Remove email addresses from Outlook 4

[jfc1003]

In outlook, if you type an email address, it remembers it then next time you start typing. But how do you clear these email addresses? They are not in my contact list, because I never added them. I can't figure out how to clear the addresses from Outlook's memory.

 

[smah]

Because you didn't specify which version of Outlook that you're using, I can only get you started. You're looking for the 'nickname' cache. See

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;245421

 

[jfc1003]

It is Outlook XP, but I am not sure if that is what I am looking for after reading the article you referred me to. It is more of an autocomplete feature where it remembers email addresses I have used in the past but never added to my contacts. I tried the Outlook 2000 nickname utility and it tells me the file does not exist.

 

[smah]

The nickname utility doesn't work on Outlook XP. To clear the nickname cache find the *.nk2 files and rename or delete as mentioned here

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;287623

 

[EdwardMartinIII]

Damn, that's handy.

Star for you, smah!

Cheers,


Edward

"Cut a hole in the door. Hang a flap. Criminy, why didn't I think of this earlier?!" -- inventor of the cat door

 

[Jovah]

If you just want to keep one or two names from popping up (instead of clearing them all) you can do this by:

1. Opening a new e-mail
2. Begin typing the first three letters of the person's name you want to eliminate.
3. When Outlook offers the possible names for you to choose, use your arrows to pick the one you want to eliminate then press the delete key.

This is a good trick for getting rid of people's addresses who aren't in your addressbook but whose e-mail addresses show up anyway (b/c they were on a forward list of a message you received or something.)

Hope that helped...

Matt

 

[badash57]

Jovah,

GREAT TIP!! I have been looking for a way to do that for a few months now. I'm kicking myself for thinking it was that easy.

 

[krinid]

Question:
After deleting all .nk2 files and the corresponding contacts I don't want to pop up but Outlook STILL auto-completes the name as the wrong email address, what can be done? Where are the traces of this address being stored?

I have 2 email ID's I've entered in in the past who have the same last name. When I enter it in, I don't get any choice among the options (and therefore I can't hit delete on the unwanted one) - it just picks the one I don't want it to. I think this is a factor of the Japanese input environment I operate in, because while entering the kanji, I never get a choice.

 

[adnorton]

I have deleted the nk2 files from the workstation but outlook is not recreating the nk2 file but still caches the names in outlook itself. How is the file recreated?

 

[smah]

Azzlano, what version of Outlook are you using? There are differences in how the nicknames are stored and retrieved.

 

[krinid]

FYI
In my case, the problem was not the nk2 files after all. I apparently have contacts stored in both "Contacts" and "Personal Address Book" and they need to be deleted from both.