# How do I stop Gmail suggesting old email addresses? — Adinand Email Cleaner

Last reviewed: October 21, 2026. HTML version: https://adinandemail.com/answers/remove-email-suggestions-in-gmail

**The address is coming from a list called Other contacts, which Google fills in for you. Delete it there, and turn off the setting that keeps adding to it.** Google's contacts help explains where the suggestion comes from: "If you email someone but you haven't added them as a contact, Google Contacts automatically saves their email address in your "Other contacts" group. Their email address will show up the next time you email them" ([*Add or move contacts*](https://support.google.com/contacts/answer/1069522), read 21 October 2026). An old work address, a typo you once sent to, someone you emailed once in 2017: they all stay on that list until you remove them.

## Step 1: delete the old address <ol> <li>On a computer, go to Google Contacts (contacts.google.com).</li> <li>On the left, click Other contacts.</li> <li>Point to each name you want gone and tick the box that appears.</li> <li>At the top, click More, then Delete, and confirm.</li> </ol> <p>Those are Google's steps on the *Add or move contacts* page. Do this on a computer: the same page says "If you're on an iPhone, iPad, or Android device, you won't see Other Contacts." If the address you want rid of is one you saved yourself, it is under your main contact list instead, and the Google Account help page gives the route for that: click the contact, then More, Delete ([*Change who's saved & suggested as contacts*](https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/7345608), read 21 October 2026).</p>

## Step 2: stop new ones being saved <p>Deleting one address does not stop the next one. Google's note on the account page is direct about it: after removing an automatically saved contact, "To stop them from getting added back, follow the steps to stop saving automatically." In Gmail on a computer:</p> <ol> <li>At the top right, click Settings, then the Settings option in the menu.</li> <li>Find the section "Create contacts for auto-complete" and select "I'll add contacts myself".</li> <li>Click Save changes at the bottom.</li> </ol> <p>The account page adds a second, broader switch, because Gmail is not the only source. Under Google Account, People & sharing, "Contact info saved from interactions", the setting "Save contact info when you interact with people" covers people you have emailed, but also people you share Drive files with, people in your calendar events, and others. Turn it off if suggestions keep arriving from outside Gmail.</p>

## Just hiding one, without deleting it <p>If the address is one you might want again, hiding is gentler. Google's steps: in Gmail on a computer, click Compose, type the name in the To bar so the suggestion appears, right-click it, and click Hide suggestion (the *Change who's saved & suggested* page above). To bring it back, type the name and click Show hidden suggestions. The same page says you can also "touch and hold on suggestions and hide them", but its written steps are for the browser; it does not walk through hiding a suggestion in the Gmail phone apps.</p>

## Why a deleted address can come back <p>Suggestions are not built from one list. Google says they "are based on a variety of signals related to your contacts and interactions, such as a contact being starred or if you've emailed a contact recently", and that "People you've interacted with in Google services are automatically saved to "Other contacts."" So an address you deleted will reappear if you reply to that person again, or if one of the other interactions on the list happens while saving is still on. That is the reason Step 2 matters more than Step 1.</p> <p>Everything above changes what Gmail offers you while you type. If the old address belongs to someone whose incoming mail you no longer want, that is a different setting altogether: [blocking a sender](https://adinandemail.com/answers/block-a-sender-in-gmail).</p>

Related: [Blocking a sender](https://adinandemail.com/answers/block-a-sender-in-gmail) · [Removing a Gmail account from a phone](https://adinandemail.com/answers/remove-gmail-account-from-phone) · [Gmail search operators](https://adinandemail.com/answers/use-google-search-operators)