I need to delete an email from my autocomplete

Question

I recently hired someone and when I type their name into a new email, Outlook first shows their personal email address in the autocomplete list. On Windows there was always an X next to a contact and I could delete it from showing up in the future.

Answer 1

Hi Affinito, Mike,

Microsoft recently retired the "Contact Masking" feature which allowed users to hide suggested recipients by clicking the X next to a name. This change rolled out across Outlook Desktop, Web, and Mobile and reached end of support on March 31, 2026. As part of this retirement, the X delete icon is no longer available or behaves consistently in newer builds.

You can find information about this change in MC1234566

Since you are using Outlook Classic, the most effective workaround is to clear the AutoComplete list. Please see the options below to troubleshoot the issue:

Option 1: Clear the AutoComplete list

Note: Before proceeding, review your Contacts and ensure you have saved any entries from the AutoComplete list that you want to keep. Once the AutoComplete list is cleared, the data is permanently deleted and cannot be recovered.

To clear the AutoComplete list:

• Go to File > Options > Mail.
• Scroll down to the Send messages section (about two-thirds down the page).
• Click Empty Auto-Complete List.

• Or you can close Outlook and restart it using the cleanautocompletecache command.

Close Outlook.

• Press Win key + R to open the Run command.

Type or paste the following line in the Run field.

outlook.exe /cleanautocompletecache

• Press Enter or click OK to restart Outlook.

In New Outlook, you can do that through Suggested people tab:

To disable Suggested People and clear the data:

1. Go to View > View Settings.
2. Select General > Privacy and data.
3. Under Suggested people, choose Clear data and turn off.

Please note:

• It may take up to 48 hours for the AutoComplete list to fully clear.
• You can verify that it has been cleared by exporting the list. If successful, the resulting CSV file should be empty.
• You can re-enable AutoComplete (also called Expanded contact suggestions) at any time if needed.

You can also access the AutoComplete list by:

1. Go to Settings & Privacy for your work or school account.
2. Select the Privacy tab, and under Data options, expand Manage contact suggestions and discovery
3. You can Clear data or download contacts there.

For more information, please consult: Manage suggested recipients in the To, Cc, and Bcc fields in Outlook - Microsoft Support

Option 2: Clear the Suggested People list from Outlook on the web or New Outlook

This option allows you to export the entries from your AutoComplete list before clearing them, so you can retain access to those email addresses if needed. However, it needs to be done via New Outlook or Outlook on the web.

Be aware that importing this data later may create duplicate contacts, which you may need to clean up manually.

Step 1: Export your AutoComplete list to a CSV file

1. Go to Settings > General > Privacy and data.
2. (In New Outlook for Windows, if you have multiple accounts, select the appropriate account.)
3. Under Suggested people, select Download my expanded people data.

This will download a file to your computer named suggested_people.csv.

Step 2: Edit the suggested_people.csv file

1. Open the suggested_people.csv file.
2. Add a new row at the top with the following columns: Last Name | E-mail Address | Notes
3. In the Notes column, enter: Imported from Autocomplete YYYY-MM-DD (After importing, you can search for this text to easily locate these contacts in New Outlook for Windows.)
4. Review the file and remove any incorrect or outdated entries.
5. Save and close the file, ensuring it remains in CSV format (do not allow your editor to convert it to an Excel file format).

Step 3: Import the edited list as contacts

1. In Outlook, switch to the People app.
2. Select Import contacts and follow the prompts to upload your edited CSV file.

I hope this helps you resolve the issue quickly. I’m glad to assist and truly hope the information provided has been useful. Please feel free to reach out anytime if you need further assistance.  

However, I understand that these steps may not be as effective as the previous “Contact Masking” feature. I recognize that this change can significantly impact your workflow. I would recommend submitting feedback directly from Outlook by navigating to Outlook · Community, as this is the most effective way to ensure your input reaches the product team and can be considered for future improvements.

Other users in the community have already shared similar feedback there. Return ability to delete individual auto-complete suggestions for email recipients · Community

Once you've submitted your feedback, feel free to share the link here in the comments. I’ll be happy to upvote it to help bring more visibility.  

Note: As Microsoft Community moderators, please note that we are not involved in product design decisions and do not have direct access to the development roadmap, we want to assure you that your feedback has been acknowledged and is valued.  

In the meantime, if you see my replies bring helpful information, please kindly accept it as an answer and vote it up by your original account, which raised this question. Once marked, it will automatically pin to top. As other users will also search information in this community, your valuable vote up will definitely also help other users who have similar queries easily to find the correct channel and useful information more quickly.   

I hope this provides enough clarity and helps you stay inform with your current situation.

Thank you for your patience and your understanding. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please feel free to share them in the comments on this post so I can continue to support you.    

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Answer 2

In classic Outlook for Windows, suggested recipients in the To/Cc/Bcc fields come from the AutoComplete (Contact Suggestions) list. The behavior to remove individual entries has recently changed for some customers.

Currently supported way to manage unwanted suggestions:

1. Try removing the specific suggestion (if available in the build in use):
   • Start a new email.
   • In the To field, start typing the person’s name.
   • When the unwanted personal address appears in the suggestion list, hover over it.
   • If an X appears next to it, select the X, or highlight it with the arrow keys and press Delete.
   • Next time, type the full correct (work) address; it will be added back to the list.
2. If the X/Delete behavior is no longer available or does not work reliably:
   • This per-entry removal functionality has been removed in the latest Outlook release for some users, as confirmed in the referenced Q&A threads.
   • In that case, the only supported AutoComplete-level action is to clear the entire list:
     1. In Outlook, select File > Options.
     2. Select the Mail tab.
     3. Under Send messages, select Empty Auto-Complete List.
     4. Confirm with Yes.
   • After clearing, send a new message to the correct (work) address so it is re-added to the list. Avoid sending to the personal address so it is not reintroduced.
3. If the AutoComplete cache is corrupted (for example, not saving new entries correctly), clearing the list as above is also the documented fix. As an alternative, Outlook can be started once with the switch that clears the cache:
   • Use Outlook.exe /CleanAutoCompleteCache (ensuring the correct path to Outlook.exe if not in the default location).

Note that Contact Suggestions are now generated using Microsoft 365 service data (personal contacts, organization contacts, and previously used addresses). If the personal address is stored as a contact, deleting or editing that contact may also reduce its prominence in suggestions.

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References:

• The Outlook AutoComplete list
• Manage suggested recipients in the To, Cc, and Bcc fields in Outlook
• Outlook replies or forwards cause non-delivery error “Your message did not reach some or all of the intended recipients”
• Outlook 365 Classic Autocomplete gone strange - Microsoft Q&A
• Unable to remove autosuggest email from Outlook - Microsoft Q&A