When sending to wrong email address, pressing Tab key causes wrong email address to be used again

Question

Hello,

I would like to report an incredibly annoying feature that could be described as a bug.

When you send an email to an incorrect email address, and then try to send it to the correct email address, hitting the TAB key to scroll down to the CC/BCC/Subject field will cause the previously used incorrect email address to be inserted.

Say for example, you send the email to microsof@microsoft.com (the T is missing from microsoft), when you intend to send it to microsoft@microsoft.com, and then you create a new email and type "microsoft@microsoft.com" and hit TAB key, it will revert back to the previously microsof@microsoft.com as it retrieves the previous email address and "auto corrects" it to the previous iteration?

Is there a way to stop this?

Answer 1

Dear @Justin -,

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A forum.

We’re sorry for the inconvenience this behavior has caused, and we appreciate you taking the time to bring this to our attention.

What you’re experiencing is related to Outlook’s Suggested Recipients (Auto-Complete) feature in New Outlook for Windows. When an email address has been used before, Outlook may store it and automatically suggest or reinsert it when you move between fields, such as when pressing the Tab key.

You can stop the incorrect address from appearing by using the following options:

1. Open a new email.
2. Start typing the incorrect email address in the To field.
3. When the address appears in the suggestion list, hover over it and select the X (Remove) icon.

Visit here for more details: Manage suggested recipients in the To, Cc, and Bcc fields in Outlook

We understand how important it is to have a smooth and predictable experience when composing emails, and we agree that improvements in this area would be valuable for many users.

While we’re not able to change the current product design through this forum, we strongly encourage you to share your feedback directly with Microsoft. This is the most effective way to help influence future improvements.

You can submit feedback using one of the following methods:

• In New Outlook for Windows: go to Help > Give feedback
• Or via the Microsoft 365 Feedback Hub:

Go to: Microsoft 365 Feedback Hub > Select Send Feedback > Describe your experience and suggestion in detail.

Sharing your experience through these channels helps the product teams better understand real-world scenarios and prioritize future enhancements.

Thank you again for your patience and for sharing your feedback. If you have any other questions about the current functionality, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We’re here to help.

Answer 2

It sounds like you're experiencing an issue with the AutoComplete feature in Outlook. When you type an email address and press the TAB key, Outlook may revert to a previously used address if it matches the beginning of what you've typed. To address this issue, you can try the following steps:

1. Check AutoComplete Settings: Ensure that AutoComplete is turned on. You can do this by going to File > Options > Mail and checking the box for "Use AutoComplete List to suggest names when typing in the To, Cc, and Bcc lines."
2. Clear AutoComplete List: If AutoComplete is already on, consider clearing the AutoComplete list. You can do this by selecting the Empty AutoComplete List button in the same settings area. This will remove all previously stored email addresses, which may help prevent incorrect addresses from being suggested.
3. Test Sending Emails: After clearing the list, try sending a few test emails to the correct address to see if the issue persists.

If the problem continues, it may be beneficial to check for updates or consider reaching out to Microsoft support for further assistance.

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References:

• AutoComplete not working correctly in Outlook 2010