We just started using Outlook 2013 via office 365 exchange and I am finding the autocomplete isn't working for all accounts (we have 4 accounts).  We moved from outlook 2003 (on site exchange) by exporting mail to PST files and importing to 2013.

I've read many threads about autocomplete and no links/solutions seem to work for us.  Some threads have even suggested that Autocomplete does not work from the address book but from cached email addresses.  I find that to be false.  Does anyone else?  I just created a pubic folder, manually and entered all contacts, and shared these with other users.  On my system, autocomplete is most certainly reading from those contacts, not from previously sent messages.

Emptying the Autocomplete list doesn't work.

Clearing cached exchange mode doesn't work

There is no NK2 file to use from a previous version

I tried to copy my stream_autocomplete.dat file to another system - doesn't work.

I noticed that in the following registry location, I have 10 entries, while another workstation only has 9 entries. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Outlook\Perf\RoamingStreamsCache

Worth mentioning:  Other users are not allowed admin access, where I am.  What is it going to take to make Autocomplete work on all workstations instead of just mine?

Thanks.

I just tried this method by Tree-Tops 

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office_2013_release-outlook/outlook-2013-auto-complete/4e4978f1-153c-4385-aed1-daccf319a948?page=3

This appears to work, but does not explain why I did NOT have to do this on my system.  Still would like to know why this hack and/or workaround is necessary.

Hi,

I read your first post and found something not accurate:

"Some threads have even suggested that Autocomplete does not work from the address book but from cached email addresses.  I find that to be false."

Actually it is not false. AutoComplete displays names and email addresses as you start to type them. These are possible matches to names and email addresses gathered from the email that you have sent in the past.

To know your scenario better, would you please let me know which step in that thread resolved the problem?

Regards,

Melon Chen
TechNet Community Su

I say that is false because:

I just manually entered all of our contacts, many of those contacts I have never heard of.  Yet autocomplete works for those contacts, which I have never heard of, let alone sent an email to. 

Is my autocomplete working like this because I am the one who did the data entry?  There is definitely a difference in behavior between my machine and the remainder of the office machines.

As for the steps which made autocomplete work on the other machines in the office, per the above link:

To make ALL Address Book entries available in Auto-Complete:

• Create a new e-mail

• Move the cursor to the To field

• Click Address Book

• Highlight all the names in the Address Book

• Move the cursor to the To field in Address Book

• Click Enter

• Click OK

• All the names will appear in the new e-mail  DO NOT SEND IT!!!

• Save it as a Draft

• This will make the names available in Auto-Complete

• Delete the Draft

• I have had to do this more than once, so it appears that something eventually removes the names from auto-complete.  Just follow this procedure again to restore them.

Hi,

"Is my autocomplete working like this because I am the one who did the data entry?"

-Yes.

I think you probably have known the whole mechanism, we need to at least input the email address once to make it avaiblae in the AutoComplete list, as mentioned in my previous post, AutoComplete displays names and email addresses match to names and email addresses gathered from the email that you have sent in the past.

Regards,

Melon Chen
TechNet Community Su

I've have simply filled in the contact information, no email was actually sent to each person.

I just tried this method by Tree-Tops 

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office_2013_release-outlook/outlook-2013-auto-complete/4e4978f1-153c-4385-aed1-daccf319a948?page=3

This appears to work, but does not explain why I did NOT have to do this on my system.  Still would like to know why this hack and/or workaround is necessary.

Upon further review this process only works for the current session of outlook.  Restarting outlook erases the autocomplete list.

This article did not solve the issue: https://support.office.com/en-sg/article/The-Auto-Complete-list-doesnt-remember-names-or-email-addresses-19ba9a7d-e37a-4220-97c1-40499bc2f357

So, this is still an issue for 75% of the users in this office.

Hi,

Well, you can refer to this link below:

Filling the Auto-Complete list with Contact addresses

Please Note: Since the web site is not hosted by Microsoft, the link may change without notice. Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy of this information.

The steps mentioned in the article above are quite similar to yours. To be more accurate, we don't have to make the emails delivered to the recipients to fill the AutoComplete list, Outlook will generate the list during the process of adding the contacts to the To field and saving the message as a draft(or clicking Send).

Regards,

Melon Chen
TechNet Community Su

Taking outlook offline prior to sending the message seems to have done the trick.  I've restarted outlook and the autocomplete seems to still function.

Thank you.

PS:  Wouldn't it make more sense for Microsoft to design autocomplete to work from the address book instead of this trickery?

PS:  Wouldn't it make more sense for Microsoft to design autocomplete to work from the address book instead of this trickery?

Hi,

It's a by-design thing currently.

To check the names from the Address Book, I think "Check Names" feature can do this for us.

Regards,

Melon Chen
TechNet Community Su