When Gmail suggests an obsolete or incorrect email address, inspect the full address before sending and identify where the suggestion is stored. Deleting an old email thread is not the same as correcting a contact.
Find the source of the suggestion
Open Google Contacts under the same account you use for Gmail. Search for the person and inspect every saved email address. Then check Other contacts, which can contain addresses saved automatically from previous interactions.
For a work account, the suggestion may also involve organization-managed information. Details originating from a person’s Google profile or organizational directory are not always editable as your personal contact fields.
Edit the contact or hide the suggestion
Correct an address you control in Google Contacts and save it. Remove only the obsolete value if the contact contains other valid information. If it is an automatically saved entry, review that entry in Other contacts too.
Google’s current suggestion controls also let you hide a suggested contact without deleting it permanently. In desktop Gmail, start composing, type the name in To, right-click the relevant suggestion, and choose Hide suggestion. Hidden suggestions can be shown again through the offered control.
Verify the expanded recipient before Send
Start a fresh draft and type the person’s name again. Expand the recipient chip or inspect its details to confirm the actual address. A corrected display name is not proof that the destination changed.
If the wrong entry keeps returning, review Gmail’s auto-complete saving preference and the Google Account interaction-saving setting. For a directory error, send the correct address and a redacted example to your administrator instead of repeatedly deleting personal contacts. Do not send a real message as the first test, especially when the old address belongs to another person or organization. Keep a known, independently verified address as your reference.
Browse Gmail & Google Account help
References
Reviewed against the linked product guidance, standards, and identified vendor or public-authority guidance on October 29, 2026. Available options and screen labels can vary by account, device, region, and organization policy.