Outlook popping up instead of dropping down

Alika Stricker 106

Autocomplete began popping up instead of dropping down. Could not find any answers on the internet.

Gene Spivak 6 Reputation points

2021-05-03T19:21:57.52+00:00

Same issue here.
Pops up, not down
No Scrollbar
Happened after I tried to repair Office, which deleted it and did not reinstall, so I restored my system.
Office 2013 Home/Student and Office 2016 Outlook.
This registry item was missing so I put it in - No effect either with 0 or 1 there
Scott Feaster 11 Reputation points

2021-05-04T17:58:16.65+00:00

This is not an answer this is to say that seen this issue on Windows 10 20h2 and the latest updates. I seen this on Outlook 2016 and 2019. both are OEM Versions.
Has anyone seen a permanent fix for the issue? Pops up not down and no scroll. If you make new email by popping out the whole window it sometimes works but random.
So far seen on 2 2019 Outlook one a laptop one a desktop and one Outlook 2016 Desktop.

Anyone?
Brian Boakes 36 Reputation points

2021-05-04T18:33:27.273+00:00

it is an office update that has caused the 'problem' but MS will probably call it a feature

the only solution at this time is to roll back the update (the marked answer in this thread).
Which I agree is not and answer or fix, just a workaround
Scott Feaster 11 Reputation points

2021-05-04T20:55:37.9+00:00

The fix above does revert it back on both 2016 and 2019 outlook. But Microsoft needs to issue a real fix . We temp turned off updates for office but we all know that is not a good "fix: either.
Paul_765432345 16 Reputation points

2021-05-05T09:36:27.307+00:00

I'm IT guy, people at my work started coming to me with this 'feature'. MS should take care of this immediately. It's PIA.
Marcel Beelen 6 Reputation points

2021-05-05T09:52:50.453+00:00

Same here, users are getting irritated because they cannot easily find contacts any more in their long autocomplete list... As mentioned, it started in our case with the latest Office 2016 click-2-run update. Please provide a fix Microsoft.
Rense Prakken | Fancit ® 11 Reputation points

2021-05-05T10:48:35.81+00:00

The same here.
David Roth 11 Reputation points

2021-05-05T12:40:58.31+00:00

I'm our companies IT guy, and my first user just reported this issue this morning. He was simply creating an email and typing the first few letters in the TO field and the list now POPS UP, instead of drops down.

Very frustrating. The user is using MS Office Home & Business 2019
Martells IT 11 Reputation points

2021-05-05T12:44:24.267+00:00

Our users here don't normally complain but this one has caused a lot of complaints! I've had to roll back all Office 2019 users to an earlier version so they can scroll up to the top of the list again.
Amy Miller 6 Reputation points

2021-05-05T13:01:20.927+00:00

Same issue here! I hope they issue a fix soon. The work around is using a small window at the bottom of the screen but old eyes like mine are used to a full screen reply box!
Jason Snyder 11 Reputation points

2021-05-05T13:11:11.29+00:00

This is an absolute disaster. Makes Outlook basically unusable. Can we get an actual fix besides reverting backwards?
David D 1 Reputation point

2021-05-05T13:14:13.72+00:00

Same issue, rolling back fixed the issue.
Alberto Miro-Quesada 6 Reputation points

2021-05-05T16:51:16.37+00:00

Same problem, MS please help, I cant find any contacts like this
Dave S - 3P 16 Reputation points

2021-05-06T11:00:15.533+00:00

Same issue across multiple Office 2016 and 2019 causes frustration across the business and disrupting work flow. The roll back fixed the issue, but this is clearly a sticking plaster. Microsoft you need to get a new update ready ASAP to fix this.
Dave S - 3P 16 Reputation points

2021-05-06T11:00:35.21+00:00

Same issue across multiple Office 2016 and 2019 causes frustration across the business and disrupting work flow. The roll back fixed the issue, but this is clearly a sticking plaster. Microsoft you need to get a new update ready ASAP to fix this.
Susan Crawford 1 Reputation point

2021-05-07T19:12:44.3+00:00

Same issue with our entire business team. Very frustrating. Please fix!
Admin 11 Reputation points

2021-05-10T13:30:05.093+00:00

Has anyone heard from Microsoft on this issue yet?
Matt Eustace 1 Reputation point

2021-05-10T14:15:14.707+00:00

Exactly the same here. Particularly a problem when the application is maximised as the most appropriate selection is usually at the top of the list and therefore not visible. Approx' 70 of my users with the same issue.
Mark 6 Reputation points

2021-05-10T23:33:47.173+00:00

Office 365 is doing the same thing - just ridiculous. We can't roll back to another version or update.....
as-it 1 Reputation point

2021-05-11T15:47:01.66+00:00

Same here (Office 2016 ctr, v2104.13929.20372)

Microsoft, please fix this now 🙄
greg 16 Reputation points

2021-05-12T07:36:00.83+00:00

is there an update when there will be a new fix? Its not as if I'm going to get everyone in our business to run this work around. Wonder which bright spark wanted to make the change.
Jenny 1 Reputation point

2021-05-14T20:44:26.317+00:00

Following for answer
Geert Wens 1 Reputation point

2021-05-18T08:01:51.333+00:00

Same here.
Really annoying.
Krishnan Narayanaswamy 1 Reputation point

2021-05-20T08:01:59.797+00:00

Has this issue been sorted out or the update is still pending?
Jade Liang-MSFT 9,956 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2021-05-20T08:36:32.727+00:00

Hi ,

This issue has been fixed in the latest version--Version 2104 Build 13929.20386. For more information, please refer to this article : AutoComplete list scrolls off the screen in Outlook
Robbie Mueller 1 Reputation point

2021-05-21T20:21:08.15+00:00

Hello,

I have a user where the bug is still occurring. When we tried to update her outlook it says it's already up to date. Can't get the autocomplete to scroll properly, still doing what that article you linked is describing.
Robbie Mueller 1 Reputation point

2021-05-26T21:26:13.503+00:00

Still have a user experiencing this. Outlook says up to date, any help?

Accepted answer

Manuel Medina 116 Reputation points

2021-05-03T11:40:22.607+00:00

same Problem, do you have a Solution?

I have now a Workaround, i reverted back to older Version with:

"C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\ClickToRun\OfficeC2RClient.exe" /update user updatetoversion=16.0.13901.20462
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8 people found this answer helpful.
Yasin Kurtulus 1 Reputation point

2021-05-03T23:10:42.917+00:00

Thank you, it works for me.

Alika Stricker 106 Reputation points

2021-05-03T23:38:12.23+00:00

I used this on two computers that had an issue and it resolved it.

Create a shortcut and run @Manuel Medina path above. Literally copy and paste into your shortcut.

Andrew 1 Reputation point

2021-05-04T00:07:54.417+00:00

Client experienced this issue just this morning. This has worked perfectly and very simply I might add. Thank you very much Manuel.

Gene Spivak 6 Reputation points

2021-05-04T01:12:25.717+00:00

Worked for me as well. Thank You!

Mike Russo 16 Reputation points

2021-05-04T13:56:53.427+00:00

Yep - this worked great for me as well. I just hope they can push out a fix soon.

Colin Smith 61 Reputation points

2021-05-05T10:20:23.163+00:00

The accepted answer should not be for individual users to roll back to an earlier version to fix what Microsoft have broken.

Charlie Ashton 1 Reputation point

2021-05-05T16:27:00.253+00:00

This worked for me, thanks very much!

Alberto Miro-Quesada 6 Reputation points

2021-05-05T16:50:04.733+00:00

When I try to run OfficeC2RClient nothing happens, it doesnt open any window. I also tried running it as an ADM, with no result.

Arno T 1 Reputation point

2021-05-06T10:00:21.677+00:00

Thank you, Fixed: reverted the new dropdown list (it's not a bug but a feature) to the old one.

Joe K 6 Reputation points

2021-05-06T16:28:57.57+00:00

Thanks Manuel and Alika! Works great and truly as easy as Alika laid out. Like everyone, wish they'd stop changing things that work well as-is.

CITI CARGO 1 Reputation point

2021-05-06T17:19:15.227+00:00

THANK YOU MUCH

Lisa Perez 1 Reputation point

2021-05-10T18:09:46.873+00:00

Any Updates on a fix from Microsoft?

Melissa Stewart 1 Reputation point

2021-05-11T01:48:39.203+00:00

Thank you, this worked for me as well, the change had caused significant functionality issues for one of my clients.
Created shortcut, double click to run, Office downloaded updates (to achieve downgrade to prior version). Disabled auto updates to prevent recurrence.
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34 additional answers

CanCoder 11 Reputation points

2021-05-12T14:55:19.637+00:00

This is insane. WHY would they change a feature to make it worse? Do they seriously not test this? I realize the "style" these days is for massive icons, fonts and spacing (I'm already unhappy with the massive spaces between folders), but why "fix" something that is not broken?

MS: Please stop adding features for the sake of adding features. This is a business utility, not some teeny-bopper social media platform that needs constant visual tweaks for kids with ADHD.
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CB-4795864 6 Reputation points

2021-05-03T14:08:01.24+00:00

Hi,

I and my colleagues have got the same issue only after updating to Microsoft Outlook 2016 MSO (16.0.13929.20222) 64 bits I found out that if you pop-out the email then this list dropdown instead of popping up

Edit: Well, nevermind.. It seems to be random, sometimes it pops up and sometimes it drops down, it can even be different in the same email on different inputs.
Also there is no scroll bar so even if it drops down like before you can't use it properly, a part of the results are out of the screen.
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Rob Thayer 6 Reputation points

2021-05-05T14:43:48.41+00:00

I found out it's a known bug in the latest update related to the registry hack that enabled the older Outlook 2013 style autocomplete that's causing it to pop up instead of dropdown. The workaround is to delete or rename the offending key and restart Outlook, or revert to an older Outlook build.

Offending registry entry (delete or rename), then restart Outlook:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Options
DWORD: DisableAutoCompleteUpdate

Details here: https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/autocomplete-opens-upward-outlook
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Mike Russo 16 Reputation points

2021-05-05T14:47:45.717+00:00

As documented in that article though, that fix would only work on Office 365. On Office 2016 and 2019 the only workaround is to rollback to previous build. I am not sure how they know for sure that "Microsoft is aware of the problem", I would like to see a KB article about this, but I sure hope they are aware and working on a new build.

Rob Thayer 6 Reputation points

2021-05-05T15:32:49.07+00:00

Thank you for the correction. I guess I just glossed over the fact this only works for O365 Outlook.

Diane Poremsky MVP 251 Reputation points MVP

2021-05-05T16:22:24.983+00:00

I didn't test the key in 2016 perpetual - only 2019 and 365 - but if the key is not set, then it's not the issue. Outlook 2016/2019 already use the simple autocomplete list so no need for the key.

I reported it to Microsoft support when I first started seeing it in the Answers forums. Support could not repro it and no one called support about it, so no support case. After I repro'd it using the registry value, they told me they opened a bug report for it and are investigating it.

At this time, if the issue is not from the registry key, the only fix is to rollback. As soon as they figure out what is wrong, I expect a fix will be pushed out - possibly just a silent update to disable something. (a 'can't read calendar' bug a few weeks ago was fixed this way.)

ETA: if it is a silent update, it will be downloaded overnight or when the computer reboots and installed when outlook is started/restarted.
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Austin Tovey 101 Reputation points

2021-05-07T07:36:41.58+00:00

Sam here, this is rubbish Microsoft. Please sort this out ASAP.
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Outlook popping up instead of dropping down

34 additional answers