When a contact is associated with a company, and you want to add a note/meeting/call specific to that contact it automatically associates it to the contact and the associated company. Is there a way to remove the auto association? I would rather have it associated only with the contact and add the company, deal, ticket, etc. as needed.
Hi @TWinter2954,
There is unfortunately not. HubSpot follows these rules for automatic association: Associate activities with records
If you want a different behavior, you would have to manually change the association.
Other users have requested this before: https://community.hubspot.com/t5/HubSpot-Ideas/Control-timeline-activity-associations-to-associated-objects/idi-p/315609
I’d recommend upvoting and commenting. The product team reviews these requests based on their popularity. You can also help others find this request more easily by accepting my reply as a solution. I’d appreciate it!
Have a great day!
Hi @TWinter2954,
Good news - HubSpot now lets you specify how activities should be associated automatically, under Settings > Objects > Activities > Associations.
Here’s the full announcement:
CRM Platform
Configure Activity Association Defaults
Apr 24, 2024
What is it?
Within a new settings UI, admins will be able to configure the default activity association logic for logging certain activities on contacts, companies, deals, tickets, and custom objects records. They will be able to set default logging rules based on where the activity is originally logged (e.g. Contact record), the activity type (e.g. Task), and the associated records to log the activity to (e.g. Log to Primary Company).
Why does it matter?
Currently, when a user logs an activity onto a record there is inflexible and nuanced logic that determines how activities are logged to associated records of other object types. The non-configurable logic doesn’t accommodate for different business needs and sometimes causes irrelevant activities to show up on records. This new functionality will give admins flexibility and control over what they want their logging defaults to be, saving reps time spent manually adjusting for the logic that exists today.
How does it work?
- This functionality is available for Contacts, Companies, Deals*, Tickets, and Custom Objects
- When activities are logged to deals, the logging rules will only log to open deals
- The activity types that admins will be able to configure logging rules for are: Calls, Emails*, LinkedIn Messages, Meetings, Notes, Postal Mail, SMS, Tasks, WhatsApp Messages
- The configured default logging rules will only apply to activities logged from a record page. For example, only emails logged directly on a record page will be affected by the configured logging rules. This excludes emails created from the Marketing Email editor and any Connected Email Inboxes.
- The logging options will vary depending on the combination of selected objects and activities
- The possible logging options include:
- Log to none
- Log to 1 most recently associated
- Log to 5 most recently associated
- Log to all
- Additionally, when logging activities from a contact, deal, or ticket record to associated companies, there will also be an option to “Log to Primary Company”
- Note: When logging emails to contacts or logging calls to companies, the “Log to None” option will still include any recipients in the emails or calls
- The new settings UI allows admins to configure their default activity association rules based on the object type of the record the activity is originally logged on (e.g. Contact record), the activity type that is being logged (e.g. Task), and the associated records to log the activity to (e.g. Log to Primary Company).
- For example, admins can configure the rules so that any Calls logged from a Company record should automatically get logged to only the 1 most recently associated Contact.
- The default logic shows up as records getting automatically checked when reps are logging activities on records.
To configure your activity association default logic in settings:
Click the settings icon in the main navigation bar and navigate to Data Management > Objects > Activities > Associations tab
Select an object from the dropdown for where the activity is originally logged
- For example, if a task is logged on a contact record, select the Contact object
Next, select the activity type that you’re configuring your logging default for
Under Log activity to, click the dropdown for each of the associated objects you’d like change the default logging experience for
- The logging options vary depending on the selected object and activity types
- Select the logging option that you want to change the default logging logic to for each of the associated objects
- The options within the dropdown that represent the current HubSpot default logic have an orange default tag
Once you’re done making your changes, click the Save button at the bottom left to save all changes
To see your configured default logging rules in action:
- Navigate to any Contact, Company, Deal, Ticket, or Custom Object record
- Click on any activity and within the popup window, click on Associated with # records
- In the box that pops up, the default logic that was configured in settings determines which associated records are automatically checked, which is visible in the Selected tab
Note: Any references to custom objects only apply to customers with at least one Enterprise subscription
For more information, please visit this Knowledge Base article
Who gets it?
All hubs and tiers
You can find the beta and opt into it here:
If you’re not seeing it yet, you’ll have to be patient for a little while longer.
Best regards!

