Outlook for Mac 2019 - Search not working :-(

Copper Contributor

Hi there

New contributor - I have just upgraded Office 2016 for Mac to Office 2019 for Mac.  The Spotlight Search option in Outlook no longer works - I get no results, even when I am looking at an email, and searching for a word or phrase or sender in that email ... I have downloaded the OfficeSearchRepair.app which is supposed to reindex and fix, but still not working.  I am running macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 - any help appreciated - thank you.

111 Replies

@aproebers  Thanks.  It is that simple.  The Search box lists (and defaults) to on the left: "Current Folder" but on Outlook for Mac 2019, there are also choices for "Subfolders", "Current Mailbox", "All Mail" and "All Items."  Select All Mail or All Items.  (They are grayed out so it isn't obvious).  It works!

 

@splasch

 

I have the same issue with Catalina. Outlook Search Repair doesn't support OS version. I tried to add/remove Outlook 15 Profiles from Spotlight Privacy, delete Outlook.sqllite to repair/rebuild index, it still doesn't work. 

 

@nvtanh  I just bought a new laptop.  Previous the search under Mohave and Outlook 365 (16.35) was decent but had been spotty (suddenly it just worked).  But now I get nothing.  I've tried all that you have to no avail.  Given that this is a microsoft product on a Mac platform, where do you think the problem lies - with outlook or Catalina?

 

@nvtanh same problem.

 

Catalina 10.15.3

Outlook 16.35

 

Filters and search does not work. 

@Dmtiry_Demidov personally i think is Outlook indexing issue. as i'm using both windows and macos platform. both platforms facing same issue of indexing. whereby if i'm using OWA, this isnt an issue at all. The available solutions on the website are works, just probably for a period of time or your existing emails. any new incoming emails shall be reindex again. means you're gonna reindex (repeating the steps) once you facing the issue again until it solves by Microsoft. 

@nvtanh according the steps, you shall add and remove for outlook to reindex. wonder why were to delete Outlook.sqllite? 

after the reindex, Quit (right click and Quit) your outlook completely. and you probably gonna repeat this frequently as the new incoming emails might be facing the same issue again.

 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/troubleshoot/outlook-for-mac/useful-tools

@teexl thanks! How much time did indexation take and how much gigs of letter do you have?

@Dmtiry_Demidov 1.5GB of emails for 10 months. the indexation is pretty fast for me. it works right after the add/remove and quitting outlook.

@nevilleh 

 

I saw your post from last year. But this does not seem to work for Mohave 10.14. Is there any way you know to make this work?  And how can we know if buying the full 365 subscription version will be any better?  Joe

@blooptime this worked for me, when nothing else did. Immediately populated the search results in Outlook Mac (writing this in April 2020) where before, nothing resulted for any of my searches since I migrated yesterday to a new Mac mini (using Time Machine on an external SSD.)

 

Thank you!!

Since my reply did not appear properly threaded (why I am not surprised, in an MS-built forum), here is what @blooptime recommended that worked perfectly (and instantly) for me:

 

 
Hey Everyone,

Please try this as it did work for me.....

https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/rebuild-spotlight-search-index-on-mac/

You will want to open finder, click Go, then click the "Option" key to find your Library. Then find the "Group Containers" folder, as this contains the Office365 Outlook Libraries. Drag this folder into the "Privacy" area in Spotlight and follow the instructions (basically just an add then remove). Spotlight will start to reindex.

Mine ran pretty fast. I almost immediately started finding emails that were coming up blank just minutes prior.

Good luck!!

@Joehug 

 

Did you get the search work for you?

@zahmedk 

Yes, I had to have 2 hour sessions with Microsoft for them to clear up the issue.  No online info ever helped. 

Perhaps share the solution here? Or did they need to do something server-side? That would be unlikely since it's 100% a local issue but perhaps they've built remote troubleshooting into Office.

@EduoOne 

 

It started working for me. I added the "Outlook 15 Profiles" folder from ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/Outlook to "System Preferences --> Spotlight  --> Privacy (Just drag and drop and then removed it) and it started working after that.

 

zahmedk_0-1588022526657.png

 

 

@zahmedk 

 

Update: It's still on and off. I have to occasionally do this again when no search results show up. Then it works again. There's obviously a flaw in the latest version of Outlook for Mac on the latest version of MacOS.

@jillpearson 

 

Update: It's still on and off. I have to occasionally do this again when no search results show up. Then it works again. There's obviously a flaw in the latest version of Outlook for Mac on the latest version of MacOS.

@jillpearson 

 

When you search, and then you change the folders, it breaks. I just do the search then get out of it then change the folder.

 

Hopefully there will be a permanent fix soon.

The easiest is to add your email account again to Outlook. 

Just did this 5 min ago and the indexing works perfectly. 

I think the issue comes when you bring your account from Time Machine. 

 

Best and quickest fix ever.