Clear the Most Recently Used lists

For certain actions, Outlook holds a list of most recently used items (MRU lists) so you have quicker access to them. In some cases you might want to clear this MRU list.

Outlook holds two different kind of MRU lists. Some are tied to the general Outlook configuration of the logged in user and others are tied to the specific mail profile Outlook has been started with.

To clear either MRU list, you can simply delete the corresponding registry key when Outlook is closed. If you are not comfortable editing the Registry yourself you can use OutlookTools instead.


Profile MRU

MRU lists that are kept in the mail profile are stored in the following Registry key:

  • Outlook 2016, Outlook 2019 and Office 365
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Profiles\profile name\0a0d020000000000c000000000000046
  • Outlook 2013
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Outlook\Profiles\profile name\0a0d020000000000c000000000000046
  • Outlook 2010 or previous
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows Messaging Subsystem\Profiles\profile name\0a0d020000000000c000000000000046

Note: Replace profile name with the name of your mail profile (by default it is called Outlook).

MRURegistry key
Actions, New Mail Using, Stationery names (Outlook 97 – 2007)101f035e
New Items, Email Message Using, Stationery names (Outlook 2010 – 2019 / Office 365)101f035e
File, Open, Other User’s Folders (Outlook 97 – 2002)101e0384
File, Open, Other User’s Folders (Outlook 2003 – 2007)101f0390
Move to Folder history101f031e
Insert, Signature101f035c
Instant Search’s Recent Searches (Outlook 2007 – 2010)101f0445
Instant Search’s Recent Searches Mail (Outlook 2013 – 2019 / Office 365)101f0445
Instant Search’s Recent Searches Calendar (Outlook 2013 – 2019 / Office 365 )101f0460
Instant Search’s Recent Searches People (Outlook 2013 – 2019 / Office 365)101f0461
Instant Search’s Recent Searches Tasks and To-Do List (Outlook 2013 –2019 / Office 365)101f0462
Instant Search’s Recent Searches Notes (Outlook 2013 –2019 / Office 365)101f0463
Find Contact toolbar button (Outlook 2007 – 2010)101f0446
Insert, Business Card (Outlook 2007 – 2019 / Office 365)101f042b
Save Sent Item To (Outlook 2007 – 2019 / Office 365)101f0449

Note:
When you are using Outlook 2016, Outlook 2019 or Office 365 and are using a mailbox hosted on Office 365 (including Outlook.com), Exchange 2016 or Exchange 2019, the Search history that is shown when clicking in the Search field isn’t stored within the Registry but directly within your mailbox. Deleting the key will delete the history that is shown when you click on the Recent Searches button on the Search tab.

Outlook MRU

MRU lists that are specific for the logged in user are kept in the following key;
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\version\Outlook\

Replace version with the number corresponding to your Outlook version;

Outlook 978.0
Outlook 988.5
Outlook 20009.0
Outlook 2002/XP10.0
Outlook 200311.0
Outlook 200712.0
Outlook 201014.0
Outlook 201315.0
Outlook 201616.0
Outlook 201916.0
Office 36516.0

The MRUs are kept in the following subkeys;

MRURegistry key
Find Contact toolbar button
(Outlook 97 – 2003)
\Contact\QuickFindMRU\QuickfindMRU
Find Pane’s Look in list\Contact\StripSearchMRU\StripSearchMRU
Appointment Locations\Preferences\LocationMRU
Advanced Find’s Search for Word(s)\Office Finder\MRU 1
Advanced Find’s More Choices, Categories\Office Finder\MRU 3
Choose Form dialog
New Item-> More Items-> Choose Form  (Outlook 2010 – 2019 / Office 365)
\Office Explorer\Namespaces

Clear MRU lists with OutlookTools
Easily clear the MRU lists with OutlookTools.