Forum Discussion

Bahalzamon's avatar
Bahalzamon
Brass Contributor
Feb 13, 2024

Search not returning results

I have been experiencing issues with the search where it was working well until a couple months ago.

 

Using SharePoint Online I have a document library with a lot of folders and misc other things in each folder.

Staff search the library by the name of the folder in the root directory which is the account number.

 

Lately most of the time it will return zero results and I cannot identify the issue, some users it works others it doesn't.

  1. I have checked permissions, identical (Owners)
  2. Search enabled on library
  3. Versioning is on but set to major versions only
  4. Site Settings > Search and Offline Availability > Indexing Site Content = Yes

I am wondering if there is any sort of setting or something that I am missing...

Any help is greatly appreciated. 🙂

Document Library
SharePoint Online
    • Bahalzamon's avatar
      Bahalzamon
      Brass Contributor
      Feb 13, 2024
      This particular document library has 10 million+ records. But I have had it happen on other lists that are far smaller (thousands) that I can look back in my notes to get any additional data if it would help.
      • NicolasKheirallah's avatar
        NicolasKheirallah
        MVP
        Feb 13, 2024
        Well that's probably your issues, the search is having issues to index the whole 10 million+ records. What you can do is create a support ticket and see if the support can see if search still is indexing
  • BarryGoblon's avatar
    BarryGoblon
    Iron Contributor
    Mar 12, 2024
    First off, there could be multiple potential culprits behind the search issue you're facing. A good starting point would be to inspect the search schema. Ensure the columns you're searching against, like folder names, are included and marked as crawled properties. Check this under the Search Schema section in Search Administration. Another avenue to explore is verifying the search crawl status. Head over to Search Administration and confirm the crawl is completing successfully for your site collection and that content sources are correctly configured. An incomplete or failed crawl could lead to outdated or missing search results.

    While you're there, it's worth confirming the search settings scope is appropriately defined. If set too narrowly, it may exclude relevant results from other locations. Adjust as needed. Additionally, try clearing the search cached results, as stale cached data might cause inconsistent search behavior. Look for the "Search Cache Accounts" section in Search Administration and clear the cache for your web app or tenant.

    Furthermore, review the crawl log files for any errors preventing content from being crawled and indexed properly. These logs reside in the "Crawl Log" section of Search Administration. As a last-ditch effort, you could attempt restarting the SharePoint Search Services, assuming you have access. A service restart sometimes resolves transient search issues.
  • ShannonMeehan5055's avatar
    ShannonMeehan5055
    Copper Contributor
    Mar 13, 2024
    Bahalzamon..... Have you resolved this issue yet? Just wondering, we are having the same issue. When searching a document library in SharePoint the only results that are returned are documents, and some sub folders.
    • Bahalzamon's avatar
      Bahalzamon
      Brass Contributor
      Mar 13, 2024
      Unfortunately no.
      What I ended up doing as a work around that I feel will only work for my situation is to create a button with HTML/JS and a text input to automatically navigate to the folder with the value that is typed in the input.
      As the folder they are looking for is the account number they just copy and paste it into the text area and click the button and it opens a new tab that is navigated into the folder. It does not have any error handling or anything, so if they type in any random string it will attempt to navigate there.
      It works for their need but is NOT in any way a solution for this issue.
      • CardinalNight's avatar
        CardinalNight
        Brass Contributor
        Apr 02, 2024

        Bahalzamon I'm having the same issue using sp.search to search for hub sites and their associated sites. I'm getting incomplete associated site results where I know for a fact that there are sites in existence. I've been told that there could be indexing issues with MS's Search - happening since January. It's a notification in the Admin centre apparently.