How to convert your Autocomplete List to Contacts and erase the List

Microsoft has removed the ability to delete a single entry from your Autocomplete/Suggested People List (the drop down of suggested email addresses you see when you start typing in the “To:” field).

Previously there was an “X” to the right of an Autocomplete entry that would remove it from the list. Now the only method to get rid of a incorrect or out of date Autocomplete entry is to erase the whole list.

This workaround will show you how to convert the items in your Autocomplete List to Contacts so you will still have access to the email addresses from the Autocomplete List if you need to erase it.

Warning – The Import process is not that smart. You may end up with duplicate Contacts and have to clean up the mess manually.

A – Export your Autocomplete List to a CSV file

File — Settings —-General —-Privacy and data —-(New Outlook for Windows – If you have multiple accounts, select an account) —-Suggested people —-Download my expanded people data (If you can’t get this method to work, see section E – Alternate ways to access your Autocomplete List)

This will download a file to your PC named “suggested_people.csv”. Open it.

B – Edit the suggested_people.csv

Edit the suggested_people.csv and add a new row at the top. The new row must have three columns: Last Name | E-mail Address | Notes Fill in the Notes column with “Imported from Autocomplete YYYY-MM-DD”. Once Imported you can do a Search on this string to find them in New Outlook for Windows. Edit the file to remove any incorrect or out of date entries. Save and close the file (keep it in the original CSV format, do not let your editor convert it to an Excel Format file).

C – Import your edited Autocomplete List as Contacts

In Outlook switch to the People App and then Import contacts.

Browse to your suggested_people.csv file, select it, and Import. You should see a confirmation message.

D – Erase your Autocomplete List

Warning – Check your Contacts and be sure you have imported all the entries from the Autocomplete List that you want to keep. Once you Clear the Autocomplete List that data is gone and can not be recovered.

View —View Settings — General — Privacy and data — Suggested people —Clear data and turn off

You can come back later and activate Autocomplete (“expanded contacts suggestions”) again if you wish.

E – Alternate ways to access your Autocomplete List:

Personal Account Privacy page: https://account.microsoft.com/privacy/people-suggestions

MS 365 Account Privacy page: https://myaccount.microsoft.com/settingsandprivacy/privacy — Manage contact suggestions and discovery