Can't seem to right click on the new search bar on Outlook Build 12730.20250

Copper Contributor

So I updated Outlook today and now the Search Bar is on top of the title bar which is OK, the problem is that when try right clicking nothing  happens I can't paste what i want on it. 

 

The only thing that works is ctrl + V, but I dont  want to do it that way its too much work, is there a way to fix this or is this on Microsofts end?

 

Thanks

10 Replies

@The_Tech_Guy_2020 Hello Oscar, not many people are happy with the new feature/location. In the build you updated to there's not possible to use the previously existing "Coming Soon" toggle. In the earlier versions you had the option to toggle the feature off so that the search bar was located at it's legacy location. If you haven't seen the toggle "Coming Soon" before it could be that your admin has disabled it with a policy.

 

There's a couple of UserVoices out there, this is the "hot" one

https://outlook.uservoice.com/forums/322590-outlook-for-windows-desktop-application/suggestions/3904...

 

 

@ChristianBergstrom  Sure I can understand that, to me i like the update, but the problem comes where I can right click to paste. 

 

I was wondering is this something i can fix or is this on Microsofts side

@The_Tech_Guy_2020 

Same issue with one of my users. Right mouse button context menu works literally everywhere you click in Outlook except the Search bar. Hopefully they fix or allow it soon.

@scottschramm OK it seems like its something Microsoft is having issues with as a glitch or they themselves disabled.

 

Well Thanks for the info.

@The_Tech_Guy_2020 I just found this as I searched on the same issue. Good thing you can use Ctrl-V, and I normally use that, but this is ridiculous. And then registering just to post here for the first time was a pain. After a bunch of tries with the "Register" button doing nothing, I discovered that it required me to select at least one community to join but had absolutely no indication that was needed. Some of the other fields had a * indicating they were required, but not that.

 

I did also search the Feedback Hub about the Outlook search issue but came up empty there.

@mkatich Thank you all for your help, This is really unfortunate that Microsoft are having this issue or just straight took it away.

 

I hope that there is enough people to make enough noise for Microsoft to hear and perhaps fix this issue.

 

Thank you all again!!

Are you sure "Tell me what you want to do" bar (aka "Tell me" bar) in title bar is what you need and not the search bar that is under the ribbons which automatically opens "Search" ribbon when focused?

 

vanowm_0-1591307472500.png

 

I've never used Outlook before, and today I've been asked why right click in search bar is not working, which used to work 2 month ago, and they demonstrated it by copying an email address and attempting paste it in the top "Tell me" bar with mouse, at which point I started suspecting that in the past the title bar used to have the search bar which now is located below the ribbons?

 

P.S.

regardless, it's just weird that "Tell me" bar doesn't have context menu.

@vanowm Here is what I see. It's a lot different from your screenshot. Search is in the very top title bar. Right-click in there does nothing.

 

Let me add that my version is "Microsoft Outlook for Microsoft 365 MSO (16.0.12730.20144)"

Capturetempdelete.PNG

@mkatich 

Some work arounds I have found that may work.

(1) Left click once to gain focus in the search box. Then Right click to get the contextual menu PASTE. (This works for some and some it does not)

(2) Some have had turning Hardware Acceleration OFF in Outlook options (Advanced->Display) work.

(3) Of course the tried and true CTRL+V works once you have focus.

 

It feels as if the new location (in the header) has some issues as the Right click is not recognizing the RIGHT click as a means to set the focus NOT on the header itself but the actual search box. You right click and its behavior is as if your are Right Clicking the Header (Contextual menu shows Restore, minimize, etc)

 

This to me would be a BUG as the user is attempting to use an existing action and behavior to accomplish a task that worked but now no longer works as intended. Probably an engineer thought the new location was a great place to free up screen real estate (which it is) but maybe when testing their expected behavior was to CTRL+V like most advanced users do and either did not catch the failure or weighed the options of new location benefits versus user convenience (it is not completely broken as CTRL+V works fine).

 

I would hope they figure out the search focus issue and actually fix it instead of adopting the easier but more frustrating design path of "working as intended".

@MrG_LM I just tried it again after seeing your reply and it actually works now. I get a context menu with cut/copy/paste/undo/redo. MS must have fixed the bug or something.

Previously when this didn't work, left clicking to focus in the search box before right clicking didn't help. When I said right-click does nothing, it did nothing. There was no context menu even for title bar stuff like restore/minimize.

I see what you mean. If I don't left-click in there first and I'm focused on a message below or something, and I right-click in the search bar, I do see the title bar menu items rather than cut/copy/paste. That doesn't bother me as much as not having it work at all, just have to left-click in there first.