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Microsoft Outlook 2016 - Broken Search Function

  • March 13, 2017
  • 10 replies
  • 55 views
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Hello!

I was wondering if anybody had a solution for an ongoing issue we're running into. We're upgrading our users to Sierra and our users are reporting that the search function in Outlook 2016 is not functioning. Microsoft does have a KB article regarding this problem (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2741535/outlook-for-mac-search-returns-no-results,-and-task-items-are-not-displayed); however, this does not resolve the underlying issue.

I currently have a script in the Self Service app that will purge Spotlight cache and restart the computer to temporarily resolve the issue. This fix only lasts for a user for 1-2 weeks. We've been redirecting users to use the web-based version of Outlook if they do not want to run the script. This is an ongoing issue and so far the latest updates for Outlook do not resolve the issue.

Any ideas on what to try next would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

    10 replies

    R
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    • rwinfie
    • Contributor
    • March 13, 2017

    Whats resolved it for us , is removing the account and adding it back. which deletes the outlook database and creates a new one. we have not . had any repeat user since with this fix

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    • erisis
    • Author
    • New Contributor
    • March 13, 2017

    Hi @rwinfie , when assisting users with setting up their Outlook profile, do you add the account and remove it immediately and re-add it again? Or, do you want until a user reports the issue and remove it at that time?

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    • rwinfie
    • Contributor
    • March 13, 2017

    wait for report , only a few people have reported the issue.

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    • ronb
    • Contributor
    • March 14, 2017

    We have had similar problems pre-Office 2016. This fix was to have the OS rebuild the Spotlight index.

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    • erisis
    • Author
    • New Contributor
    • March 14, 2017

    @ronb , we didn't have this issue pre 2016. This looks like it's related to the Outlook app, but Microsoft is pointing at Apple for this issue. So it may never be resolved... Well, I guess our users will have to go to Self Service to rebuild Spotlight until it decides to stop or it is actually fixed.

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    • atat5500
    • New Contributor
    • March 15, 2017

    I ran into this a few months ago. We tried everything that MS suggested, from rebuilding the Spotlight Index to reinstalling Office, to recreating the user's account. User was running El Capitan at the time so we upgraded him to Sierra and somehow that seemed to resolve the issue, still not entirely sure why. So far he's been the only case of it occurring for us as well (that we know of).

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    • tak10
    • Valued Contributor
    • October 11, 2017

    Hello, I'm seeing this problem in our environment. I haven't had an issue for long time and when I migrated several users recently to a newer hardware, we are seeing this issue. I've migrated myself to a newer Macbook Pro to see if I can recreate the issue (also a good reason to provide myself with an upgraded hardware). I initially experience the issue but when I remove my account and re-added, the issue was resolved. However, two of the users have this issue continue to have them even after re-adding the account, building spotlight index (which in our case last like 2 to 3 hours).

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    • sam_g
    • Contributor
    • October 11, 2017

    @tak10 Microsoft released a few tools a little bit ago to resolve this specific search/indexing problem (among others): https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/office_for_mac_support_team_blog/2017/08/10/mac-outlook-support-utilities/

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    • marktaylor
    • Contributor
    • October 12, 2017

    I agree with @sa969, the OutlookSearchRepair Utility sorted the searching on Outlook for our clients. Rebuilding Spotlight fixes the searching in Mail app.

    howie_isaacks
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    • howie_isaacks
    • Esteemed Contributor
    • June 22, 2018

    Thanks @float0n for posting this. Oddly, I have never seen anyone post this in Microsoft's own support forum. One would think a Microsoft employee would mention it. Oh well. I see this problem a lot after data migrations are performed from one Mac to another.

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