Clean up the Recipient List

Eudora Tip #196/10-Sept-2003
Clean up the Recipient List

Several older Eudora Tips have mentioned the Recipient List. Eudora Tip #4/23-Sept-1999: Avoid Address Errors and Eudora Tip #5/03-Oct-1999: More Recipient List Magic both looked at adding addresses to the Recipient List. Eudora Tip #180/21-May-2003: Phantom Addresses was about addresses which should no longer be on the Recipient List but refuse to go away.

If, like me, you have quite a few addresses in your Address Books and over time you’ve added all sorts of names to your Recipient List you might find that the list is now rather outdated. It contains all kinds of names you no longer need quick access to and is missing a number you now need. You don’t want to remove these names from your Address Book completely, but a big tidy up is in order.

This drastic step might help, depending on just how many names are involved and what proportion of them should be on the Recipient List.

Open your Address Book and click once on any one name. Now choose Select All (Command A or Edit menu — Select All). Click once on the Recipient List box to the right of the name in the right-hand side of the window. This will change all names in your entire Address Book to be checked (or unchecked) for the Recipient List. Click once more if necessary to toggle the status. Now go through the Address Book names one at a time checking or unchecking them as required.

Note that selecting all will select all names from all address books. Hold down the Command key and click once on any address books you don’t wish to affect. This will allow you to change the Recipient List status for only one or some of your individual address books.

If you start in on this and then decide it’s foolish, remember you can simply close the Address Book and choose NOT to save any changes.