Cleaning Outdated Email from AutoComplete (.nk2 file)

AutoComplete (of email address) is a convenient feature of Outlook XP but may not always read your mind right. It is confusing when a correspondent of yours recently changed email address and although his/her new nickname remains the same or similar to the old one, the underlying email addresses are different. It is especially sticky if you have two correspondents with similar nicknames and Outlook may try to auto fill with the wrong person. With a little oversight and fast fingers, you may accidentally send an office joke to the wrong Joe or hand your confidential report to someone else on a silver platter.

I just had a small mishap of the first scenario where the recipient has changed her address, not recently but half a year ago. There has not been an incident communicating with her until today as I composed a new email. With as good of a memory as Outlook XP does, it remembered the past and filled in the old address when I started typing in her first name. Gullible as I was, I used it and merrily composed and sent and felt relieved that I sent it out prior to the noon deadline. Lightning struck when I came back an hour later with a returned mail from the dreaded Mail Delivery Subsystem. This reminds me that I should clean up some of the outdated addresses still being remembered by Outlook XP's AutoComplete.

There are two ways you can go about that, you can delete as you go, or simply start over.

To Delete as You Go

Type in the nickname in the fields as you normally would and when Outlook finds matches for it, a small box shows up where you can scroll and select the address you want. Highlight the one(s) you want to delete and press DELETE. The next time the box comes up again, you'll see the name(s) gone.

Simply Start Over

To reset the nickname file and start fresh, you can delete the current .nk2 file or rename it to something else as a backup (always a better idea!). Outlook will rebuild one at the next restart.

If you are running 2000/XP, you'll find this file in C:\Documents and Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook in the name of <profile name>.nk2 unless you've installed your OS onto a different drive.

If you're running NT, try looking into C:\Winnt\Profiles\<username>\Application Data or C:\Winnt\Profiles\<username>\Local Settings\Application Data e.g. I only have one profile and is just called Outlook so I will use Outlook.nk2 for AutoComplete

** If you are performing a search for the .nk2 file and nothing turns out from the search, or not able to go into the directory and locate these files, please note that these are hidden files to Windows by default. You're blind folded from them until you decide that you're ready to handle the truth. To enable, just open up Windows Explorer, under Tools | Folder Options | the View tab and select "Show hidden files and folders". For me, I also like to uncheck "Hide extensions for known file types" and "Hide protected operating system files".

While you're there, you may notice other files of interest. Let's take a look at them while we're in the neighborhood --

.fav -- which as the extension suggests, is your Favorites file that contains the settings for the Outlook bar as well.

.srs -- is the file that keeps your send/receive group settings for those who use Outlook for multiple email accounts.

.rwz -- is where pre Outlook XP versions keep your mail filtering rules.

There are also other files that are not based on your profile name --

Junk Senders.txt -- is a plain text file full of email addresses of, namely, junk senders that you have identified and put into blocking mode within Outlook XP.

Outcmd.dat -- keeps your customized toolbar settings

OutlPrnt (no extension) -- keeps your customized print settings.

Other files that may be more familiar to you are --

.pst -- your personal folder which you may choose to save at a different location.

.pab -- your personal address book.