XCLN: Summary of Nickname Features in Different Versions of Outlook

In Outlook, there is a feature called Nicknames (which can also be referred to as AutoNameCheck). Nicknames work differently in the different versions of Outlook. This article discusses those differences in addition to providing general information on nicknames.

How to Create a Nickname File

1. Start Microsoft Outlook.
2. Open a new message.
3. In the To field, type an ambiguous name. For example, if you have Franklin Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt in your global address list, you can type "roosevelt" (without the quotation marks).
4. Press the TAB key to move the cursor out of the To field.
5. With AutoNameCheck turned on, this name does not resolve, and you see a wavy red line underneath what you typed in. Right-click the text in the To field, and a sub-menu with possible matches appears. Click the one you want to resolve the name to.

You have just created a nickname file. The next time you type in this ambiguous name, it will resolve to the name that you selected from the list. When it resolves from the nickname file, it will have a green dashed underline (instead of a solid black underline). This is your indication that the name was resolved by the nickname file.

What Is the Name of the Nickname File and Where Is It Stored?

The nickname file is given the same name as the profile that was used to log on to Outlook and is appended with a ".nick" extension. For example: The nickname file is stored in one of the following locations:

Nicknames in Outlook 97 and Outlook 98

When you create a nickname file in either Outlook 97 or Outlook 98, Outlook uses the naming convention and folder location mentioned in the preceding "What Is the Name of the Nickname File and Where Is It Stored?" section. When you create the nickname file, a registry key is created to point to this file and location. That registry key is: When you perform an action in either Outlook 97 or Outlook 98 that requires name resolution from a nickname file, Outlook looks to the registry key to find the file. If the registry key does not exist, it can't find a nickname file to use (or a nickname file doesn't exist) and the names do not resolve. A nickname file and its corresponding registry key must be created.

You can only use one nickname file with Outlook 97 and Outlook 98, even though you may have multiple mail profiles that you use to log on to Outlook with. Only one file can be referenced by the registry key. Because the registry key is under HKEY_CURRENT_USER, it is used by the currently logged-on Microsoft Windows NT user for any mail profile that is used to log on to Outlook.

Nicknames in Outlook 2000

When you create a nickname file in Outlook 2000, Outlook uses the naming convention and directory location mentioned in the "What Is the Name of the Nickname File and Where Is It Stored?" section. Unlike Outlook 97 and Outlook 98, Outlook 2000 does not write a registry key.

NOTE: The registry key may exist if you had Outlook 97 or Outlook 98 on the computer and upgraded to Outlook 2000.

Because Outlook 2000 does not write a registry key, you can create a nickname file for each mail profile that is used to log on to Outlook (for the same Windows NT user). When you are logged on to Outlook 2000 and you perform an action that requires Outlook to use the nickname file for name resolution, Outlook searches the folder where the nickname files are stored and looks for a nickname file by the same name as the mail profile you are currently logged on with. If it does not find a file, the name is not resolved. A nickname file must be created.

For example, a user logs on to a computer as John Smith (with a Windows NT profile name of JSmith). John has two mail profiles listed in the Mail tool in Control Panel, that are named MS Exchange Settings and Personal. John logs on to Outlook using each profile and uses the procedure outlined above to create a nickname file for each profile. In the C:\Winnt\Profiles\JSmith\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook folder, John has two files: MS Exchange Settings.nick and Personal.nick. When John logs on to Outlook using the MS Exchange Settings profile and types in a nickname on the To line, Outlook searches the folder, finds the MS Exchange Settings.nick file, and resolves the name. This allows John to have different nicknames available in each profile, and those nicknames can only be resolved if they exist in the nickname file for the profile that he is currently logged on with. A mail profile can only have one nickname file associated with it.

Nickname.exe Utility

The Nickname.exe utility was created to allow you to remove entries from the nickname file. You may need to remove entries from this file because of corrupted entries or entries for addresses that are no longer valid.

The Nickname.exe utility was originally written to read the registry key to find the nickname file. So, by design, this utility originally had the same limitations found in Outlook 97 and Outlook 98: it could only read from one nickname file, the file that the registry key pointed to.

The utility was updated with the release of Outlook 2000. Because Outlook 2000 does not use a registry key to find the nickname file but allows multiple nicknames files based on the user profile, the utility was updated to account for this new functionality.

The updated utility reads from the registry key, if it exists. If the registry key does not exits, Nickname looks for a nickname file that has the same name as the profile that you are currently logged on with.

To download the Nickname.exe file for Outlook 97 or Outlook 98, go to the following Microsoft Web site: To download the updated Nickname.exe file for Outlook 97, Outlook 98, and Outlook 2000, go to the following Microsoft Web site:

Related Knowledge Base Articles

For additional information, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: