Outlook 16.23.1 not searching correctly on Mojave 10.14.4

Anonymous
2019-04-04T21:28:30+00:00

I've had intermittent problems where the search function in Outlook on my Mac would stop working. In the past, I had a reliable fix that I found somewhere online; I ran the following in Terminal:

mdimport -g ‘/Applications/Microsoft Outlook.app/Contents/Library/Spotlight/Microsoft Outlook Spotlight Importer.mdimporter’ -d1 ‘/Users/USERNAME/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/Outlook/Outlook 15 Profiles/Main Profile’

... where USERNAME was the home directory name on my Mac. This took a while to run, but worked like a charm every time.

But I recently upgraded to Mac OS 10.14.4 (Mojave), and apparently this command is no longer supported in Terminal. Now when I try to run it, I get the error:

'-g' no longer supported. Importers may only be tested by installing them.

To be honest, I don't really know what the "-g" parameter means. Any ideas on how to resolve? I'm a bit out of my depth here and don't want to do something that makes things worse.

Outlook | MacOS | Legacy Outlook for Mac | For home

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  1. Anonymous
    2019-04-09T09:10:44+00:00

    Hi yobelow,

    We have recently received several similar reports on this problem. It is suggested that you report this issue to our dedicated Outlook for Mac support team to get targeted assistance. You can click on Contact Support feature on the Help menu to find them. Your time and understanding will be highly appreciated.

    Best Regards,

    Huni

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  2. Anonymous
    2019-04-06T06:06:06+00:00

    Hi yobelow,

    In this situation, you can try to create a new Outlook profile and check if the issue persists in the new created profile.

    Note: Do not remove the old profile.

    In addition, according to my research, I found a known issue that Search doesn't work in Outlook for Mac after MacOS upgrade. And the status is INVESTIGATING.

    Here is the article for your reference: https://support.office.com/en-ie/article/search-doesn-t-work-in-outlook-for-mac-after-macos-upgrade-b73de6f1-aeb9-4720-bbbe-de65ab50012e

    Best Regards,

    Huni

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  3. Anonymous
    2019-04-06T03:25:46+00:00

    Hi yobelow,

    In this situation, you can try following the Step 7 of the article below to re-build the Spotlight index and see if it helps:

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2741535/outlook-for-mac-search-returns-no-results-and-task-items-are-not-displ

    Best Regards,

    Huni

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  4. Anonymous
    2019-04-04T23:32:56+00:00

    Hi yobelow,

    Thanks for posting in our forum. For your problem, I suggest toy try using the Outlook Search Repair tool to repair search issues in Outlook for Mac. For example, when search returns no results for items that do exist in your mailbox, or you get older data when you have newer items.

    If the issue persists, for Outlook mac issue, we have a dedicated in-app support channel. You can click on Contact Support feature on the Help menu to find them and get targeted help.

    Best Regards,

    Huni

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