Q. For some reason my automated memory of email addresses in TO: address line won’t automatically populate in Outlook. Is there some setting that needs to be turned on?
A. Outlook maintains an auto-complete list, which is a file that contains the email addresses of every person you’ve sent an email while using the program. Using this list, Outlook can suggest an address as you start typing.
The option for auto-complete is typically enabled by default, but can be turned on or off in the settings for Outlook.
If you are using Outlook 2010 you can find these settings by clicking on the File tab and choosing Options and then clicking on Mail in the left hand column and scrolling down to the Send messages section. Here you will see a check box that says “Use Auto-Complete List to suggest names when typing in the To, Cc, and Bcc lines.”
If the option is enabled, but you auto-complete is not working then you probably have a corrupt auto-complete file.
Outlook automatically builds this file and saves it with the .NK2 extension and buries it deep in the file system of your computer. When it becomes corrupt the auto-complete stops working. The typical method of resolving this issue is to delete the auto-complete file and let Outlook build a new one. The problem with this method is that it doesn’t always work and when it does, you lose your entire archive of auto-complete addresses.
The method I use to correct this problem is to use a utility called NK2Edit from Nirsoft. This application will give you direct access to the auto-complete file which allows you to make many modifications, including editing out specific addresses you no longer need.
For the purposes of fixing a broken auto-complete file all you need to do is run the program and it will automatically open the file. Once you have it open, simply save it back to the original location and like magic, your auto-complete starts working again with all of your addresses intact.
