My classic Outlook is only letting me search "to do." How do I get it back to searching emails?

Had this happen with a user today, if you click File then click on the link to go to your browser version of the mailbox, try the search there, close your Outlook client then re-open it, the search should return to the default options.

It did the same thing to me. No idea why. Had to do instead of regular search. I closed outlook in task manager, I refreshed windows explorer and relaunched and it worked fine again. I did check the TO DO section of outlook by mistake prior. Im guessing thats what started it to begin with. But the option to change folders was completely gone. Much like you. Just glad its over

Thanks for trying to help! What happens when I attempt to search mail is that it searches "To Do" instead. Both in the Search box and to the left of it (where in your photo it displays the words Current Folder and a down arrow), it shows only "To Do." And that IS when I have the Inbox up, as well as any other folder.

No, no other error messages appear on the screen.

I am on a Dell laptop, using Microsoft Exchange.

What do you think I should do?

So now that I have turned the computer completely off and let it sit for a few minutes, and restarted, I can search mail again. Why?

What happens when you try to search mail? Any error messages?

What type of email account do you have configured in Outlook? POP, IMAP, Outlook.com, or Microsoft Exchange?

Select the inbox then try searching current folder. Does it work?