How to change default search range to be all items instead of a time range in Outlook Mac?

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How to change default search range to be all items instead of a time range in Outlook Mac?

Toye I 20

I have observed that when searching for calendar entries, entries only up to a certain date show up. Is there a way to set the default search to encompass everything in specified calendar(s)?

I did see this was not possible in Outlook OWA and new outlook, how do I configure this for legacy outlook?

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Answer 1

Nghia-P 7,180 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi Toye Ikusemori,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A Forum!

Have a good day and I hope you're doing well!

I understand your goal is to display all calendar events when searching, instead of being limited by a time range. That’s an important need if you’re trying to locate older meetings or events.

To better assist, I’d like to clarify a few details:

When you are in the Calendar view in Outlook for Mac (Legacy), and you use the Search bar, then select “All Items” or “All Events”, and start searching, do older events appear in the results?
If the results are cut off by a time limit, what is the cutoff date or month?
Could you share 1–2 example event titles and their dates that you expected to see but did not appear in the search results?
Are you using Advanced Search (adding conditions like Subject contains, Location, Attendees), or just the basic search with keywords?

I’m asking these questions so I can replicate the same environment on my test machine and confirm the behavior. If possible, please also let me know:

Are you searching with a general keyword or specific criteria?
Is your mailbox fully synced or only partially cached (e.g., last few months)?

This information will help me narrow down the issue and suggest the most accurate workaround for you.

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Toye I 20 Reputation points

2025-11-07T10:52:56.8+00:00

Hi Nghia-P,

Thank you for your response. Just a bit of context, This question rose while I was helping a client with a calendar issue they were having. Their account was being archived previously until I changed policy to stop archiving. I observed that their archived calendar was not appearing in their outlook web or mac client. I managed to find the calendar entries from a backup and synced them across to their calendar.

They were previously using Mail for Mac to access their exchange account, but there were some issues with syncing so I advised them to use outlook mac.

Trying to search for all calendar entries relating to a name on outlook legacy would only show 4 entries with the earliest being 2024 with both all items and all events selected.

When searching on a iPhone, you can see entries in 2021

The user normally would search using just the name as the search criteria and does not used advanced search.

I did see that Outlook on Mac does not use Cached Exchange mode the same way as windows, so it may be that the mailbox hasn't been cached locally to encompass the whole mailbox and calendar on his mac. Is there any way to force this?

Additionally, is this only possible on outlook legacy if it is possible?

Many thanks,

PII Removed
Nghia-P 7,180 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-11-10T01:07:23.0466667+00:00
Hi Toye Ikusemori,

Thanks so much for your patience and for providing that detailed context; it really helps us get to the bottom of this.

Quick explanation (based on my research):

1. The Calendar Quick Search in Outlook for Mac (Legacy) is based on local data and often limited to a time window around the present, which means it might not pull in events from far back (like 2021) even if you've selected All Items or All Events.

2. In contrast, the iPhone and OWA/New Outlook rely on server-side search, which is why they can access and display much deeper history.

3. Outlook for Mac doesn't offer the same Cached Exchange Mode slider as Windows, so there's no direct way to "force" caching of the entire mailbox or calendar history like you can on Windows.

New Outlook and OWA also don't allow changing the default search scope, but their server-side approach generally provides more comprehensive results for long-term history.

Direct answers to your questions:

Can we force caching on Outlook for Mac? Unfortunately, there's no equivalent to the Windows control. You can encourage more data to sync through certain actions, but there's no setting to cache "all time" history.

Is this only possible on Outlook Legacy? No, Legacy doesn't support forcing a full cache either. For reliable deep historical searches, OWA or New Outlook (with server-side search) tend to work better overall.

Here are some recommended steps to help resolve this. Let's take it one at a time:

1. Verify in OWA (Outlook on the web)

Head to the Calendar in OWA and search using the exact same name keyword you tried on the iPhone.

While there, scroll back to 2021 to confirm that the restored items are fully visible in the primary Calendar.

2. Check the data location: Make sure those 2021 items are indeed in the main Calendar of the Exchange mailbox (and not in a local "On My Computer" folder or some secondary calendar).

3. If OWA looks good but Outlook for Mac (Legacy) is still missing items

Try removing and re-adding the account to rebuild a fresh local database (just be sure to export any local data first if needed to avoid losing anything).

Allow the mailbox to fully sync afterward.

4. Once re-added and synced, test the search in Outlook for Mac (Legacy)

Start with Advanced Search. This can also help "nudge" Outlook to fetch more historical data:

In: All Calendars

Date/Occurred: Any date (or set a very wide custom range)

Keyword: The same name you used on the iPhone

After running the search, leave Outlook open for a while (e.g., 10-30 minutes) to allow EWS to backfill older data blocks in the background. This should encourage downloading additional history.

Then, give Quick Search another go (with All Items/All Events selected) and see if more older results (e.g., from 2021) start appearing.

5. If these steps don't fully address the need for deep history searches:

Stick with OWA or New Outlook for queries spanning multiple years—their server-side search is usually more complete and reliable.

If offline access with extensive history is a must, Outlook for Windows with Cached Exchange Mode set to "All" might be the best long-term option.

Could you please let me know:

Do the 2021 items show up fully in OWA?

After removing/re-adding the account, running Advanced Search, and letting it backfill, does Quick Search now return older results (and what's the oldest year you're seeing)?

I'm here to assist further. Feel free to share the results or any other details, and we'll refine from there. Thanks again!
Nghia-P 7,180 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-11-11T11:54:54.4166667+00:00

Hi Toye Ikusemori,

I hope you're doing well. Just reaching out to see if you've had a chance to review the responses shared earlier.

If you have any updates or further questions, please feel free to share.
Toye I 20 Reputation points

2025-11-11T12:01:37.67+00:00

Hi Nghia-P,

Thank you for your reply, it was really helpful.

I am awaiting a response from the user so will have to update when the time comes, but I have informed them of the information you provided.

Thank you once again.

PII Removed
Nghia-P 7,180 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-11-11T12:10:43.68+00:00

Please note that our forum is a public platform, and we will modify your question to hide your personal information in the description. Kindly ensure that you hide any personal or organizational information the next time you post an error or other details to protect personal data.

Hi Toye Ikusemori,

Thank you for your quick response. I’m looking forward to hearing good updates from you.

If you have any feedback, please let me know. Your insights will help clarify the situation and allow me to assist you with troubleshooting more effectively.

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How to change default search range to be all items instead of a time range in Outlook Mac?

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