I’ve been a computer user and worked in the IT industry for 15 years so feel that I know my way around computers a fair bit. But every now and then, I work out how to do something new, and am completely dumb founded at how stupid I have been for not working it out before!
Microsoft Outlook has a neat feature where when you enter an email address, it remembers it. Then next time you start typing the same email address or name, it drops down a list of similar email addresses you’ve typed in the past so you can choose one. When I first saw this I thought it was great and was impressed that they also listed the more user friendly conact name, not just the email address.
How wrong I was. Over the years this feature has become a bugbear in my working life, as people I’ve kept in contact with have moved companies and changed email providers etc, so sometimes when I started typing their name in the email field, I get a drop down list with many entries in, all saying the same name, but with no idea which is the correct email address behind the name.
Worse, if you ever mis-type an email address, Outlook remembers that too and you’ll be forever prompted to select an email address you know is wrong. You can’t imagine how annoyed I’ve become by this once great feature. So this morning, I went looking for an answer…
OMG I’M SO STUPID!!!
The solution is shockingly simple and I can’t believe I didn’t think of this myself. In fact I’ve not felt this dim since I accidentally resized my TaskBar to cover half my screen whilst on the phone, and not knowing how I’d done it, I suffered it for a week before finally realising I could simply drag the edge back down!
So here’s the answer, prepare to be shocked: When you start to type and the drop down appears, use the cursor keys to move up and down the list to the entry that’s old, and….. wait for it…. Press the Delete key! That’s it.
See, dumb and dumber huh? I’ve going to find a rock to crawl under and hide the rest of the day away.
{ 34 comments… read them below or add one }
If you want to correct a typo in an e-mail address, select it as normal so that it appears in the “to” field, then right click on the name and select “outlook properties” from the menu. You can then change the display name and or e-mail address. Took me ages to work that out too.
Not seen you around recently Col, are you still injured? Hope it heals soon if so.
Hi Chris, thanks for the tip.
Yeah I’ve had a few weeks off, elbow’s been giving me more grief. Hope to make an appearance tomorrow morning though.
Hi
This is simple but the bis… This works for all the email inserted type drop downs as in when you fill in a form or even as above start to type and it appears and I accidentally had typed in a wrong email very similar to my own and when ever this situation appears often dropped down and clicked on the wrong one this is soooo annoying and has been like this for ages.
Thanks Steve
Thank you so much for the tip!!! It works!!!!
)
I got rid of some annoying email addresses that I’ve only sent to once and will never be emailing again!!!
YOU RULE!!!!
Always happy to see an appreciative poster.
No f@#$ing way….shit this has caused me no amount of stress trying to find & correct or delete an incorrect address in the address book to no avail, and my wife keeps sending it to the wrong email and I have to resend all the time…..that was so easy, I’m going out to buy Microsoft Office for Dummies…..Thanks for the tip
Lol, I had a similar reaction Mickie.
Wow was that easy!!! I was so perplexed when I was muttling through on my own.
you r the best!
Doh! That has been annoying me for AGES too!!
Thanks
)
As someone who has worked in building #1 on the MS campus in Redmond, I am shockingly horrified at how easy this fix is- especially in light of my search efforts for gleaning registry settings, etc. in order to fix this problem. Finally out of desperation, I googled up a link to this page.
Wow. That easy. I laughed as the problem was fixed.
Thanks for pointing out so eloquently, that sometimes even the smartest of us, miss the obvious, very simple answer.
Believe me Allen, I know how you feel.
I can’t believe it was this simple!! I feel so stupid! I had been trying ot get rid of old e-mail addresses for months before I thought to do a quick search in Google, and luckily for me your article appeared. Thanks so much!!!
Can’t beleive it was this simple, i was considering editing the .nst database to fix the no longer used addresses.
Gah, I feel so embarrassed!
Thanks for the VERY useful tip!
Hey all. Question.
I’m running outlook 2007 server in my environment and we also have a Cisco VoIP solution and each time there is a voice mail it sends the receiver a new message w/ the attached .wav file. My question is, is there a feature in outlook that can auto delete specific messages w/ keyword subjects, froms or even attachments within a given time frame.
Thanks
this Topic really helps me
good one
Evidently this solution does not work when you run Outlook on Mac. I’ve tried merely deleting the address using the method you provided and it is not effective. The email address stays in my system regardless. My search for an answer to this vexing problem continues…
That might be, because Outlook for MAC is not outlook. It’s Entourage. Kind of a hybrid of Outlook and Outlook Express.
Oh and by the way, thanks for the fix for the email address deletion. Ive been in the field for over 11 years, and I gave up on this awhile ago. Thanks for easy fix! Happy Holidays all!
I have just read your handy tip as to how to delete incorrect or unwanted email addresses! Fantastic! I have been dying to know how to do this for years. Well Done! Much appreciated!
Happy New Year!
I have a user who just got a new computer–he wants to have all of those memorized email addresses come over to his new computer–anyway to transport that anyone knows?
Thanks for the thanks, it’s appreciated.
No idea Kim, there’s bound to be a utility out there that does it.
Amazing. Truly amazing!
Cheers, my friend…
I have another problem, A computer wiz (?) keyed in the incorrect ID for me in outlook express so now I’m unable to send a web page to anyone using my default addess. Do you know how to solve this problem?
To get those email addresses] to another PC you could just copy the Outlook.nk2 file from one PC to the other.
Located in c:\documents and settings\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook
“username” = your actual user name.
Hi, so simple, yet works so perfect. Thanks Colin!!!
Hi Colin!
I googled, I saw the link to your article and I’ve just read it! Like everyone else, I feel stupid and yet so incredibly happy you posted a solution for this problem!
I have a question that somewhat related, maybe you or someone else here can help. I created a distribution list with all of my colleagues addresses. We have had some staff changes, so I updated and saved the distribution lists. The problem is, when I write a message, the old staff members are still included in the list, and the new staff members don’t appear. At first, I thought Outlook was remembering the old distribution list, since I used to use the drop down menu. Thanks to you, I know now how to delete a contact from the drop down menu, so I deleted it. I also deleted the distribution list in my Outlook contacts, and created a new one, albeit with the same “name.” I just sent a test email, and UGHHH the old staff members were still included and none of the new ones. Do you know why this is happening? How do I fix it? Should I just give the new distribution list a new name? Thanks in advance!
Glad I could help.
> How do I fix it? Should I just give the new distribution list a new name?
Give it a go and see how you do.
Hi Colin, The method you suggested did not work for me. Maybe it’s because I use AOL instead of Outlook or because I’m using Windows 7? Hope yo can help.
Colin, you saved me from a lot of grief! I’ve been trying to remove the email add of an old boyfriend and now finally managed to do so, thanks to you. Now, I can move on and doesn’t have to be unnecessarily reminded every time I’m trying to email. Thanks heaps!
Lol, nice one Bella. It hadn’t occurred to me that removing an old flame’s name from the list would be a driving factor, but it makes perfect sense. Glad you sorted it out.
Thanks for tip Colin. I’ve been in IT for over a decade and never figured it out until I read your tip. The help from Microsoft Outlook is just a waste of time.
Thanks Colin
.. I too have been struggling with this for long time !!
Thank you very much. Now, I feel like a jerk!
You are a rock star. I have had this problem for years. I would keep emailing the wrong address and get it bounced back. Thanks so much!