Searching outlook for emails

Hi Paresh Vyas,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A Forum! Have a good day and I hope you're doing well!

I’m sorry to hear you’re experiencing issues with searching emails in Outlook for Mac. I understand how frustrating it can be when search isn’t working, especially when you rely on it to quickly locate important messages. I’ll do my best to help you get this resolved.

Based on my research, I’d like to check a few things with you:

• Have you tried removing and re-adding your email account in Outlook?
• Have you tried clearing the cache? You can follow the steps in this Microsoft article: Clear the cache in Outlook for Mac
• Have you tested the issue in a new Mac user profile to see whether the problem persists there? This can help determine if it’s related to your current macOS profile.

To better understand the situation, could you please let me know what type of account you’re using (for example: Microsoft 365 for Business, Exchange, IMAP, etc.)? This will help us provide more targeted troubleshooting steps.

Also:

• When you use the search bar, do you get any results at all?
• Are you able to find any older emails?
• Or does it always show “No Results”?

If possible, could you share a screenshot of what you’re seeing? That would give us more insight into the issue.

In case the search always shows “No Results,” you may also refer to this troubleshooting guide from Microsoft: Troubleshoot search issues in Outlook for Mac

I hope this helps. If the problem still persists, or if you have any updates, please don’t hesitate to let me know. I’ll be happy to continue assisting you.

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Follow these steps to troubleshoot search not working in Outlook for Mac on macOS Sonoma with the latest Outlook installed:

1. Allow time for indexing to complete
   • If a new profile was created, a new account added, or data imported (PST/OLM), Spotlight indexing may still be running.
   • While indexing is incomplete, Outlook search can show “No Results”. Leave the Mac powered on and connected for some time, then try the search again.
2. Check Outlook profile name for special characters
   • Special characters (for example, /) in the profile name can break search.
   • To view the profile name:
     1. Open Finder → Applications.
     2. Right‑click Microsoft Outlook → Show Package Contents.
     3. Open Contents → SharedSupport → Outlook Profile Manager and note the profile name.
   • If the profile name contains special characters, rename the profile folder:
     1. In Finder, go to: /Users/<Username>/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/Outlook/Outlook 15 Profiles/
     2. Rename the profile folder and remove any special characters.
3. Ensure the Outlook profile is in the correct location
   • The Outlook 15 Profiles folder must be under: ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/Outlook
   • If it is elsewhere, move it back to this path.
4. Make sure Spotlight is allowed to index Outlook data
   • If the Outlook profile (or its parent folders) is in Spotlight Privacy, search will fail.
   • Open Apple menu → System Settings (or System Preferences) → Spotlight → Privacy.
   • Ensure neither UBF8T346G9.Office nor the Outlook profile path is listed. If they are, remove them so Spotlight can index.
5. Rebuild the Spotlight index for Outlook If search is still not working, the Spotlight index may be corrupted. A. Quick reindex via Spotlight Privacy
   1. Open System Preferences → Spotlight → Privacy.
   2. In Finder, press Go → Go to Folder… and paste: ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/Outlook/Outlook 15 Profiles/
   3. Drag the Main Profile (or primary profile folder) into the Privacy list.
   4. Remove it again from the Privacy list. This forces Spotlight to reindex that folder.
   5. Wait for indexing to complete (can take hours depending on mailbox size), then test Outlook search.
   B. Full reindex via Terminal (more direct)
   1. Restart the Mac to restart Spotlight services.
   2. Open Finder → Applications → Utilities → Terminal.
   3. Run: mdimport -L
      • If more than one “Microsoft Outlook Spotlight Importer.mdimporter” appears, delete the unused Outlook app, empty Trash, restart the Mac, then continue.
   4. Reindex the Outlook database (replace <user_name> and <my_profile_name>):

            mdimport -g "/Applications/Microsoft Outlook.app/Contents/Library/Spotlight/Microsoft Outlook Spotlight Importer.mdimporter" -d1 "/Users/<user_name>/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/Outlook/Outlook 15 Profiles/<my_profile_name>"
      

   5. Wait for reindexing to finish, then quit and restart Outlook and test search again.
6. If search still fails
   • After allowing enough time for Spotlight to finish indexing and confirming the steps above, uninstall and reinstall Office for Mac, then let indexing complete again before testing search.

If the issue started after a macOS update and an older Outlook build is in use, ensure Office for Mac is fully updated to the latest version supported on Sonoma, as several macOS/Outlook search issues have been fixed in later builds.

References:

• Troubleshoot search issues in Outlook for Mac
• Outlook for Mac search returns "No Results," and task items are not displayed
• Search in Outlook for Mac returns limited or no results for macOS Big Sur
• Troubleshooting Outlook search issues
• Search in Outlook for Mac returns no results after installing macOS Monterey 12.1
• Search doesn't work in Outlook for Mac after MacOS upgrade
• Outlook for Mac stops responding when using the search feature