Copying your Auto Complete Cache for Outlook 2010 to a New Profile or Computer on Windows
The release of Outlook 2010 saw a shift in the way Outlook stored its email Auto Complete information. Instead of using a .nk2 (nick name cache) file which could easily be transferred when required the information is now stored within the Outlook Profile.
So, to copy your Auto Complete Cache for Outlook 2010 to a new profile or computer on Windows Vista/Windows 7;
- Either open Windows Explorer and browse to or open the Start menu and type in:
C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\RoamCache
The Auto Complete cache is stored in a file that begins with the text “Stream_Autocomplete_” and has a file extension of .dat
If you have multiple Outlook 2010 profiles on your Windows Profile you will most likely see more Stream_Autocomplete files as each profile creates its own cache file. Although, the Stream file will only be created when you have sent an email in the new profile.
You should be able to determine the file you need by either looking at the date modified or the file size.
2. To copy the autocomplete information from one machine to another we have to tell a new Outlook profile to use the old autocomplete file. We do this by:
a. Log the user on to the new machine, configure Outlook and send a test email. Then close Outlook.
b. Determine on the old computer which Autocomplete file holds the autocomplete information you need using the above, then make a copy.
c. Copy the file to the same location on the new computer.
d. Find the new Stream_AutoComplete file (the one with the smallest file size and newest date) being used by your new Outlook profile, right click it and select rename, then hold down ctrl+c to copy the filename (not the file) to the clipboard. Finally, rename this file with a .old extension.
e. Now, go back to the copy of the file you made earlier, choose to rename it and press ctrl+v to paste the new filename.
f. Re-open Outlook on the new computer and test.