Search tool bar

Question

I have just set up a new business and your search bar is absolutely useless in the new outlook, so much so I have had to revert back to a legacy set up which feels so outdated and nt a system I really want to use. When is the search bar going to get fixed for Mac users, so I can actually find anything?

Answer 1

Hi,

Thank you for your response.

I have now worked through the suggested checks and can provide some further information.

Outlook for Mac: Version 16.112.4 (Build 26090911) Licence: Microsoft 365 Subscription

I have:

1. Updated Outlook to the latest available version.
2. Checked Spotlight Search Privacy on my Mac — there are no locations excluded.
3. Checked my Outlook profiles — they are named All Accounts, Work and Personal, with no special characters.

The issue is specifically with my third-party IMAP business email account.

When I search in New Outlook for a specific term, for example “Willowbrook”, the search initially appears to return the correct relevant emails, but then unrelated emails are also displayed in the search results. This makes the search unreliable and effectively unusable for me.

Interestingly, after installing the latest Outlook update, the search briefly returned the correct Willowbrook results, but then reverted to displaying unrelated emails.

Search for the same term works correctly in Legacy Outlook and also works correctly in my provider's webmail, so the mailbox/server search itself appears to be functioning correctly.

I have therefore switched back and forth between Legacy and New Outlook to test this, and the issue consistently occurs in New Outlook but not Legacy Outlook.

You recommended running the OutlookSearchRepair utility. Could you please confirm where I can obtain the current supported version of this utility? I have not been able to locate a current Microsoft download for it and I do not want to use a third-party download.

Could you also confirm whether this behaviour is a known issue with New Outlook for Mac and third-party IMAP accounts, and whether there is a current workaround or planned fix?

This is particularly important to me as I rely heavily on email search for my work, and I would very much like to use New Outlook and its newer features rather than remain on Legacy Outlook.

I would be happy to provide any further information you need.

Answer 2

Dear @SP Progression

I understand how frustrating it is when Search in New Outlook for Mac is not returning useful results, especially when it forces you to switch back to the legacy experience.

Microsoft currently documents several causes for Outlook for Mac search failures, including incomplete/corrupted Spotlight indexing and Outlook profile issues. Microsoft also lists a recent search-related issue for Outlook for Mac that has been fixed.

Please refer to this document:

Fixes or workarounds for recent issues in Outlook for Mac

I recommend starting with the following:

1. Make sure Outlook for Mac is fully updated: Help > Check for Updates.
2. Run the OutlookSearchRepair utility, which Microsoft specifically recommends for Outlook for Mac search problems.
3. If you recently created a profile, added the account, or imported data, allow Spotlight indexing to finish before testing Search again.
4. Check that the Outlook profile name does not contain special characters such as /, as Microsoft identifies this as a possible cause of search failures.

If the problem continues after these checks, please let me know your macOS version, Outlook version/build, and whether Search returns no results at all or only misses older emails. That will help me narrow down whether this is an indexing issue or a current New Outlook for Mac issue.

For reference: Troubleshoot search issues in Outlook for Mac – Microsoft Support⁠

Please feel free to reply if you need further guidance.

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