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Bob
Asked: 2013-09-25 08:12:42 +0800 CST

Deleting Outlook 2010/2013 "Suggested Contacts" from a particular mail domain with a script

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I want to automate the deletion of Outlook 2010/2013 Suggested Contacts for a bunch of Exchange users but only for addresses in a particular mail domain.

I can find a lot of information on purging this folder but not a lot on parsing it with a script. I know that the Suggested contacts are a special form of folder stored in the users mailbox, so is Outlook scripting the best answer here? Can I interact with the Suggested Contacts folder like I would interact with a mail folder? Should I be doing this on the Exchange server side instead?

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1 Answers

  1. The closest I could see of you doing this, would be Glen's script here:

    Clearing the Suggested Contacts via Powershell

    using EWS (Exchange Web Services) to do it.

    HOWEVER, that clears the whole folder, and the script isn't really designed as a loop for all mailboxes in the org.

    I tried to think of a way myself to filter it down to delete only particular addresses, but no luck.

    What's funny is the latest comment is about doing what you are asking, was that you?

    I think your best bet is going to be to create Work Instructions for the users to follow on how to view their "Suggested Contacts" folder in Outlook and delete it manually.

    For example:

    1. Open Outlook
    2. Click on the "Folders" view
    3. Choose "Suggested Contacts"
    4. Set a custom filter on the view as "EMAIL = *@domaintodelete.com"
    5. Hightlight all of that domains contacts and hit delete
    6. Remove the view filter
    7. Go back to normal view and done

    That's pretty simple to follow if you give screenshots, etc. For those few that can't follow simple instructions, just have a tech handle them manually.

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