Outlook holds a mapping function to locate your contacts on a map. By default this will use the Bing Maps service but you can tweak Outlook to also use Google Maps or another mapping service.
While the mapping function in Outlook is great to pinpoint your contacts, a common request is to also get driving directions to this contact. This guide will explain how you can customize the mapping feature to also act as a route planner.
Extra Tip!
To add mapping or driving direction functionality to Appointment and Meetings, see this guide for a customizable macro.
Map It
The Map It feature of Outlook can be found by opening a contact from your Contacts folder. It is shown in the Addresses section next to the selected address of a contact.
Pressing the Map It button will initiate a search for the selected address using the Bing Maps service.
The Map It feature is shown directly next to the address of a contact.
Change mapping service
To change the mapping feature to a different service, you can add the MapScriptURL registry key and set its value to a mapping service URL (Internet address).
Key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\<version>\Outlook\Options\General
Value name: MapScriptURL
Value type: REG_SZ
As the value, this registry key requires a URL which points to a mapping service. In the URL of the mapping service to be used, the address fields exposed should be replaced with the following codes for the contact fields;
| Contact field | Replacement code |
|---|---|
| Street | <0s> |
| City | <1s> |
| State | <2s> |
| Zip code | <3s> |
| Country | <4s> |
To restore it to the original service again, simply remove the MapScriptURL key.
Examples
You can use the following URLs directly for the MapScriptURL value;
- Bing Maps
https://www.bing.com/maps/?where1=<0s>, <1s>, <2s>, <3s>, <4s> - Google Maps
https://maps.google.com/maps/search/<0s>, <1s>, <2s>, <3s>, <4s> - OpenStreetMap
https://www.openstreetmap.org/search?query=<0s>, <1s>, <2s>, <3s>, <4s>
Download
If you’re not comfortable with modifying the registry yourself, you can download this zip-file.
From this zip-file, select your version of Outlook and execute the reg-file for the mapping service that you want.
Note:
If Bing has issues finding the address you are looking for, it could help to change the order of the URL codes for the address. This is because Bing accepts the address as a single query and expects you to place it in the correct order format for your country.
If the default string fails for you, try the following instead;https://www.bing.com/maps/?where1=<0s>, <1s>, <3s>, <2s>, <4s>
In the downloadable zip-file, this format has been labeled as “bing-alternative”.
Setting Google as the mapping service for Map It in the Registry.
Directions from your home or company
If you would like the Map It function to give you directions by default, then you can customize the MapScriptURL for your mapping service to include an address as the default starting point.
Many of the web services also allow you to leave the starting address blank. This would allow you to directly jump to the driving directions interface of the web service.
In the examples below, replace street, city, state, zip and country with the corresponding address information of your starting point.
| Base URL | https://maps.google.com/maps/dir/? |
|---|---|
| Starting address | origin= |
| Destination address | destination= |
Example
- Start and endpoint
https://maps.google.com/dir/?origin=street,city,state,zip,country&destination=<0s>, <1s>, <2s>, <3s>, <4s> - End point only
https://maps.google.com/dir/?destination=<0s>, <1s>, <2s>, <3s>, <4s>
More information: Google Maps Query String Parameters
Bing
| Base URL | https://www.bing.com/maps/? |
|---|---|
| Directions | rtp= |
| Format | adr.startingaddress~adr.destinationaddress |
Example
- Start and endpoint
https://www.bing.com/maps/?rtp=adr.street,city,state,zip,country~adr.<0s>, <1s>, <2s>, <3s>, <4s> - End point only
https://www.bing.com/maps/?rtp=~adr.<0s>, <1s>, <2s>, <3s>, <4s>
More information: Create a Custom Map URL
OpenStreetMap
| Base URL | https://www.openstreetmap.org/directions? |
|---|---|
| Starting address | from= |
| Destination address | to= |
Example
- Start and endpoint
https://www.openstreetmap.org/directions?from=street,city,state,zip,country&to=<0s>, <1s>, <2s>, <3s>, <4s> - End point only
https://www.openstreetmap.org/directions?to=<0s>, <1s>, <2s>, <3s>, <4s>
