Fix “Search in Outlook Not Working” within Clicks – Was this information helpful?

Choose the scenario that best describes your Outlook search problem:. Outlook search returns no results. Outlook search returns incomplete results. Outlook search can’t find older emails. Error: Search performance will be impacted because of a problem with how Outlook search is configured. Search folders show unexpected PersonMetadata items with no subject. Shared Mailbox: Problems with search results. Outlook only: Search tab is greyed out.

Find and click Search and Indexing , and click Run the troubleshooter. In Windows 8. In Settings , search for troubleshooting , and select troubleshooting in the search results. Find and run the Search and Indexing troubleshooter.

When the Indexing Status dialog appears, you should see the following:. If Outlook has not finished indexing, note the items remaining to be indexed, wait five minutes, and then check again.

If the number of items did not decrease, continue to the next step. Under the Name column, find and double-click Windows Search. Set the Startup type to Automatic Delayed Start if it wasn’t already.

If the Service status does not display Running , click the Start button underneath it to start the service. If Microsoft Outlook is not listed, select Modify , and then click to enable the check box next to Microsoft Outlook.

In the Indexing Options dialog box, select Advanced. Scroll down until you find msg in the Extension column and select it. Make sure that the Index Properties and File Contents option is enabled. If it doesn’t, either the Windows Search service is not working correctly, or Microsoft Outlook could not install the filters correctly. In either case, you should contact Microsoft Support for help with the issue. In the Advanced Options dialog box, select Rebuild.

If indexing does not finish, contact Microsoft Support to request assistance with Windows Desktop Search. Or, you can exit Outlook, and open Mail in the Windows control panel. In the Profile Name box, type a name for the new profile, and then select OK. If prompted, provide account information, such as email address and password, and select Next.

Select Finish. You’ll find the new profile name you added listed on the General tab in the Mail dialog box. In the drop-down list in the Choose Profile dialog box, choose the new profile name you created and select OK.

If search works, there may be an issue with your old profile. You may want to make this profile the new default profile and transfer information from your old profile to the new one. The steps to access the repair tool vary depending on your operating system. Choose from the drop-down list below. Right-click the Start button lower-left corner , and select Apps and Features on the pop-up menu. Select the Microsoft Office product you want to repair, and select Modify.

Note: This will repair the entire Office suite even if it’s just one application you want to repair such as Word or Excel. If you have a standalone app installed, then search for that application by name. Depending if your copy of Office is Click-to-run or MSI-based install, you’ll see the following options to proceed with the repair. Follow the steps for your installation type. The faster Quick Repair option is also available, but it only detects and then replaces corrupted files.

In Change your installation , select Repair and then click Continue. Right-click the Start button lower-left corner , and select Control Panel from the pop-up menu. From Category view, under Programs , select Uninstall a program. Right-click the Microsoft Office product you want to repair, and from the drop-down, select Change.

If you have a standalone application such as Word or Excel, search for the application name. Depending if your copy of Office is Click-to-run or an MSI-based install, do the following for your Office installation type:. In How would you like to repair your Office Programs , select Online Repair to make sure everything gets fixed, and then select Repair.

Click the Office product you want to repair, and then click Change. Click the button below to download and install the Office uninstall support tool. Follow the steps below to download the uninstall support tool according to your browser. Tip: The tool may take a few minutes to download and install. After completing the installation, the Uninstall Office products window will open. After you restart your computer, the uninstall tool automatically re-opens to complete the final step of the uninstall process.

Follow the remaining prompts. Select the steps for the version of Office you want to install or reinstall. Close the uninstall tool. If the missing search results are in the Deleted items folder, you can add this folder to your search results:.

Select the Include messages from the Deleted items folder in each data file when searching in All Items checkbox, and click OK. You can increase the time in your email account’s offline settings so that more or all your emails are cached locally for indexing. To do this:. On the Email tab, select your email account and click Change. Drag the Download email for the past: slider to the desired amount of time or to the far right to All.

Click Next , and then Done. Close out the window and restart Outlook. By default, Outlook will display search results.

You can increase this to show all results but search will be slower. Clear the Improve search speed by limiting the number of results shown checkbox, and click OK. You can search for items that were moved to an auto-expanded archive mailbox only by searching the folder itself.

Select the archive folder in the folder list to select the Current Folder option as the search scope. If a folder in an auto-expanded storage area contains subfolders, you have to search each subfolder separately. For more information, see Overview of unlimited archiving in Microsoft When you can’t find emails older than 6 months using Outlook search, follow these steps in the order provided:.

This can occur after upgrading to Windows 10 Version and earlier. The issue was fixed in Windows 10 Versions and later. To fix this issue, follow this step:. If you’re not getting expected results from a shared mailbox search or you receive an error, follow one of these steps:. Important: The following steps show you how to modify the registry.

However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Please make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, go to How to back up and restore the registry in Windows.

In Windows, right-click Start , and then select Run. In the Open: box type regedit , and then click OK. This will open the registry editor. In the registry editor dialog box, find this subkey in the registry, and then click it:.

In the Value data box, type 1 to enable the registry entry, and then click OK. Note: This policy and other important considerations are documented on the search blog. To search a Shared Mailbox, click the mailbox and use the Current Folder scope. This is a design limit that’s currently being worked on for future updates. Go to this Understanding Search Scopes blog for more details about what scopes are supported when.

To work around this issue, you can add the Shared Mailbox as a secondary Exchange account to the profile. First you will need to check if the shared mailbox is already listed as an account in the profile. If so, you will have to remove it. To do this, follow these steps:.

Choose More Settings , and then select the Advanced tab.

How to Fix Outlook Search When It’s Not Working

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Warning: This site requires the use of scripts, which your browser does not currently allow. See how to enable scripts. Select Language:. Microsoft has released an update for Microsoft Outlook Bit Edition. This update provides the latest fixes to Microsoft Outlook Bit Edition. Additionally, this update contains stability and performance improvements.

Details Version:. File Name:. Date Published:. File Size:. System Requirements Supported Operating System. Install Instructions To start the download, click the Download button and then do one of the following, or select another language from Change Language and then click Change. Click Run to start the installation immediately. Click Save to copy the download to your computer for installation at a later time IT professional resources IT professional working in managed environments can find complete resources for deploying Office updates in an organization on the Microsoft Office Desktop Applications TechCenter.

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