Delete an Address From Outlook's Autocomplete List

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Updated December 12, 2019

Outlook remembers every address you enter in the To, Cc, and Bcc fields of an email message. Then, when you enter the first few letters of a name or email address, Outlook automatically suggests contacts that match. If Outlook remembers mistyped and old contacts that you don't want to appear in the autocomplete list, get rid of those entries.

Person deleting a contact in Outlook — Lifewire / Grace Kim

Instructions in this article apply to Outlook 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007; Outlook for Office 365; Outlook for Mac; and Outlook Online.

Remove a Name or Email Address from the Outlook Autocomplete List

To delete a single contact from the autocomplete list:

Create a new email message.
In the To field, enter the name or address you want to remove. As you enter the contact information, the autocomplete list displays the available matches.
Press the Down Arrow key to highlight the entry you want to delete from the list.
Select Delete (the X to the right of the contact name). Or, press the Delete key.

Delete All the Addresses From the Outlook Autocomplete List

To clear the autocomplete list of all entries in Outlook 2019, 2016, 2013, and 2010:

Go to the File tab.
Select Options.
In the Outlook Options dialog box, select the Mail category.
In the Send messages section, select Empty Auto-Complete List.
In the confirmation dialog box, select Yes.
If you want to turn off the autocomplete list and prevent Outlook from suggesting recipients, clear the Use Auto-Complete List to suggest names when typing in the To, Cc, and Bcc lines check box.
Select OK to close the Outlook Options dialog box.

Stop Outlook 2007 from Suggesting Recipients

To turn off the autocomplete list in Outlook 2007:

Select Tools > Options.
Select E-mail options.
Select Advanced E-mail Options.
Clear the Suggest names while completing To, Cc, and Bcc fields check box.
Click OK.

Remove an Address From the Autocomplete List in Outlook.com

Outlook.com draws its autocomplete suggestions from multiple sources. If you don't want to see an entry in the autocomplete list, delete the email address from the contact entry.

Go to the View Switcher and select People.
Select the contact that contains the email address that you want to delete from the autocomplete list.

To find a contact quickly, go to the Search box and enter the email address you want to remove from the autocomplete list.
Select Edit.
Delete the outdated or unwanted address.
Select Save.
The contact no longer appears in the Outlook.com autocomplete list.