Migrating Outlook Autocomplete Data (NK2 File Data) to a New Vista/Office 2007 Computer
I'm in the process now of moving all my data over from my old computer to my new computer and remembered that autocomplete information is not stored in the Outlook profile. Autocomplete is the drop-down suggestion window that appears when you start entering in an address in the To, CC:, or BCC: bar. Like you, this data is something I can't live without.
That data is stored in an NK2 file that for previous (non-Vista) O/S's used to be stored in C:\Documents and Settings\{username}\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook. Note that this location is not where your Outlook profile is by default stored. That location on non-Vista O/S's is C:\Documents and Settings\{username}\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook. Notice the difference in the two paths above: The second includes traversal through the "Local Settings" folder.
Now, in Windows Vista, that folder doesn't exist. So, I had problems finding it...
...Turns out that the new location in Vista where your NK2 file is located has moved to fit it into the new structure. That new location where you need to copy the NK2 file is:
C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Outlook
Nice to know!
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Comments
Thanx man... you made my day ^_^
Posted by: cannabic0 | August 3, 2007 8:51 AM
Thanks for the info, been looking at this.
Microsoft should make this as part of the pst/exchange profile rather than just a temp cache on a users machine. The amount of people I have seen just using this method to save contacts is unbelievable.
Thanks again
Posted by: Mike Cowley | September 24, 2007 11:17 AM
Agreed. This post is every week one of the highest hit posts off the nearly 500 on this site. So there's definitely some confusion about it in the industry.
Note to Microsoft if you're watching, consider this a strong suggestion for a revision to the mechanism for autocomplete data.
Posted by: Greg Shields | September 24, 2007 1:48 PM
THANK YOU! These dang NK2 files have been a huge efficiency enhancement! Great job on posting the research.
Posted by: NK2 Freak | October 1, 2007 2:58 PM
You Are A Genius!!
Posted by: JoeBlow | October 12, 2007 9:10 AM
http://www.nk2.info/
This is an app that I found that extracts as a the email addressed from the nk2. That extracted document can then be reimported into outlook as real contacts.
Short, sweet, easy to use.
Best regards from Detroit.
Posted by: PG | November 15, 2007 11:16 AM
Thanks for the pointer - it took me half an hour to find someone with the answer.
Unfortunately, it did not fully solve my problem. I moved the NK2 file into the right folder on my Vista machine. But Outlook is not reading it. Instead, it seems to be referencing an already existing file in that same folder.
I currrently have 4 files in the appdata/romaing/microsoft/outlook folder: "outcmd.dat", "outlook.srs", "outlook" (an XML document) and "Outlook" (office data file - which is the nk2 file I imported from my old machine).
Any ideas on how I can resolve this?
Many thanks.
Posted by: Dan | December 7, 2007 12:42 PM
thank you.
Posted by: eleqtro | March 26, 2008 5:31 AM
Spent 1 hour looking for this info! Great thanks! Microsoft really do need to include this is pst import exports or provide an additional tool!
PG, you may need to rename the file from outlook.nk2 to be [username].nk2 if there is a file called [userame].nk2 already in that folder on the vista machine. (rename the current files to .old to allow)
Posted by: Daniel | June 16, 2008 12:31 AM
Also, be careful if the outlook profile is different from system A than system B. When you move it over to the new system, be sure to name it exactly what the outlook profile name is.
for instance, if you go to control panel -> Mail and your outlook profile is named Steve.nk2 on the new system and Exchange.nk2 on the old, you will need to rename the .nk2 file from Exchange.nk2 to Steve.nk2
Hope this helps!
Posted by: Jason Pavalon | June 30, 2008 7:04 PM
Thanks! Helpfull.
Posted by: Goran | July 9, 2008 7:08 AM
Thanks a lot !!!!!!!!
Very helpful
Posted by: Luis | August 5, 2008 1:14 PM
No nk2 file on vista using office 2007.
I cannont find it where Microsoft says...any one can help?
thks
Posted by: ALexis | August 7, 2008 1:11 PM
I dunno' what to tell you. AFAIK, all the info you need (including locations) is posted here.
Posted by: Greg Shields | August 7, 2008 1:41 PM
The nk2 file doesn't appear until you have entered an address in the To field in a new mail, sent it and closed Outlook.
Posted by: IPreisz | October 7, 2008 4:20 AM