16.01.08
Outlook: How To Remove Auto Email Address Dropdowns
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.
chris said,
January 18, 2008 at 1:04 pm
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.
Colin McNulty said,
January 18, 2008 at 1:30 pm
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.
steve said,
May 5, 2008 at 10:21 pm
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
Dion said,
August 11, 2008 at 8:45 pm
Thank you so much for the tip!!! It works!!!! :o)
I got rid of some annoying email addresses that I’ve only sent to once and will never be emailing again!!!
YOU RULE!!!!
Colin McNulty said,
August 14, 2008 at 5:22 pm
Always happy to see an appreciative poster.