How to Fix “Outlook Search Not Showing Recent Emails”[2024]

Summary: As a Mac user when you are trying to search emails on your Outlook application on Mac, you are getting nothing in return as a result or it shows “No Result Found” when you try to find your emails. You are looking for a solution how to fix Outlook Search not showing recent emails. Then you are at the right place because this blog will talk about how you can fix Outlook search problems. Whenever we try to find or search some specific emails it shows No results found from the search result. These errors come without any warning so are not able to detect or prevent them. There are various methods through which you can fix Outlook search when it’s not working. You can opt for any method that is suitable for you.

 

About Outlook

Outlook is a reliable email application that is used to send or receive emails by accessing Microsoft Exchange Server Email. Outlook helps you to manage your emails on multiple accounts. It is the most efficient tool for businesses to manage their emails. Not only emails it also helps you to handle contacts, to-do lists, tasks, calendars, and records or data on the hard drive. MS Outlook also assists you in sharing information utilizing public folders, forms, and internet connectivity.

Why Outlook Search Function Not Finding All Emails

There are various reasons why there are issue Outlook search not showing recent emails. A few of the reasons are discussed below.

• There are special characters in the name of the Outlook profile– if your Outlook profile has special characters such as an ampersand(&), a forward slash(/), a backslash(\), an asterisk(*), an exclamation mark(!), a hyphen(-) or many others then Outlook may not search these profiles. 

• Update the new version of Outlook– the new version of Outlook fixes the bugs of the previous version and has some additional features.

• Wrong directory of the Outlook profile folder– if you are using MS Outlook 2016 then the valid path of the folder name “ Outlook 15 profiles ” is as follows: ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/Outlook. If the shown address is different from this path then you may face some problems while looking for personal correspondence in mail folders.

• Outlook is listed in the privacy tab of Spotlight– if the Outlook profile is listed in the Spotlight privacy tab then the Mac Spotlight feature is blocked from searching that location. 

Now we will discuss different methods with their detailed steps that will help you to understand and perform easily.

How to Fix “Outlook Search Not Showing Recent Emails”

Method 1. No Special Characters In The Outlook Profile

If you want to fix Outlook search problems then you have to make sure that your Outlook profile has no special characters. Follow the below-mentioned steps to check and rename your Outlook profile having special characters.

• Click the Finder on your system and select Application on the sidebar. 
• Select MS Outlook and right-click it, after that select Show Package Contents.

• Go to the Contents option and select SharedSupport. Select the Outlook Profile Manager option to proceed further.

• Check your profile name if there are any special characters. If not then follow the other method, otherwise, follow the given steps to rename the profile.
• In the Finder, expand the Go menu and select the Go To Folder. Enter the following path :~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/Outlook and press enter.
• Double-click the Outlook 15 Profiles to open it.
• Rename the Outlook profile so that it has no special characters.
• Finally, go back to the Contents option, click SharedSupport, and select Outlook Profile Manager to verify that the profile name is changed.

Method 2. Check The Spotlight’s Privacy Tab

When Microsoft Outlook search not working then you must check that any of your Outlook profile or any of its parent folders is listed under the Spotlight Privacy tab then Spotlight won’t be able to search it. So you have to remove them from the privacy tab of the Spotlight and try again.

• Click the System Preferences on your system and select Spotlight.

• Click the Privacy tab and verify that your Outlook profile is not listed here. If it is present then Spotlight won’t be able to indicate it. Select the folder and click the minus(-) sign at the bottom to delete it.

Method 3. Updates For The Outlook App

Sometimes we face issues Outlook search not showing recent emails. You can check whether the new updates have been installed or not, you can fix Outlook search when it’s not working. The search function may behave inappropriately because of a bug in the current version of Outlook. Such bugs are fixed with the new updates that Microsoft provides.

• Go to the Application and start the App Store app.
• Click on Updates on the side panel.

• Check any pending updates of Outlook. If it is then click Update button next to it. After that wait for some time until the update installs and restart the computer. 
• You can also use the Microsoft AutoUpdate tool to check the new releases and update the software automatically.

• Open Spotlight, search for Microsoft AutoUpdate and press Enter.
• Click the Check for Update option. If the pop-up window says there are no updates available then proceed with the next step. You have to make sure that the radio button next to “Automatically” is ticked.

Method 4. Check The Location Of The Outlook Profile

If the Outlook search function not finding all emails may be because your Outlook profile is at the wrong location then Outlook is unable to identify your data. Follow the given steps to check the profile folder location and change it.

• Click on the Go tool from the menu bar. Select Go to Folders when the drop-down menu appears.
• On the pop-up windows that appear, paste the directory address: ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/Outlook and press the Enter button.
• Now double-click on the Outlook 15 Profiles folder to open it.
• Check that your current profile is visible inside the folder and matches the profile name inside the Outlook Profile Manager. 
• If not check the name of the Outlook profile from your Mac and paste its contents inside the Outlook 15 Profiles folder.

Method 5. Reallocate The Messages To The New Outlook Folder

If you are still facing issues Outlook search not showing recent emails then you must try to move the messages from the older Outlook folder to the new Outlook folder. Now follow the given steps to move these messages effortlessly. 

• Before allocating the multiple messages, create a new folder by right-clicking on the left sidebar.  
• Name the folder name.
• After that go to the folder from which you want to move the content and select the messages that you want to relocate.
• Now click the Message tool from the menu bar. Select the Move option and click the folder to which you want to move. 

Method 6. Delete And Re-add The Outlook Profile

There are a few other reasons why Microsoft Outlook search not working properly. Delete and re-add the Outlook profile is another method through which you can fix Outlook search problems. Follow the below-mentioned steps to resolve these problems easily.

• Go to Outlook from the menu bar and select Preferences from the drop-down menu.
• On the Outlook Preferences screen select Accounts.

• Select the account from which you are having issues, click the minus(–) sign at the left bottom of the screen, and confirm the removal.
• Now again go to the Contents then select the SharedSupport option and after that select Outlook Profile Manager, select your current profile, and click minus(–) sign to delete it from there.
• When the profile has been removed click the plus(+) sign to add a new one. Name it and make sure that it has no special characters.
• Now open your Outlook app go to the Preferences and then select Account, click the plus(+) sign, select “New Account”, enter your email address, and proceed.

Method 7. Fixes The Corrupted Spotlight Index

When Microsoft Outlook search not working properly and none of the above methods work for you then you can try to re-index your Outlook database for a search function that can be accessible again. 

• Go to the Application then select the Utilities option and launch the Terminal app.
• Type the following command mdimport-L and press Enter.
• After that check the entries that appear. Now if you see more than one entry with the Spotlight Importer.mdimporter then you will have to re-index the Outlook data.
• Delete the Outlook application that is not in use. When you are done delete it from the Trash folder, restart your Mac, and go to step 1.
• Now enter the following command in the terminal: 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>”

• If the above one does not work for you then you must try the following command.mdimport -r “/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>”

• Now don’t forget to make changes 
  • Replace <user_name > with your Mac account’s name.
  • And replace <my_profile-name> with your Outlook account’s name.
• Execute the command by pressing Enter. It takes some time to complete the re-indexing process.

Limitations of Manual Approach

The above-discussed manual methods are completely free and secure but it takes some time to resolve the issue Outlook search not showing recent emails. There are chances of data loss during the process. 

Effective Approach To Outlook Search When It’s Not Working

The MacSonik PST Converter Tool is a stand-alone utility tool that helps you to migrate your Outlook PST files to different file formats or email clients such as PDF, EML, EMLX, Gmail, Office 365, Thunderbird, and many others.  This PST migration helps you to protect your Outlook Emails from data loss. This tool has some additional features that help users to complete their process effortlessly. It has a user-friendly GUI that helps novice users to understand easily.

Steps to Follow Fix Outlook Search Problems

• Launch the MacSonik PST Converter Tool.
• You have two options: Select File/Multiple Files or Select Folder. Check Save Log or Temp Path and press Next.

• Click on Select Files and browse the required PST files for the conversion. Press Next to proceed further.

• It displays the previous of the selected files in a tree structure. Hit Next.

• Select either File Formats or Email Clients as per your requirement. We selected File Formats and PDF from the drop-down menu.
• This tool has some additional features that help you an effective migration. You can select any features as you want.
  • You can Remove Duplicates based on different parameters like To, From, Bcc, Subject, and Body.
  • It maintains the hierarchy of the folders.
  • If you want to Save Attachments Separately, it provides you with that feature.
  • It also helps you to Migrate or Back up Emails without Attachments Files.

• It has other features such as
  • You can filter your emails with the help of the Date Filter feature by providing the Start Date and End Date.
  • It helps you to customize the name of the resultant file.

• Browse the destination path of your resultant file by the Path To Save option and press Convert to start the conversion process.
• At last, you can download your resultant file by pressing Download Report and start the conversion again by clicking Convert Again.

Wrapping Up

Outlook PST Converter is one of the most effective tools that help users to manage their emails. It is very flexible in every manner whether users want to handle their contacts, tasks, or any other application. But it has its drawbacks. It may cause some problems when it does not work right or as per user requirements. When the Outlook search function does not find all Emails is one of the problems that users face. In the above article, we have learned about Outlook and different methods how to fix Outlook search not showing recent emails. You can opt for any method that is suitable for you. All these methods help you to fix the Issue Outlook search not working.

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