Remove old email addresses.

[Deleted member 247820]

I know this has been discussed much in the past.
But I still have not found an answer to:
How to remove old unwanted email addresses from popping up when entering an address?
I used to be able to remove part of the rubbish via "recents" but in iOS 9 that seems to have disappeared.
I tried to NOT use mail at all, by finding my emails on a browser like Safari on iPad.
But the icloud mail logon will not open in a browser, any browser, it seems.
It will open in a PC and I presume a Mac.
I have an "Outlook" email that will log on in iPad Safari, why not "icloud".
Thanks in advance.

 

[J. A.]

It's possible to login to iCloud on an iPad as well:
In the search/address bar, tap and hold the circled arrow at the right. "Request desktop site" will appear. iCloud doesn't work without problems on an iPad, though.

You can remove old email addresses from iCloud using a browser.
Login to www.icloud.com on a computer, go to Mail and pretend to create a new email. Enter one of the addresses you wish to remove (or part of it) into the To: email address bar. When the suggestions pop up, you'll find a red minus sign next to the addresses. These will help removing the address.

Hope that helps.

 

[Deleted member 247820]

Hi JA.
Thanks for the suggestions.
I will be trying them shortly.
Then I will tell if I get a good result.

 

[Deleted member 247820]

Hi JA.

I have had www.icloud.com in the address bar of Safari and another browser called Mercury.
When the Welcome to icloud opens, alas there is no red circle arrow in either.
Just the normal black refresh arrow, and a blue square with an R in it.
so I cannot get the request desktop site.

Re the removing old email addresses via a PC.
You are correct the red minus button is there.
However hardly any of the errant addresses appear, so I cannot remove them (most of them) in that manner.
In a way I am very glad that they don't appear on the PC cos I don't want them infiltrating my PC.

 

[twerppoet]

If you want to go back to using the Mail app, it looks like iOS 9 has done you a favor.

In Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars, in the Contacts area, turn off Contacts found in Mail. According to the text under the switch this will 'probably' do what you want. Prevent any suggestions that are not in your Contacts from showing up as auto-suggestions.

I have no idea what to do in a browser / webmail environment.

 

[J. A.]

@PeterJMelb
These are screenshots from my iPad in Safari:

Tap and hold the arrow (not red) in the address bar.

The online Mail app crashed several times when I tried to remove email addresses, and iCloud doesn't work without problems on an iDevice. It's better not to use Safari, if you want to try this.

 

[Deleted member 247820]

Hi T Poet and JA.
Big thanks for your prompt replies.

T Poet I have already been to that section of Mail Settings, alas I have already switched "Off" that option. I agree with you that it should stop the extra addresses being thrown up. But ...

JA in 3 browsers I get the same page as your first pic shows.
Tapping the circular arrow mearly refreshes the page for me.
I never get the Logon page as shown in your second pic.

Alas I just put it down to an Apple quirk.
I will now do a reset and try one last shot.
I will let you know the result.

 

[Deleted member 247820]

Hi JA.
Still no luck!
The circular arrow simply refreshes the page.
I guess I can wait for the next update and try again.
Big thanks.

 

[twerppoet]

Hi T Poet and JA.
Big thanks for your prompt replies.

T Poet I have already been to that section of Mail Settings, alas I have already switched "Off" that option. I agree with you that it should stop the extra addresses being thrown up. But ...

Darn.

So, I tried it myself, and every trick I could think of to make it work. No luck. Should have done that before I made the recommendation.

 

[twerppoet]

Hi JA.
Still no luck!
The circular arrow simply refreshes the page.
I guess I can wait for the next update and try again.
Big thanks.

Out of curiosity I tried Johanna's method using the Puffin Browser, and it more or less works. You don't see the red dot, but if you tap all the way to the right of the list item, where it should be, it briefly appears and you get the dialog asking if you want to remove the address.

Unlike most third party web browsers, Puffin does not use iOS's webkit. Instead it runs sites though a Flash capable desktop browser on a remote site. It's main feature is that it lets you use Flash sites on the iPad, it's nature can also be used to get around some of the other limitations of mobile browsing. The experience is not without compromises, but generally usable.

I keep Puffin around just for this kind of oddball scenario.

The free trial is good for 15 days (if memory serves), so it should get you though this crisis. If you like it you can pay for the full version. Or you can wait and see if iOS 9.1 makes that darn switch work the way it's advertised.

Hint: Sometimes you need to manually call up the keyboard (a ghost icon at the bottom right), because the iPad does't recognize you're in a text entry field.

Another Note: Because Puffin runs your sites through their server, the cautious might feel some security concerns. They are a reputable company, and they support secure https connections, so I'm not particularly worried, but it's something you should be aware of. Any extra stuff in the middle is a possible security problem.

P.S. Opera Mini (if still available) might work as well. It has a similar setup that does not use iOS webkit. Or did the last time I checked.

 

[Deleted member 247820]

Hi T Poet.
You have gone to a lot of trouble chacing this issue I have.
So big thanks.
Re the information on the Puffin Browser, I will need to re read what you describe, to fully appreciate what you say. Then try it out.
I will re post later.

 

[Deleted member 247820]

Hi T Poet and JA.

Regarding clearing the "old email addresses cache" problem.
I found this in an iPad forum somewhere and purports to clear the old addresses cache.
What do you make of it?

StavrocheMar 11, 2012 3:49 PM
Re: Deleting Old Email Addresses From Cache?in response to OzziesMAC


I have the correct solution and definitely doesn't require a factory reset.

My solution is on a PC, but I expect it will work fine on a Mac, I use a Mac too I just didn't try there, I didn't need to since it worked.
The problem, email addresses that are cached and won't go away no matter what you do, is this your problem?

Here are the steps:

Do a full sync as normal to get a currently, up to date backup, just a regular iTunes Sync.
Leave your phone plugged in, and close itunes.
Download iBackupBot - iTunes Backup Manager for iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad
If that link doesn't show up it's icopybot search for it, yes it works!!!
Load it, you don't need to register just hit cancel when registration pops up.
Open iBackupBot for iTunes.
Select the correct backup it will have the date and time you just synced and say ".... iphone"
In the Menu bar above click Plugin, Recent Email Addresses (registration pops up again, hit cancel)
You can just delete the addresses causing issues, I just cleared them all to be safe.
Then the button on the Right hover over it, Close Database Editor, that saves the change.
And then choose Restore, and just say okay.
Don't be alarmed it says restoring Ipod, it will say this no matter what the device it, but it's doing the correct restore. When it's finished close it out and I disconnected my Iphone when it started to reboot, and it takes little while to reboot, you get progress screen and then it comes up fine.
You're email accounts related to those address will be removed, but come on that takes literally two minutes to add back, I added yahoo and gmail back.

And that is it, those cached addresses are fricken gone.

 

[twerppoet]

I'm glad you found a solution that works for you; though it's far more trouble than I'm willing to go to.

The discussion you pointed to started in 2011, and only the very last page has any current information. None of the 2015 posts for iOS 9 offer a solution.

 

[Deleted member 247820]

Hi T Poet.
Thanks for your reply.
As yet I have not tried that above "fix".
I really just asked if you knew about it and was it worthwhile.
I understand what you mean when you say it is just too much trouble for you.
However I hate so much all these old email addresses popping up, that I am prepared to give that "fix" a shot.
Just maybe not today.
Once again many thanks to you and JA.

 

[twerppoet]

No problem. If you do give it a try, please let us know.

Oh, and be sure to do a normal backup in iTunes and/or iCloud first, and save important documents or pictures off the iPad. That solution sounds like it has the potential to remove more than your unwanted email suggestions.