-
Written By Rohan Wiese
-
Updated on December 14th, 2023
How to Resolve “Outlook Search Not Working” 2016, 2013, 2010 & 2007
“Outlook search not working” is one of the most common errors that all Outlook users face. For many administrators, it is kind of a daily routine to see such issues. Seeing an error is different and resolving the issues behind this, is altogether a different task. So today we will discuss, some of the best methods to resolve this error: “Outlook search not working”
Does upgrading your Outlook or even transferring your data to a new Outlook means that you will face Outlook search problems?
Not exactly but there are chances of facing such errors.
Since MS Outlook is one of the most used email client, it has been used to send and even receive bulk emails day in and day out. Due to this heavy usage, Outlook application must be maintained and upgraded on frequent basis.
So to maintain this application, many Outlook users upgrade their version and hence face issues or errors after upgrading it.
Even if you don’t upgrade there are chances that you will eventually face some issues. One of the most common error that most of us face is the search tool not working. And the most common error that you will face is ‘ Outlook search not working ‘ error.
This issue is common to almost all versions of Microsoft Outlook as all of them use the same search index for its functioning.
So if you are facing this error, no need to worry. As there are certain tactics and procedures that we can use and resolve this issue.
When You Face Outlook Search Not Working Error
The Outlook search feature is arguably one of the most crucial tools in MS Outlook. It helps you to navigate through your emails. But these errors can seriously affect your quick working ability.
There are various degrees of malfunction that you might face like:
- It would stop working completely and give you no results
- Or it may even show results only up to a certain date
So these are the two scenarios you might face during Outlook search not working error.
However, after all these you might be thinking of resolving it. So let’s see how we can resolve this Outlook search issue error.
Steps To Resolve Outlook Search Issue Error
MS Outlook Marked For Indexing
If you search and the result is coming blank then there are possibilities that your files are yet not indexed. However, you may check beforehand whether the files have been indexed or not. You may follow the mentioned process:
- Go to ‘Files’
- Click on ‘Options’
- And navigate to ‘Search’
- Now under ‘Indexing Options’ select ‘Modify’
- Now under the ‘Indexed locations’ you can specify which
files you want to index. In previous MS outlook versions, users has the power to select which mailbox they want to index whereas in Outlook 2016, you can either index Outlook completely or do not.
If your MS Outlook is marked for indexing, also try to disable and enable your Outlook with the help of the below mentioned process: - Deselect your Microsoft Outlook from selection
- Close the application
- Go to task manager, and verify whether Outlook.exe is not present in processes tab
- Now Open Outlook and follow the same above mentioned process and select Outlook to index.
Corrupt PST Files
Apart from indexing there can be another reason due to which you might be facing Outlook search not working error is corruption in your PST files. PST files are basically the file formats in which Outlook stores your emails and other items. And of these files get corrupted, the chance of facing errors gets higher.
If you think, your PST files are corrupted then you may check out this PST Recovery Software from Aryson Technologies. It is a fine software with inbuilt advanced algorithms. So recovering those files is quite easy with this tool. This tool can repair and recover all your emails and other mailbox items like: contacts, calendars, attachments and so on. Plus with this PST recovery software, you can also convert the corrupt PST files into DBX, MSG, EML and even in MBOX format. Plus the interface is also very interactive making it one of the most sought after software solutions in the market.
You should give it a look once.
After recovering and restoring the files, I guess you might not face the same Outlook search issue again.
Outlook Updates
There are lots of Outlook updates which we see every year but I always suggest my readers to choose the one which they need. As every update is not needed for your Outlook and in place of upgrading it, this updates can even burden your system which in turn harm your files. So keep a check which updates you need and which you don’t.
Apart from these methods there are some other small tips & tricks that you may use:
- Changing the time-out/sleep-time of your computer. Try to keep the time between 5-6 hrs which will help in indexing the files. Later on, keep it to normal.
- If you send and receive a lot of emails per day then archiving your system is a must do for you.
Hope this article helps you out in understanding what is Outlook search issues and how to resolve ‘Outlook search not working’ error in MS Outlook.
About The Author:
Rohan Wiese is a Technical Writer at Aryson Technologies. He is an expert Email Forensic, Cloud Computing, and a passionate nerd with over 10 years of experience in technical content writing. He writes about Cloud Migration, Database Recovery, Email Backup, Windows, Mac, and Tech.
Related Post
