Microsoft Outlook stores files you've used so that it can easily access them again. These files are known as cached files and can be safely deleted. Clear the Outlook cache if old data remains after you delete it, something that may happen when you remove and reinstall Outlook add-ins. Another reason to delete cached files is if autocomplete data or other information displays after you delete contacts or reinstall Outlook.
Clearing Outlook 2010's mail cache. Then open the profile you want then click on the EMail Accounts and Finally switch to the Data Files Tab you can see the path of the Cache File. I simply rename this to (old) at the end restarted outlook to find it was preparing for 'First Time Use' but when it came back up all my settings were preserved. From Outlook client side, we may try to start Outlook using Outlook /CleanAutoCompleteCache to clear autocomplete cache for a end user. If you can force all users to start Outlook using this command, this can bed used to clear Outlook client side autocomplete cache for all users. If above is not possible.
Instructions in this article apply to Outlook 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007; and Outlook for Office 365.
Delete the Outlook Cache
Removing the cache in Outlook doesn't delete emails, contacts, or other useful information.
- Save any work and close Outlook.
- Press Windows key+R.
- In the Run dialog box, enter %localappdata%MicrosoftOutlook and press Enter.
- Double-click the RoamCache folder to view the cache files.Back up the cache files so that you can restore the files if something goes wrong.
- To delete the cache files, press and hold the Shift key while selecting all of the files. Then press the Delete key, or right-click the highlighted files and select Delete.
- Outlook automatically makes new cache files when you open Outlook.
Clear Auto-Complete Cache
If you only want to clear the auto-complete cache, either turn off auto-complete so the cached data doesn't display or delete the auto-complete cache completely.
- Go to the File tab and choose Options.
- In the Outlook Options dialog box, select the Mail tab.
- In the Send messages section, clear the Use Auto-Complete List to suggest names when typing in the To, Cc, and Bcc lines.
- If you want to clear the auto-complete cache, select Empty Auto-Complete List. In the confirmation dialog box, select Yes.Clear the cache to remove the auto-complete history without disabling the auto-complete feature in Outlook.
Outlook 2003 has an automatic completion for any email address that you try to type into the To or CC fields. This feature does not pull from the contacts or address book, because you may have tried to email somebody that wasn’t in your contact list, and it will still add that to the auto complete list.
The problem comes in when you put in a bad address, and then every time you go to type in the email address, the incorrect one appears in the auto complete list.
To fix this problem, there are two ways around this. The easiest way is this:
- Start typing in the address that shows up incorrectly.
- Hit the Down arrow key to select the auto completed address.
- Hit the Delete key to delete the auto complete address
The other way is by opening the profile folder and deleting the .nk2 file.
- Open up windows explorer, and paste the following into the address bar:%APPDATA%MicrosoftOutlook
- Delete the Outlook.NK2 file that you find in this folder.
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