Search not working on Outlook 16.79 on Mac Sonoma

Hi Jerry,

I stumbled across a solution that worked for me. In system settings -> Siri and Spotlight. I went to Privacy at the bottom. Entered the entire HD into "Stop Spotlight from searching these areas". Some say to reboot your Mac before you remove it again. That didn't seem to work for me. So, I did it one more time. Added it, and then removed it. After around 3 hours Outlook worked fine. (May have done before, but that's when I checked).

Maybe this will help. Some say to just add/remove Documents - you might try that first.

Best

Kirsten

PS - there is a version 16.79.2 out. So you should probably also update?

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

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 :)

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

Where is the "Step 3) Enable && Disable "New Outlook" Feature"?

Do you mean the Legacy Outlook feature?

I use only the "Outlook Legacy" (the "New Outlook" is still an immature product for my needs).

So in step 3, I switched from 'Outlook Legacy' to 'New Outlook' and then switched back immediately from 'New Outlook' to 'Outlook Legacy'.

I have no idea how step 3 played a role in solving the problem. In any case, it is part of the procedure I followed (I don't know if skipping it would lead to the same results).

I did option one, no change.
I did option two, no change.
I can't figure how to do option three. On a Mac, I cannot find the path
Outlook > Preferences > Search
When I am in Outlook and go to the ribbon at the top, I do not see Preferences or Search anywhere, not even after checking all the dropdown options. This is where a live chat or a call would save boo coos of time. Please respond.