5 Easy Fixes for Outlook Search Not Working Mac [5 Effective Ways]

Suppose you are an Outlook user, and you have to send and receive emails every day. In that case, you are highly likely to encounter Outlook search not working Mac on your Macbook no matter if its macOS is Sonoma, Ventura, Monterey, or Big Sur. This post arranges the workable fixes to help you solve this error quickly.

Many users reported an "Outlook Search Not Working Mac" error after upgrading to Sonoma or Ventura. If the same happens to you, you do no need to worry.

➡️User case: I just upgraded macOS to Ventura 13.2.1, and the search does not work in Outlook for Mac 16.71.2. No matter what I put in the search field, it says "No Results". Also, it disabled all of the rules I had created to sort mail into folders. Does anyone know how to fix it?- from Apple Community

This post from EaseUS will help you fix the Microsoft Outlook search not working Mac, and help you solve the prevalent Outlook file corruption with EaseUS Fixo Document Repair.

Fix 1. Check Your Profile is Not Added under the Privacy Tab of the Spotlight

The Spotlight Privacy on Mac matters when you want to hide specific search queries. You can also disable Spotlight Privacy when Outlook 2016 search is not working on Mac. The detailed steps are as follows:

Step 1. Click the System Preferences icon from the Dock and choose "Spotlight".

Step 2. Choose the Privacy Tab and make sure the Outlook profile is not added there. 

Step 3. If you happen to find it there, select the folder and click the minus icon at the bottom to remove it.

When the process completes, you can relaunch your Mac and see if the Outlook 365 search not working Macbook persists.

Fix 2. Make Sure Your Profile Name Has No Special Characters

If you still find something wrong with the search function in Outlook on your Mac, you can examine if your Outlook profile has any special character, for if it contains any character like "\", you are then unable to find it in the search result. Here's how to solve Outlook Search Not Working Mac Sonoma:

Step 1. Click "Finder" from the Dock and click the "Go" menu and choose "Go to Folder".

Step 2. Copy and paste this path in the search bar and press Enter. 

Step 3. Now, you will see all the folder names of your Outlook profiles. If you find any special character, change it.

Step 4. Open Outlook Profile Manager to check if this method helps.

Fix 3. Check Your Outlook's Update

It is also a wise way to check Outlook's update if you have no habit of updating Mac regularly. Follow the steps here to fix the Outlook 2016 search not working Mac:

Step 1. Launch "Applications" on your Mac and open the App Store.

Step 2. Click the Update option from the left panel. Check if there is any update available.

Step 3. Tap on the Update button to install the update for MS Outlook. When the installation finishes, restart your Outlook and check if the email search works.

Fix 4. Index Outlook Database Again

It is said that removing an Outlook profile from the Spotlight Privacy means your files won't be indexed until Spotlight reins. You can also Rebuild the Spotlight index on your Mac Outlook in System Setting if you don't want to wait for the Spotlight to reindex - forcefully index it.

Step 1. Open your System Settings and choose "Siri & Spotlight", then click "Spotlight Privacy".

Step 2. Drag your startup disk to the window opened now and Quit System Settings.

Step 3. Wait for an hour or more and launch System Settings again.

Step 4. Click "Spotlight Privacy" and choose your startup disk. Click "-" and Spotlight will be reindexed now.

🪄You can also reindex the Outlook Database in Terminal:

Step 1. Find and go to "Applications" > "Utilities". Open Terminal and type the following command:

Step 2. Then, type the following command and press return.

Step 3. Wait for the process to complete and close the Terminal. Restart your Outlook to see if you can use the search feature now.

Fix 5. Check the Outlook Profile Location

If the reindexing keeps falling, you'd better check the Outlook profile folder location because your Outlook for Mac will fail to get indexed if your location folder is incorrect. Read the instructions now:

Step 1. Find and tap on "Go" from the top Menu.

Step 2. Choose "Go to Finder" from the drop-down list and Type the following path.

Step 3. Press Enter and double-click the Outlook Profile folder.

Step 4. Double-click on the Outlook 15 Profiles folder. If you do not see the subfolder, just search it and paste it into the Outlook 15 Profiles folder.

Bonus Tip: How to Repair Corrupted Outlook Files on Mac

What do you do when your Outlook files get corrupted accidentally? Like corrupted emails or sudden crash of Mac Outlook? If so, what should we do to help? The answer is - to use professional document and file repair software like EaseUS Fixo Document Repair. 

You can easily repair Outlook on Mac with this versatile tool, solving Outlook issues like Outlook not Opening, Outlook not receiving emails or Outlook not showing attachments. Besides the Outlook files, this software may help when you encounter other file corruption like corrupt Excel files on Mac or corrupt PDF files, and when you unable to expand Zip Mac error 79.

FAQs on Outlook Search Not Working Mac

This post has elaborated on how to fix Outlook search not working on your Macbook. If you have any other doubts on this topic, read this part:

1. Why is search not working in Outlook on Mac?

• Outdated Outlook version
• Your Outlook profile contains special characters
• The Outlook profile folder has the wrong directory

2. How do I repair the search index in Outlook for Mac?

You can try reindexing the Outlook search index like this:

• Go to "Preferences" and choose "Search"
• Tap on "Indexing" and click "Rebuild"

3. How do you search in Outlook on a Mac?

You can locate the folder where your email or message is saved. Then, use the search bar in the upper-right corner of Outlook to type your file name.

Closure

In this tutprial, we have discussed the possible fixes for fixing Outlook search not working Mac. You can solve this issue individually because we have specially arranged them from easy to difficult. If all the methods above fail to work, you may try to restore your file from your Time Machin backup. Moreover, any time you run into Outlook file corruption, use EaseUS Fixo Document Repair.