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

@kcourtney The challenge with this is I can't move any of my GSuite items to the Microsoft account. I'm slowly migrating, so right now I have to choose between the ability to move emails in my inbox (Gsuite) to my MS Outlook folders OR Search my contacts. 

@ShantaDotCa 

Switching to the Outlook "New Outlook" fixed search for me:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/the-new-outlook-for-mac-6283be54-e74d-434e-babb-b70cefc77...

 

Hope it helps your situation too.

@kcourtney 

 

It fixes the search yes. But if you read through my comment again, the issue is that I can't use my Gmail account in conjunction with it as well. I need to be able to move emails back and forth between the two accounts and as I am transitioning, this is extremely important. 

@schneik8080- Hi there.

I have the opposite problem - I get no response from an email search through items since the upgrade to Big Sure.  That is, when I do a search I get results pre 11 November (I think it was the 11th) but nothing since that date.

Will your solution also resolve that please?

Cheers

Wayne

@splasch 

 

I have tried everything for a month, also MS support has tried to help. Found this program Freeware. https://www.titanium-software.fr/en/onyx.html

APPLE certified.

Selected delete existing mail index, and after that, I can search in all e-mails have 100Gb.

So now I can work again ;)

@anneu620 

 

This is the only documented solution that I've found online.  If your Outlook search IS NOT working and your Spotlight search IS working, this will resolve your issue.

Outlook for mac uses spotlight for its search. Forcing spotlight to reindex your outlook mail folder is a viable answer. UPDATE: Didn't work for me this time, though. 

@splasch 

 

I tried everything and in my case the only thing that solved the issue was selecting the New Outlook option from the top right of Mac Outlook.  After that, Outlook relaunched with the new look and also Search now works.

 

Mac mini M1 with Big Sur.  Outlook for Mac 16.45.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Rimsky_0-1610826219269.png

 

Good tip. Worked right away for the mailboxes that support New Outlook. Alas, most of mine don't. Also for me: spotlight reindex didn't help; stealing the Outlook database file did get Outlook's attention, but after it recovered still no Search.
do this it works

I have tried everything for a month, also MS support has tried to help. Found this program Freeware. https://www.titanium-software.fr/en/onyx.html
APPLE certified.
Alas, no luck for me. It rebuilt (overnight), but still not searchable. Odd.

Tried any of the method listed but nothing fixed the issue (including complete reinstall). The worst part is that I can find Outlook email (kind: Microsoft Outlook mail message) in my Spotlight or search work in "New Outlook" GUI (that btw is plenty of other problems). Any additional suggestion is appreciated.

 

@splasch 

@Rimsky  Thanks for the tipp- that solved the problem...

 

I got the same problem with Big Sur and indeed I tried once the "New Outlook" but as I didn't liked it switched back to the previous look. Obviously this caused the trouble, as with switching to the new Outlook search worked.

Btw, switching back results in search not working. I don't know whether this I a trick to force users into the New Outlook, or a bug, but definitely a miserable performance from MS...

Right. Further info:

* New Outlook can search new and old email just fine.
* Old Outlook can search new email (since OS upgrade) but not old email.

My workaround is to use OWA when I need to search old email. :-s
I tried a lot of methods, this one worked for me
1. Check if Spotlight indexing is working on the outlook folder
~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/Outlook/Outlook 15 Profiles/
Search with spotlight in this folder directly, if results are returned, then spotlight is working properly. If not, try the methods mentioned above to force Spotlight to re-index the "Main profile" folder
2. The problem is probably due to an issue with Outlook index
Quit outlook
Go to folder:
~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/Outlook/Outlook 15 Profiles/
In the "Main Profile" folder, move the "Outlook.sqlite" to your desktop. This will force Outlook to re-index all messages, when you relaunch it
Be patient, mine took 3 hours to re-index all my emails (important to plug in power and disable computer sleep in System preference)
You can follow the re-indexing by looking at the same "Main Profile" folder. A new folder (rebuilding) will be created during this process. Files will be updated as the indexing goes on

Ooutlook has an option 'new outlook' (top right corner). switching to this fixed the search for me.

@splasch 

@timsharpe What happens is that "New outlook" has no local storage whatsoever. So it always searches on the server.

 

So, as long as all your email is on the server and you're online, search will work.

 

If you need to search historic inboxes in your local machine or you need to search while in offline mode, then New outlook is dead in the water for search.

 

Essentially it's equivalent to open outlook web and searching there (which already worked).

I was able to resolve this issue by Spotlight re-indexing the Profiles folder while Outlook is open. The key for me was Outlook had to remain open during the entire re-index of my profiles folder. Instructions I followed where...

1. Open Outlook if not already opened.
2. Choose Apple menu -) System Preferences, then click Spotlight.
3. Click the Privacy tab.
4. In Finder:
a. On the Go menu click Go to Folder...
b. Copy and paste the following location into the "Go to the folder:" dialog box and click Go:
~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/Outlook/Outlook 15 Profiles/
5. Drag the ‘Main Profile’ folder to the Privacy tab. Once added, remove the folder from the same Privacy tab, and Spotlight will re-index the folder. Note: You must perform this step for any additional profile folders you may have.
See the following article from Apple to learn more: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201716
6. Allow some time for the re-index, as this is happening in the background, with no visible indication and the duration depends on the amount of content.
A few hours should be about enough for a re-index and then try searching again.

@timsharpe 

correct. That works there. However, I have problems with the subfolders. They are empty there. The subfolders are also not displayed in one folder, but all one below the other.
E.g.

Main folder-A
_Subfolder-1A
_Subfolder-2A
_Subfolder-3A

Main folder-B
_Subfolder-1B
_Subfolder-2B
_Subfolder-3B


there it is displayed like this:
Main folder-A / _Subfolder-1A
Main folder-A / _Subfolder-2A
Main folder-A / _Subfolder-3A
Main folder-B / _subfolder-1B
Main folder-B / _subfolder-2B
Main folder-B / _subfolder-3B

Do you have any idea why the folders are displayed one below the other and how I can solve that?

The following got me search results for the first time in months:

 

  • Select Outlook -> Services -> Services Preferences from the top menu
  • Scroll down to 'Searching' and check the box next to 'Spotlight' if it is unchecked

After doing so, I was able to search again in Outlook