Outlook search not working: tried everything, please help. Super frustrated ;-(

Copper Contributor

 

Hello everyone,

 

I run a Surface Pro X. Nothing special, just the usual office applications. I did enrol in the insider programme several months ago, not sure whether that is related to my 'issue'.

 

I use outlook with 3 Gmail accounts (2 Google Workspace and one private account actually) that are accessed via IMAP. I have the same setup in my office on a Surface Studio, where everything works flawlessly.

 

However, on the Surface Pro, the search function in Outlook stopped working somewhere in July. When I do a search, I simply get 'no results' and below that 'find more on server'. When I click the latter, again: 'no results'.

 

  1. Of course I tried to fix this by following this: Troubleshooting Outlook search issues (microsoft.com). And more by following all kinds of tips and tricks in forums.

  2. Then I chatted with 3 different tech support staff members, one of whom was 'escalation level'. Each of them took over my computer, spent 1 to 2 hours doing all the things I already did in step 1. The first agent eventually made me reinstall Office, the second made me reinstall Windows entirely. The third couldn't fix it after a clean reinstall of Windows (11) and Office (total wipe of computer) and promised that I would be contact by a super senior specialist the next day at 9am sharp, which didn't happen.

  3. I deleted all the 32-bit preinstalled Office versions that come with the (fresh) Windows 11 install (13 languages one by one, took ages; there was no other way since the official Office recovery/uninstall tool does not work under Windows 11) and installed the native ARM64 Office version. Still the search bar in Outlook gives 'no results'.

     

I am about to throw my Surface Pro X out the Window.

Any ideas/help/suggestions before I do?

 

Joseph

 

Joseph_Pe_0-1633131252089.png

 

3 Replies
Same here. Not working and not have new from Microsoft :(

Same here. I did not reinstall Office or the OS, that was going to be the next step. Thank you for detailing that so it will save me going through that agony.

Issue started about a month ago, around the time I upgraded my Surface Pro X to Windows 11. Since then I have scoured the web for helpful workarounds (rebuilding index, mail repair tool, OST repair, reinstall Outlook and many other smaller things). Nothing worked and it is debilitating to lose such a foundational feature!

Was going to do the uninstall/reinstall Office next but tried another googling, this time specifying Surface Pro X - and found your post. I best it is an ARM specific bug but not sure Microsoft even knows about it or if anyone is trying to fix...

My workaround for searching my mail is to do it in the Windows Mail app or in Gmail...

Please let me know if you end up getting any better results - thank you!

 

Link to the other thread: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook_com/forum/all/outlook-search-not-working-tried-everythin...

Hi Raz10,

As a measure of last resort, I signed up for the 'insider programme' of both Windows and Office. The beta versions of both (only the earliest releases, which is not recommended by MS) eventually gave me back my search functionality... :thinking_face:

Now I just suffer from BSOD once every day... ;)