Search not working in Outlook 2019 since updating to Monterey 12.1 on the Mac

[SCSW_2021]

There appears from other sites to be a very widespread problem with search not working in Outlook - no results obtained in Monterey- since the latest OS update. Rebuilding spotlight does not work and many people cannot change to the new version of outlook as they are served by older versions of Exchange Server.

It looks like a bug, but any ideas gratefully received.

[#2]

using other software packages does not solve the problem unfortunately! (with the large locally stored mailboxes one often needs to search through). Are MS Office products on the latest MacOS not expected to work properly?

[#3]

Same issue here - interestingly it works on the old MacBook Pro (with Intel chip) Apple blames Microsoft • but I am not so sure (installed the latest Office on my MacBook Pro also with Monterey 12.1) For now I send back my MacBook Pro with M1 Pro chip - already spent 2 days trying to solve the Problem (New Outlook no Exchange)

[#4]

Hello Guys, I fix my Mac Air M1, Put in the private tab "Spotlight" the Macintosh HD and restart the PC, after power on deleting the Macintosh HD from Private Tab and wait for 20 to 30min to test the outlook search. Important the PC must maintain ON

[#5]

@Nkubikarg 

This did not help me.  I've tried it twice.  I have even deleted Office and all profile directories, and completely rebuilt email, also twice.  No cure.

[#6]

@annakorre It doesn't solve the problem but it's a workaround as I can search through my old emails (exchange and IMAP) with the Apple Mail App.  It took 5 minutes to set it up.  Hopefully, in the meantime, Microsoft and/or Apple or a user will figure out a solution that is specific to Outlook for Mac.  

[#7]

This did NOT work for me but I am posting it just in case someone wants to try it. This suggestion was provided to me by Microsoft Support via Outlook chat.
***
Kindly follow the steps mentioned below and verify the outcome:

Reassociate Outlook for Outlook email files:
1. Drag and drop any email to the Desktop from Outlook.
2. Right click / Control click on the email you dragged to Desktop and select 'Get Info'.
3. Expand 'Open with' and select 'Other' in the dropdown.
4. In the Finder application, choose 'Microsoft Outlook'.
5. Check the box that says 'Always open with'.
6. Select 'Add', and then choose 'Change All'.
7. Select Continue when asked “Are you sure you want to change all similar documents to open with the application “Microsoft Outlook”.

Once done, Re-index Outlook email files in Spotlight:

1. Open the Apple menu.
2. Select System Preferences, and then choose Spotlight.
3. Select the Privacy tab.

4. In Finder:

On the Go menu choose Go to Folder...

Copy and paste the following location into the "Go to the folder:" dialog box and select Go:

~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/Outlook/Outlook 15 Profiles/

5. Drag the ‘Main Profile’ folder or the folder with your primary profile name to the Privacy tab. Once added, remove the folder, and Spotlight will re-index the folder.

Note: You must perform this step for any additional profile folders you may have. Please note depending on the amount of email you have this could take several hours to fully index your email files.

Let me know how it goes. Thanks!

[#8]

UPDATE: THIS LAST SOLUTION WORKS for me!! Now Outlook search is WORKING. BUT you have to wait a minute. The first response is 'No Results" but after around 10 - 30 seconds the field starts to populate with results. And then it keeps going. So this indicates to me that the index is still compiling. SO AFTER YOU PUT IN A SEARCH TERM - WAIT FOR THE INDEX TO WORK IN REAL TIME. Or try several hours later and see what happens. Good luck!

[#9]

@ajmarton Seriously, Microsoft (and Apple) are trillion dollar companies - I do not have time for this; I re-indexed [and even installed the OS and Office multiple times] Yes - I got some Search results (sometimes after couple of minutes, but never complete) On Spotlight or Mail however it was complete - for now I prefer to work with my old MacBook Pro - the 2 days I spent to try to fix this issue are enough.

[#10]

Agreed! I am currently using (as a work around) Apple Mail on my new MBP M1 and iMac Pro. A real pain in the **bleep**.

[#11]

Switch to New Outlook and the search function will work.

[#12]

But one of my email accounts is exchange. And emails in folders will not migrate over so that's another problem for me.

[#13]

the file association issue is real issue that seems to be resolved now (the MacOs update decided we should be using Mail? how poor!). But the spotlight re-indexing is not working for me, so no fun!

[#14]

@druflin Doesn't work. I have a MacBook Pro 2020 with intel chip. 

[#15]

In the first 2-3 minutes, it start showing some results. After 5 minutes the situation returned to scrap.

[#16]

Must say, mine is working now, slowly indexing again.

[#17]

@Stork061612 

Many people like myself cant switch to the New Outlook. It says: 

We can't move the following accounts and/or folders to the new Outlook... and then lists my accounts and folders.

I dont know why, as in the past I was able to try it for a while and all was fine, but I reverted to old outlook, with the intention of going back to the new outlook when I had time to learn its differences.

[#18]

apologies, was working for five minutes and everything is lost again!

[#19]

The new outlook does not provide any possibilities to use Categories, therefore switching is as well not an option.

[#20]

@ajmarton You mentioned that following the instructions they gave you via chat (reindexing, etc., etc.) made it work for you? Can you confirm that your search is working fine now? 

For me (MacBook Air, Intel, latest Outlook for Mac, POP account), while reindexing, the search seems to show some results (they increase as reindexing progresses). However, once reindexing is complete, I don't see any search results. 

For new emails, I am using the Spotlight to search and click and opening them and replying.. but for any emails older than a few days, it's a real pain.

[#21]

exactly same here. I have raised the matter with my university IT admin to be in touch with MS Office and Apple teams, but no response yet