Gmail – Why Email Addresses Are Not Found

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I'm trying to send an email to an address that I've sent to several times before, but Gmail does not autocomplete it. Is this expected behaviour? Must I add that address as a contact before Gmail can search it?

Best Answer

Must I add that address as a contact before Gmail can search it?

It would seem so.

You've probably turned off this setting, in order to keep Gmail from adding just anybody to your contacts.

"Create contacts for auto-complete" setting

According to Gmail Support

When you type an address in the To, Cc, or Bcc field of a message you're composing, Gmail will suggest addresses from your Contacts list. Hit Enter to choose the name at the top of the list, or scroll down to choose a different address. If Gmail doesn't suggest the address you want, just continue typing.

Gmail will first suggest the addresses you send mail to most often. To view a complete list of your most frequently mailed contacts, click Gmail at the top-left corner of your Gmail page, then choose Contacts. Next, click Most Contacted.

So, in order for the auto-complete to work, the person/email address needs to be in your contacts. Your browser may have offered auto-complete before (if you set it to do that with web forms) but Gmail's fields are far from being simple HTML input fields.

If the person is in your contacts and still not coming up in auto-complete, then Google suggests that it's probably your browser. Use a different one or, if you're sure it's supported, clear your browser cache.

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