Outlook Cache

When you email someone that you have already emailed before Outlook picks up their name and displays it (and any other similar names) after you have only typed in a couple of letters; this list that outlook creates is called your Outlook “cache”. Your Outlook profile stores every email address you have used; this is a great time saver and something most of us have come to rely on heavily.

This is a few cautionary words of warning about your outlook cache:

1. Your Outlook cache can and does become corrupted, so please don’t rely on it as a store for mail addresses. If your cache becomes corrupted, or if for any reason we have to recreate your citrix profile, you will lose any stored addresses in the cache. The only sure fire way to retain someone’s email address is to create them as a contact.

2. We’ve had a couple of helpdesk calls recently where colleagues have tried to use a mail address from their cache and had an error message of “the email address is no longer valid” even though this was a Bromford colleague who does still work here. The email address in the cache has become corrupted. The only way around this is to delete the contact from the cache and retype in their full email address. To delete a colleague from your cache begin to type the name of the contact and you will see their email address with a cross next to it. Click on the cross and restart Outlook.

3. Please be very aware of data protection, and ensuring you are emailing the right person. There have been data protection breaches within Bromford where colleagues have emailed a person suggested by their cache, only for it to be the wrong person who has received the information. Please validate the email address that your cache comes up with before sending anything!