Emails Bounce Back or Use an Outdated Address in Outlook

Tags Outlook

Summary

This article helps you fix cases where Outlook suggests the wrong or outdated contacts when you send an email. This usually happens when Outlook is using an old address entry or looking in the wrong address book.

Who This Article Is For

All Gwinnett County employees who use Outlook on County-managed devices.

Applicability Note

These steps apply to the classic Outlook desktop client (Outlook 2016, Outlook 2019, or Outlook for Microsoft 365). Some address book options shown here are not available in New Outlook or Outlook on the Web.

Symptoms

  • Outlook suggests old or incorrect contact names when you start typing in the “To” field.

  • County employees don’t appear when you search for addresses.

  • The Global Address List doesn’t show up first when you choose contacts.

  • Recently added employees don’t appear in search results.

  • You receive a bounce-back email that says “Your email program is using outdated address information” or includes a long address beginning with “IMCEAEX-...”. This means Outlook tried to use an old saved address instead of the current one.

Cause

Outlook sometimes saves older versions of people’s addresses and keeps using them even after those addresses change. When that happens, the wrong contact information may appear, or the email may bounce back because Outlook didn’t look up the newest address in the Global Address List.

How to Fix It

  1. Open Outlook.

  2. On the Home tab, in the Find group, select Address Book.

    Outlook Home tab with Address Book highlighted

  3. In the Address Book window, choose Tools > Options.

    Address Book - Tools > Options menu

  4. Under When opening the address book, show this address list first, choose Global Address List (or your preferred current list).

    Address Book Options - select Global Address List

  5. Select OK and close the dialog box.

 

If You Have Multiple Address Books (Optional)

  1. Go to Tools > Options again and choose Custom.

  2. Use the Up and Down arrows to move Global Address List to the top of your list.

    Up arrow icon

    Down arrow icon

    Example of address book order list

  3. Click OK when finished.

Need Help?

If the Global Address List is missing or you still can’t send messages correctly, call the IT Service Desk at 770.822.8915. Our team can check your Outlook settings or clear old address information for you.

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