Update! You can now use a registry key to change back to the simple autocomplete list.
An Administrator had a very valid complaint:
My users were happy with the autocomplete feature in Outlook. At least they were before. They aren’t happy with the new "recent people" feature. How can we bring back the old autocomplete list format?
You aren’t alone in your dislike of the new autocomplete list. Yes, it’s nice to see some pictures next to names, but with only 5 names on the list, its limiting and users need to type more of a name out to bring up the autocorrect entry they are looking for. It's also buggy and hard to remove entries from the Other Suggestions section.
I’m happy to say that Microsoft listened. You can now use a registry key to go back to the old-style list of names. Not only is it a simple list, but it displays at least 40 entries in the autocomplete list.
To enable the old-style autocomplete list, add the DisableAutoCompleteUpdate to this key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Options DWORD: DisableAutoCompleteUpdate Value: 1
You'll need to restart Outlook after setting the registry key.
If you don't want to edit the registry yourself, I have this ready-to-use registry key.
DisableAutoCompleteUpdate
Dan says
Hello Diane, im getting this problem not on the Desktop app but on the OWA version. Can't figure it out how to solve this on that version
Diane Poremsky says
The autocomplete list is not controllable on owa or new outlook. Sorry.
Andy O says
This is just fantastic!
Paul says
Thank you SO much. This was driving me crazy. :)
Colin Harris says
This Outlook 'fault' was driving me potty. But Diane's worked easily and saved the day. Thanks a lot!
Keith Webb says
Instant cure. 2019. Saved my sanity. Thanks Diane
zane says
I am using office 2019 and this reg key does nothing to fix the issue.
Diane Poremsky says
Until the update at the end of April, outlook 2019 had the "good" autocomplete list. Microsoft is releasing an update - should be out this week - to fix the autocomplete bugs. Time will tell if it restores the small list to outlook 2019 or keeps the larger entries found in Outlook 365.
Paul says
I just updated Office tonight .. Outlook 2019 is now back to the smaller (good) list. I had the reg key in place prior to updating and it stuck
Diane Poremsky says
you shouldn't need the reg key with outlook 2019, only outlook 365, which had the larger 2-line autocomplete entries. But it shouldn't hurt to keep it.
Jeff says
from another thread this guy's fix worked for me on office 2016
Yu-Ting Shen (@guest_218220)
May 14, 2021 1:24 am
Hi Team,
For office 2019, 2016, please try(worked for me)!
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\<x.0>\Outlook\AutoNameCheck
create a New, and then select DWORD value MaxNickNames
set the value to 20 or something.
Ed Kivell says
I have two clients with Office 2019 which has Outlook 2019. They downloaded and applied your registry fix to each computer. On the first computer, the fix did not work after restaring Outlook, but restarting the computer, it did appear to work. However, after shutting down the computer and booting from a cold start, the fix did not work and refuses to work again.
On the second computer, the fix did not work and despite restarting the computer, it refuses to fix the auto-complete problem.
WE reapplied the fix to both computers and restarted them, but no solution. Any thoughts? Thanks for your help.
Diane Poremsky says
there is a bug in the autocomplete list - added in an update at the end of April. It should be fixed next week.
Or you can rollback to the last known good that had a decent autocomplete list.
Type cmd on the Start screen to find the Command Prompt then right click on it and choose Run as Administrator
Paste this in the command window and press enter to revert to the April 23 build, the last known good version.
cd %programfiles%\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ClickToRun
officec2rclient.exe /update user updatetoversion=16.0.13901.20462
More information and a video of the steps is at https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/uninstall-update-office-click-run/
Dave Atkinson says
This does not work with Outlook 2019 any other help you can provide?
Diane Poremsky says
There is a bug in the current builds. it should be fixed in about 10 days, more or less.
Michelle says
Will Microsoft Office 365 be fixing this in a new update?
For some reason, was able to fix it on my computer without doing anything except downloading the link, but I'm having trouble with my boss' computer. I downloaded the link and tried the actual code but still problems.
Diane Poremsky says
The autocomplete bug will be fixed in an update expected next week.
Paul says
I am running Office 2016 MSO (16.0.13929.20206) 32-bit. The registry update did not work to bring back the previous simple autocomplete list. The autocomplete list displays upwards; each suggestion appears in boxes; suggestions cannot be deleted; and there is just 3 to 5 in the list.
Diane Poremsky says
The key only works if you set it previously. You can rollback the install - or wait for the fix, which should be in about a week.
roll back instructions are at
Autocomplete is messed up in Outlook (slipstick.com)
Suggestions can be deleted - use the Delete key or Shift+Delete.
JPC says
The registry setting did NOT fix my issue. Arghh :(
Solana says
WOOHOOOO the disable outlook updates and revert back to previous version just made me the hero of the office! Thank you!!
John D says
I'm running office pro plus 2019, version 2104. The registry modification does not seem to do anything. Anything else that might work?
Diane Poremsky says
you can revert to the previous build.
Autocomplete is messed up in Outlook (slipstick.com)
John D says
That worked great, thank you very much. I have done that for 20 people so far. Is there any list to get on for getting notification that it's been fixed so I can turn Outlook update back on?
Diane Poremsky says
I don't know yet if they will add it to the issues list at Fixes or workarounds for recent issues in Outlook for PC - Outlook (microsoft.com) - I'll update my pages here.
Kevin says
I wasn't able to complete the Regedit fix in Windows 10, most of my users are using MS Office 2016. What do you recommend?
Diane Poremsky says
You can rollback to the older build or wait for a fix. (No idea yet how long that will be.)
Are you using 32 or 64bit office?
Instructions to rollback are here -
Autocomplete is messed up in Outlook (slipstick.com)
GreatUpdateMS! says
Thanks for this! I noticed it and didn't pay much attention but had plenty of other user complaining!
Joe says
MS or Diane, Please help!!! We need the AutoComplete list in Outlook 2019 back to the old style list of names OR REALLY FIX the major issues with the new style QUICKLY. The Regedit solution posted at Slipstick.com/Outlook/good-autocomplete-list/ does not work on our completely updated Windows 10 Computer (2021-05-03). It seems like one of the recent updates changed it to the new style of the AutoComplete list, and I can't get it back. As a last resort, I am going to try remove last few updates and hope it goes back to the old style, but I know that will be a temporary fix until the next auto update.
Diane Poremsky says
There is a bug in the autocomplete list - Microsoft is investigating.
Set outlook / office to not install updates automatedly then use the rollback script to go back a build or two -
I think the April 23 version is good -
April 29, 2021 Version 2104 (Build 13929.20296)
April 23, 2021 Version 2103 (Build 13901.20462)
April 13, 2021 Version 2103 (Build 13901.20400)
Use "C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\ClickToRun\officec2rclient.exe" /update user updatetoversion=16.0.13901.20462
Uninstall Updates in Office 'Click to Run' (slipstick.com)
Walter says
Diane Poremsky says
Are you using Outlook 2016 or 2019? There is something buggy with the autocomplete list in the latest updates - some users have the autocomplete list going up not down and the list is a weird size.
nnd says
Outlook 2016. It goes up most of the time, weird size, registry fix didn't work. Soon I'll have few dozens angry users on my head. Any fix?
Diane Poremsky says
The only option until it is fixed is to rollback to a previous version.
Matt Markley says
Diane, I have tried entering the registry fix along with using the download and neither one seems to switch me back to the old style of AutoComplete. I have tried restarting the computer and no luck. Is this Registry entry still valid and working?
Diane Poremsky says
Which version of outlook are you using? It is not working but I think that is due to a bug in the latest builds of 2016, 2019 and 365.
Sharon Levin says
Hi Diane. I just commented below but on further inspection, it seems the change worked but I have lost all my historical contacts so nothing is coming up with autocomplete. How can I get these back?
Sharon Levin says
Hi Diane. Thank you for this information. I lost my autocomplete when moving to Office 365. I had recent people but not autocomplete so made the change you recommended. Now, after restarting, I have neither. Any thoughts?
JF Gagne says
Thank, Thank, Thank, Thank and Thank. You make my day :)
Patrick L. Gillen says
Thank you Diane! I spent way too many hours trying other methods including some of yours to no avail.
In my case, I was missing the X at the right side of the bad autocomplete entry for contacts that do not exist.
Minor edit above though: at least with Office 365 for Business, the DWORD key DisableAutoCompleteUpdate did not exist and had to be added.
Diane Poremsky says
The registry value will not exist for any version - it will need to be added.
Bob says
Thanks... that was awesome, is there a way to change the font in the new old list?
Diane Poremsky says
no, the font is preset and can't be changed.
Mike says
Thank you! You mention the buggy "other list" mine kept bringing up obsolete addresses just because they were used in the past.
Bryant says
Wow. I've been looking for a fix for the past few months since I moved to Outlook 365. This is it. It worked after restarting my laptop. Thanks!
Jim Greene says
You are a god! Thank you so much for this fix! I used your ready-to-use reg file and it appears to have made the change. I can't wait to have a day or so under my belt managing the email addresses that show up in my autocomplete list,,,jim
Rod Jara says
Hi, i tried the above steps however the "suggested" names from my outlook contacts were still now showing up as i started to type. I even clicked and downloaded the link to have the key added automatically. Any advice on what i can do to get my contacts to show up as i start typing?
Diane Poremsky says
Which version and build of Outlook are you using? See File, Office Account for the information.
Did you restart Outlook?
Kristina says
I so appreciate the tech-savvy folks who can give us a simple download (registry key) to then run and get everything back to normal. YOU'RE AWESOME!!!!
Henry S. Winokur says
You don't say what version of Outlook this fix applies to. I assume it's not 2010...but in particular, which is it? Thanks
Diane Poremsky says
Outlook 2010 should have the 'old' autocomplete list - this key is for 2016 that has the new, big format.
sk9 says
hey, thank you for your help, but can you help with one more thing? I'm not very good with these type of things, but I really want to switch to the old style. I found "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Options" on the Registry Editor but I don't know what to do next?
where do I find "DWORD: DisableAutoCompleteUpdate"?
and how do I change to "Value: 1"?
Diane Poremsky says
You need to right click and choose add DWORD. Then type or paste DisableAutoCompleteUpdate. or just download this reg file and run it - https://www.slipstick.com/doit/DisableAutoCompleteUpdate.reg
Cyn says
Can someone walk me through how to do this. I had to say but I dont know what you mean by editing a key and where or how to even begin to do this. Thanks!!
Diane Poremsky says
You can download and run this ready-to-use reg file: https://www.slipstick.com/doit/DisableAutoCompleteUpdate.reg
Open the Start menu and type regedit. Double click to open.
Browse to the registry key you need to edit or change.
In windows 10, you can paste the key path - HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Options - in the address field under the File Edit menus. Press Enter to jump to the right location.
Right click on Options key and choose new > DWORD (32 bit). Type or paste DisableAutoCompleteUpdate, then right click and choose Modify. Enter 1 as the Value Data then click OK.
John Casner says
Thank you for registry key and solution. it's a godsend, as I am sending dozens of emails everyday. OUTLOOK 365 has been a recurring nightmare for me, running a non-profit with no-tech support.
Len Raphael says
Thank you greatly. The "new" auto complete made it very hard to delete incorrect addresses. especially where Outlook insisted on labeling a spouses email address w name of the primary spouse even when i created separate contacts for each spouse.
Steven says
I do not have the key "DisableAutoCompleteUpdate" in my registry. I am running Windows 10 with all current updates and Outlook 2016. Did anyone have to add this registry entry and if so did they ceate a 32bit or 64 bit dword?
Diane Poremsky says
If the key does not exist, you need to create it - and this wont exist because its not a default that outlook creates. It is a DWORD (32-bit).