Gmail contacts editing
2015-07-27
2015-07-27
Here’s a revised edition of a post I wrote in 2013 about cleaning up auto-complete cruft in Gmail.
Gmail remembers all addresses you’ve sent email to. When you start addressing a new email it will suggest previously used addresses in the auto-complete list. If one of your contacts recently changed their address you’ll see both the old and new addresses suggested. Here’s how to remove the old address and avoid sending email to the dead letter office.
Start typing the recipient’s name or address. Click on the old address when it appears.
Hover the cursor over the old address until a popup window appears. Click “Contact info”.
If only one email address is listed click on the vertical ellipsis.
Click “Delete”.
If multiple email addresses are listed click the pen symbol to edit the contact.
Delete the old address then click “Save”.
To change the behaviour so email addresses don’t get automatically added to the auto-complete list click “Settings” in the gear menu.
In the General tab scroll down and select “I’ll add contacts myself”. Click “Save Changes”.
Compose a new email to test if the old address is gone. Sometimes it takes a minute (or a page reload) for the change to take effect.