HOW TO RESOLVE OUTLOOK SEARCH PROBLEMS?

Microsoft Outlook is an email client that concurrently manages personal information and provides multi-features like calendaring, task managing, journal logging, contact managing, web browsing, and more. This email client is accessible on all platforms, including iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS. Since it is available on all platform, it is convenient to use for all its users. Microsoft Outlook has more than four million active users currently that utilize the functions of this software regularly. Outlook has plenty of favorable features that ease the whole experience of email – one of these valuable features is the Search index. It lets you search for one (or more) specific emails using a keyword, date, subject, or sender’s name, which makes it quite opportune. But what happens when you are unable to search in Outlook? It can sure be highly inconvenient to browse through thousands of emails to find one. We have curated this blog to help you troubleshoot this error.

SOLUTIONS TO FIX OUTLOOK SEARCH ISSUES

There are three ways you can fix the problem on your Windows device – each discussed below. Kindly implement each solution and see which one works best to resolve your issue.

RUN THE WINDOWS SEARCH TROUBLESHOOTER

The first solution to fix Outlook 2016 search not working is to run the windows search troubleshooter, as it will automatically troubleshoot the issue and resolve it if possible. To run the troubleshoot, follow:

• Open Settings on your computer and click on Update & Security

• Select the Troubleshoot option

• Click on Search and Indexing next

• Finally, click on Run the troubleshooter

The steps mentioned earlier apply to Windows 10. Procedure for all previous Windows models may vary.

VERIFY WINDOWS SEARCH SERVICE

If you are unable to search in Outlook, the following solution is to verify that the Windows search service is fully functional. To check that, follow:

• Click on the Windows Search bar placed next to the Windows icon at the taskbar

• Type services.msc and press enter to search

• Locate and double click Windows Search under the Name column

• Set the Startup type to Automatic (Delayed Start)

• If the Service status isn’t running, click the start button under it to begin the service

Once you complete verifying and enable the windows search service, open Outlook and see if its search index is working.

REBUILD THE SEARCH CATALOG

Another solution to fix Outlook 2016 search not working is to rebuild the search catalogue. Please find the instructions to do the same below:

• First and foremost, exit Outlook

• Open Windows Control Panel and click on Indexing Options to open it

• You should see an indexing options dialogue box – click on its Advanced tab

• In the Advanced Options dialogue box, click on Rebuild

• Lastly, select Ok and then close it

Be patient while the indexing finishes. Once it does, go to Microsoft Outlook and check if its search function is now working.

You can fix the issues with Outlook’s search function using the three solutions mentioned above. If you have any further problems with the procedure, you can visit our other blogs for more assistance on this and related topics. We provide a complete guide to resolving your issues.