Q:  I’ve sent Outlook emails to a contact at a customer for a long time, and Outlook will suggest her email address in a list whenever I start typing her name in the “To…” address box. This was nice, but that person no longer works for my customer. I’ve removed her contact information from my address book, but I still see that person’s email address in a list when I start typing a name that begins with the same letters as hers, and sometimes choose it by mistake. How can I clear that name from Outlook’s memory and that suggestion list?

A:  When you start typing a name in the “To…” address box, Outlook tries to help you by suggesting previous email addresses you’ve typed that begin with those same letters. Happily, you’re a single <Delete> keystroke away from removing invalid addresses from this auto-complete feature. Here’s how…

1. Open a new email message in Outlook.
2. In the “To…” address box, type: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Type the phrase “Tip Test” in the “Subject” line and press the “Send” button. All we’ve done so far is add an email address to the list of saved emails that we can delete without consequences. Now, let’s delete something!
3. Open a new email message in Outlook, and type just the letter ‘T’. Assuming you’ve sent emails to other addresses that begin with ‘T’, you’ll see several email addresses display in a list.
4. Using the up and down arrow keys on your keyboard, highlight the This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it email address. Note the screenshot below. Though this shows Outlook 2007, the same behavior exists in Outlook 2000, Outlook XP, and Outlook 2003.
   
   
   
   Note:  You must use your arrow keys to scroll up and down the list of email addresses. If you use your mouse to select an entry in the list, it will populate the “To…” field with the selected entry.
5. With This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it highlighted, press the <Delete> key.
6. Note that This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it is no longer an entry in the list of email addresses which begin with ‘T’.

For those of you looking to bolster your chances in Geek Jeopardy, the list of cached email addresses is kept in a file with a .NK2 extension.