 6: Double-click the new "Description" string, enter your preferred journal entry type in the "Value data" box (e.g., "Meeting", "Note", etc.), and click the "OK" button.

Step 7: Close Registry Editor and restart Microsoft Outlook.

From now on, when you create a new journal entry in Outlook, the default entry type will be the one you specified in Step 6.

Note: After setting a custom default entry type, the "Phone call" option will be removed from the "Entry type" dropdown list.

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