Search not working on Outlook 16.79 on Mac Sonoma

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

Please follow the steps below and let me know if they help:
First

1. Please click on the Finder icon on the Dock and, click on the Go menu at the top of the Apple menu. Now click on Go to Folder.
   a. Copy, and paste the following location into the "Go to the folder:" dialog box and click Go: ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/Outlook/Outlook 15 Profiles/Main Profile/Data/Messages/
2. Open one of the folders under the Messages folder, right-click on one of the files, and select Get Info in the pop-up, or press Command+I keys on the Keyboard, or choose Get Info on the File menu.
3. Click Open With if the section isn't already expanded, click the dropdown list of applications, and choose Microsoft Outlook.
4. Check the box that says, 'Always open with'.
5. Select 'Add', and then choose 'Change All'.
6. Select Continue when asked, "Are you sure you want to change all similar documents to open with the application "Microsoft Outlook".

Second

1. Open the Apple menu.
2. Select System Settings, and then choose Siri and Spotlight.
3. Then scroll down, and click Spotlight Privacy on the right-hand side.
4. Now click on the Finder icon on the Dock:

a) On the Go menu at the top of the Apple menu bar, choose Computer at the top of the Apple menu bar.

5. Drag "Macintosh HD" to the Privacy tab. Once added, wait a couple of minutes, and then remove it. Spotlight will re-index the complete Hard drive, which will take a couple of hours, depending on the size of the data that you have on your Mac. So please wait for some time (you'll need to wait for a more than a few hourse based on the size of the data!!) and, then check if Search is working.

You can refer to the link below for more information on how to re-index on a Mac:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201716 

Depending on the size of the data and configuration of the Mac, it took me about between 5 to 6 hours (it took me about 6+ hours). You can click on Spotlight(small magnifier lens) icon towards top right and type any word and it will show the status of re-indexing. In addition, please do not shutdown/restart your Mac and do not let the Mac go to sleep mode till the re-indexing is complete.

It worked for me without any issues.

Thank you for sharing deepblue666's fix that you found. Solved this perplexing issue. Should be published as a KB by MS Support.

Thanks to a post by "deepblue666" I solved it.

Original Post URL: Outlook search not works in Monter… | Apple Developer Forums

I am reporting the procedure as it was posted on the Apple Developer Forums below

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In my case (Ventura/Outlook 2016) the following fix did solve the issue:

Step 1) sudo mdutil -a -i off

sudo mdutil -a -i on

Step 2) Re-Index your HDD

1. Open System settings and select Siri and Spotlight.
2. Scroll down and click the Spotlight Privacy.
3. Click on Go - Computer.
4. Drag the Macintosh HD to the Privacy tab and wait for some time.
5. From the Privacy window, select the HD and then click the minus (-) button near the bottom left of the window.

Step 3) Enable && Disable "New Outlook" Feature

Step 4) Have fun with the search feature

Seems to be a new "New Outlook" feature :)

By the way, I tried a lot fixes including

mdimport -r "/Applications/Microsoft Outlook.app/Contents/Library/Spotlight/Microsoft Outlook Spotlight Importer.mdimporter" -d1 "/Users/my_user/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/Outlook/Outlook 15 Profiles"

no effect :)

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I hope this works for you as well let me know.

Actually, no, the first post didn't mention Outlook Legacy or New. Both have the same version numbers. The next few posts were about the New Outlook. It was hijacked after that.

I don't even have the option for Preferences? Where is that? And under general there is no search option? Running Microsoft Outlook for Mac - 16.81.2