Bob and Fred, two very young former sales reps, were passing the time ripping a difficult customer via private emails to each other. They said some terrible things and used language that would make a prison yard dog blush. Ya that bad!. Suddenly, Fred noticed their customer’s email address on the CC line. Freudianly, they included their customer in every nasty email. Oooops!

Have you ever sent an email to the wrong person? Hopefully, it didn’t matter. However, it could be an embarrassing and even critical error. Example: suppose you have two clients named John. You send John A your regular price list. Later, whilst negotiating a new project with John B, you offer a discount. Outlook just sent the discounted fee schedule to John A instead of John B, as you intended. Oooops!

Just how did that happen? Usually, this kind of error occurs when you are in a hurry or distracted. You type John into the To box, take the first hit, and send ”without realizing that Outlook AutoComplete chose the wrong John. It happens".

There are two ways to complete an email address

First Method:

1. Click the To button to view the Select Names dialog box, which displays names in first name order (unless you've changed the sort order). You select the name and continue.

2. You start typing a name in the To box. Based on the characters you enter, Outlook's AutoComplete feature displays a list of possible choices. As you enter more characters, Outlook narrows the list.

Second Method is the one that can get you into trouble. The AutoComplete feature updates its list so fast that it's easy to select the wrong item. It's a great feature, but prone to mishaps if you're not careful. You can disable AutoComplete as follows:

1. In the Mail window, choose Options from the Tools menu.
2. Click Email Options.
3. Click Advanced Email Options.
4. Uncheck the Suggest Names While Completing To, Cc, And Bcc Fields option.
5. Click OK three times.
6. The truth is, AutoComplete is helpful and you might not want to disable it. To me it is a just more trouble than it's worth.

Another problem is that Outlook maintains a history of all the addresses you enter, not just the ones you store in Contacts. These names make their way onto the AutoComplete list, even if you donâ't want them. Additional names can throw a monkey-wrench into your routine if you don't expect them. When one of these names shows up, simply delete it before it gets you into trouble.

Finally, the best advice is the most difficult; slow down and pay attention to the AutoComplete list.

Last I heard Bob is a bartender and Fred sells Volvos after loosing a 1.5 mil per year account