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What is going on with the search feature in Outlook? It wasn't working for awhile, and I found that I could "downgrade" to a version that was working, and that worked for me for awhile. I monitored the threads posting about the issue, and found that it was corrected in a new version, so I updated to the latest version, and it continued to work. The next automatic update (I believe it was 1704 8067.2032 but maybe 8067.2018) broke the feature again. Instead of attempting to try to figure out which version it worked in, and "downgrading" again, I decided to wait it out. Today 8067.2070 was released with "fixes", but the search functionality has not been restored.
I know that MSFT is aware of the problem because there are plenty of posts that acknowledge the issue, as well as several that say they have addressed the issue, but then an update is released, and it is broken again. What is the real story - lack of sufficient regression testing, or ??? When will a permanent fix be introduced?
Thanks!
-tim
A Microsoft application for managing email, calendars, contacts, and tasks across devices and platforms.
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
I'll follow up with you offline. If we identify the root cause we can post back to the thread in case it helps anyone else.
Hi Gabriel,
That was not my problem. I have created a new profile, and am having mixed results. I understand the benefit of posting to the community, but I would like to discuss with you my findings and further troubleshooting steps privately. Could you please contact me directly.
Thanks!
-tim
Something to check that I saw on another case today.
In Outlook click File, Account Settings, Account Settings. Click Data Files. Locate the Data File for your PST file and double click to see the properties. Where it shows the File Name is the format similar to C:\Users\username\Documents\Outlook Files\filename.pst. In the case we had today the path was something like "\?\C:\documents\test.pst".
If you see it with the wrong path you can click the Email tab and click the POP account and then click Change Folder, New Outlook Data File, and choose the original PST it is using to update the path.
Aside from this issue I am not seeing other reports yet. It would be helpful if the above does not apply to try creating a new Outlook profile and see if the POP account search will work in that profile.
Hi Gabriel,
I guess it would also have been helpful to you to let you know that I have been aware of this problem with Outlook for some time. I cannot tell you the build when the problem first showed up, but after a week or two without, I searched Microsoft Support and became aware it was a known issue. I began troubleshooting at that time. I have rebuilt the index as well as ran scanpst against the file multiple times . It was only when I learned I could go back to older versions of Office as some users suggested that I could get the problem to disappear.
So in answer to your question. I am aware of the basic troubleshooting steps to take, and yes, indexing is complete. When I put something in the search field (I use my name to ensure I should get results), I immediately get "No Results". However, as I said earlier today I downgraded to1702 (7870.2031), searched, and immediately got results - this without rebuilding the index or taking any other steps. Allowing the pst file to have contents indexed in Advanced Properties didn't change anything.
I am happy to help you with this problem. Let me know if you would like me to try a different version of office. It's not time consuming for me to do, and may help you determine in which version the code was broken. I will build a new profile if I have to, but since some versions of the software work - it seems to me the problem is with the software, not the setup or date file.
-tim
Thanks for all the extra details. This is helpful and I will do some more testing to see if I can cause a repro.
Just to make sure the status in Outlook click in the Inbox of the POP account, then click into the Search box, click Search Tools, and click Indexing Status. Does it show if there are any items left to be indexed? If it still shows any to be indexed we need to wait for that to finish.
If Indexing is complete there was one workaround that worked for some when we first saw the issue. Open Windows Explorer and go to the path where the POP PST file is, C:\Users\user account\Documents\Outlook Files. Locate the PST. Right click on it, click Properties, click Advanced. Click the check box to "Allow this file to have contents indexed...". Click OK, OK. Restart Outlook and periodically check if this helped.