The ability to efficiently complete day to day tasks in the workplace is a major importance. With the invention of the portable computer, scanners, network drives, and email—people simply get things done faster. The age old saying, “Work smarter not harder” makes perfect sense. Unfortunately this doesn’t mean less hours at the office but it does help eliminate some of the mundane tasks. Could you imagine hand writing a letter and finishing it off with the lick of a stamp? Obviously better left for the strange people with pen pals.

With that said and efficiency in mind, let’s talk about email. Email software designers decided to take workplace productivity a step further and created what is known as email autocomplete.

For those that aren’t familiar with the phrase, email autocomplete functions just as it sounds. When a common email is entered, the address will pop up after the first few letters are entered. I haven’t ever experienced an email client without it.

Autocomplete sounds amazing on paper. Modern efficiency at its finest. The ability to type emails faster seems like a surefire way to get home faster.

However, this autocomplete feature doesn’t always go as planned. Some people may know exactly what I’m talking about. If the second letter of your last name is “a” , “e”, or “i” then unintentional or inappropriate emails are right around the corner. On Sunday I received a hilarious (and highly inappropriate) update on a co-workers weekend. Whoops!

Now I can’t say that I’m completely innocent on this issue. There’s been a few times after I’ve sent a somewhat important email that I noticed an unintentional name on the Cc: line. Cue the sweat and stomach drop after the realization that there’s no retracting that bad boy.

As creatures of habit, I don’t foresee anyone trying to turn this feature off. It’s efficient and it works. But what I am trying to do is bring attention to the possibility that the extremely confidential email you are about to send is better off not having your mom on the address line. That conversation with your boss will be an awkward one.

---

If you are desperate to stop the autocomplete, try these steps for Outlook, Groupwise, and Lotus Notes:

Outlook
1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
2. On the Preferences tab, click E-mail Options, and then click Advanced E-mail Options.
3. Clear the Suggest names while completing To, Cc, and Bcc fields check box.

Groupwise
1. Open Groupwise -> Tools -> Address Book (this is not performed on the compose email form, it’s on the mail program).
2. Under Address Book click File -> Name Completion Search Order.
3. Make sure Disable Name Completion is checked.

Lotus Notes
If it is pulling it from “Recent Contacts”, then you need to either delete the entry from the “Recent Contacts” view, or turn off recent contacts completely.
1. File -> Preferences -> Contacts
2. Select “Do not automatically add names to the Recent Contacts view.”

Related Posts

1. 
   
   Is it Possible to Retract My Email?
2. 
   
   The Dreaded Work Email Chain
3. 
   
   Groupwise Email: Not a Fan Favorite

---