Outlook 2003, selecting right address for new mail

[Tony Gravagno]

When I type a name in in TO, the auto-complete option shows me a
suggested list of contacts. Very frequently I don't see an option
that matches the name, but that name is positively in Contacts. Also
frequently, the only selection available is an e-mail address which
may be from a recently received mail, or even an "email-2" option from
the Contact. When I enter a partial name, I want to see all e-mail
address options from all Contacts matching the text. Any idea why
this isn't providing a more thorough selection list?

Related: Assume a full contact name was auto-selected into the address
box, like: Fname Lname <[email protected]>
If I want to change that, I need to click on TO, manually select a
Contact from the list with the same name but different address, then
remove the original. Isn't there a right-click option or something to
show alternative addresses for a selected address in the TO/CC box?

This may be a factor, when I see my contact list by clicking the TO
button, it shows "Contacts", as in my Contacts folder, not the Outlook
Address Book. Should I try to change that?

Thanks!!
Tony

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

You are confusing autocompletion with autoresolution. The former uses a
cache of names derived from messages you have sent, not your Contacts
Folder. Only the latter uses your Contacts Folder.

 

[Tony Gravagno]

Thank you very much Russ.

To get around this issue I've found that if I type a full or partial
name, followed by two spaces, then autocompletion won't select from
the Sent cache. From there Check Names will display all matching
contacts and all e-mail addresses from each contact. That
accomplishes what I was looking for.

But there's a trick here: If you do that above step and select an
entry from the displayed list, that Send cache that you mention gets
refreshed with a list of names from the Contacts! This seems to be
inconsistent, as it works with some Contacts and 2nd/3rd addresses,
but not all. Inconsistent Bug or Not Fully Implemented Feature? Who
cares, it's helping a little.

Thanks.
Tony

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

There are a number of ways you can bypass autocompletion and select
autoresolution. You can also turn off autocompletion and just use
autoresolution.

Manual autoresesolution selections you make are stored in the cache as well.
I've never seen what you claim: that the cache gets populated with names you
did not select. List the steps to repro more clearly so I can check, and
list what entries are made into the cache.