Search not working on Outlook 16.79 on Mac Sonoma

Anonymous
2023-11-15T00:48:51+00:00

Hi running Outlook 16.79 on Mac Sonoma 14.0 (23A344) and search function doesn't work at all. Any tips would be much appreciated, thanks

Outlook | MacOS | Legacy Outlook for Mac | For business

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-11-15T08:24:20+00:00

    Hi, thanks for the reply. On point 2, you say go to Outlook > Preferences > Search > Indexing > Rebuild, but on my system its Outlook > Settings > Search > and then there are limited options (see screen shot)![](https://learn-attachment.microsoft.com/api/attachments/ceada97e-6a5a-4d64-befb-8d20b6223aef?platform=QnA

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-11-15T08:23:21+00:00

    If you have a hunt around you'll see this is one of many faults with the very, very buggy New Outlook that have never been addressed (large font issues, flaky importation of data etc). The only real solution is to revert to legacy. My wife and I both keep an old Mac with the legacy Outlook on it and use that if we need to search.

    If you have managed to import data - it'**** and miss - you may find the missing mail by going to the folder it's in, but the New Outlook seems unable to do a search of all your emails. You get random hits if you are lucky. Rebuilding the index doesn't help.

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-11-15T07:00:12+00:00

    Hi, David

    Good day!

    Thank you for posting to Microsoft Community. We are happy to assist you.

    According to your description, I'm sorry to hear that you're having trouble with the search function in Outlook for Mac. Here are a few troubleshooting steps you can try:

    1. Check for updates: Make sure that you have the latest version of Outlook for Mac installed. To do this, open Outlook and go to Help > Check for Updates.
    2. Rebuild the search index: Sometimes the search index can become corrupted, which can cause issues with search. To rebuild the search index, go to Outlook > Preferences > Search > Indexing > Rebuild.
    3. Check your search settings: Make sure that your search settings are configured correctly. Go to Outlook > Preferences > Search and make sure that the correct folders are selected for search.

    In addition, please give it a shot by creating a new profile and see if it can make any differences - Manage profiles or identities in Outlook for Mac - Microsoft Support.

    Note: Please be kindly to backup your important data in case of losing it.

    Thanks for your attempts and looking forward to your new updates.

    Thanks for your understanding and cooperation.

    Sincerely,

    Alex | Microsoft Community Moderator.

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