How to Fix Outlook 2016 Search Problems [Comprehensive Guide]

Microsoft Outlook features a search option that helps you find mail items, such as emails or messages based on keywords. You may further add filters to your Outlook search function to locate specific email items from a specific person much more quickly and efficiently.

However, sometimes, you encounter issues with Outlook search, such as the search couldn’t be completed, the search function may not find any matches, the search function won’t work, etc. You may also experience the following problems when the Outlook search stops working or has issues:

• Outlook fails to return any search results
• Outlook search not showing all results
• Outlook search not showing recent emails or can’t find older emails
• The search tab is not working or turns grey (specific to Outlook 2016)

Reasons for Outlook Search Problems

There could be multiple reasons that may lead to the Outlook search problems. These include:

1. Indexing issues
2. Corrupt or damaged Outlook data file (PST)
3. Outdated Outlook version
4. Incompatible or faulty add-ins
5. Corrupt Outlook profile
6. Limited or insufficient system resources, such as low RAM, storage, or processing power

Solutions to Fix ‘Outlook Search not Working’ Issue

Following are some workarounds that you can try to resolve the Outlook search is not working issue:

Note:  : In case the Outlook search bar isn’t visible, go to File > Options > Customize. Select All Tabs under the ‘Choose commands from’ section. From the list of tab selections, select ‘Search’, click ‘Add’, and then click ‘OK’.

Method 1. Restart Outlook

First, restart Outlook and then check if the search is working. If not, it is recommended to restart the system. These problems can be temporarily caused by some glitches in the system or software. Restarting the system may fix these glitches and resolve search-related problems in Outlook.

Method 2. Check the Outlook Indexing Status

You may encounter problems with Outlook search if the indexing is incomplete or in pending status. You can check the indexing status in Outlook 2016. Follow these steps:

• Open Outlook 2016 and click on ‘Search’ bar.
• Click ‘Search Tools’ drop-down and choose ‘Indexing Status…’

• Indexing Option

• If the indexing is pending, the Outlook will start indexing. After the indexing is complete, you will see the ‘Outlook has finished indexing all of your items’ message. Click OK.

• Loading Outlook Index Status

Note: Allow indexing to complete before using search. Although you can use the search function, you may not find the desired mail or get incomplete results due to incomplete indexing status.

Method 3. Rebuild the Outlook Index

If the indexing does not finish or keeps showing a loading status or indexing status pending, try rebuilding the Outlook index. There are two ways to rebuild the Outlook index:

• Repair Outlook (MS Office)
• Manually rebuild using Outlook options

a. Rebuild Outlook Index by Repairing MS Office

If the indexing does not finish or keeps showing a loading status or indexing status pending, try rebuilding the Outlook index. There are two ways to rebuild the Outlook index:

• Go to Control Panel>Programs>Programs and Features.
• Click on Outlook 2016 or Microsoft Office and then click on the ‘Change’ button at the top.

• From the available options, choose ‘Repair’ and then click ‘Continue’.

• This will begin repairing MS Office or Outlook 2016 installation.

b. Using Outlook Index Repair Option

Follow these steps to rebuild the Outlook Index using the Indexing Options:

• In Outlook 2016, go to File > Options > Search.
• Click on the ‘Indexing Options…’ button.

• Click ‘Microsoft Outlook’ and then click the ‘Advanced’ button.

• Click ‘Rebuild’ and then click ‘OK’.

• Click ‘OK’ to continue with Outlook Index Rebuild.

• Wait for the Indexing process to complete.

Once the Indexing process is complete, check if the ‘Microsoft Outlook search not working’ issue is resolved.

TIP: You may also search and open ‘Indexing Options’ from the Control Panel.

Method 4. Fix Incomplete Outlook Search Results Problem

If the search results are incomplete or missing older email items, apply the following methods:

a. Increase Email Sync Slider

This will enable Outlook to sync and index the older emails that may be missing in the Outlook search results. Follow these steps:

• Open Outlook and go to File > Account Settings > Account Settings.

• Select your email account and then click ‘Change’.

• Drag the slider to ‘All’ and then click ‘Next’.

• Click ‘OK’ when a prompt appears.

• Click ‘Finish’ to close the window and then restart Outlook.

• After restarting, Outlook will index all the mail items. Once done, you can search for the desired emails.

b. Allow Search to Display All Results

When you enter a search query in Outlook, it displays 250 search results by default. To show all the results, follow these steps:

NOTE: This will show you all results but the search will be slower.

• Open Outlook and go to File>Options>Search.

• Unselect the ‘Improve search speed by limiting the number of results shown’ checkbox.

• Click ‘OK’ and restart the Outlook.

TIP: You may click the ‘Include messages from Deleted items folder’ checkbox to improve search results.

Method 5. Fix the Greyed Out Outlook Search Bar

To fix the greyed-out search bar, you need to repair the MS Office or Outlook 2016 installation. To do so, follow these steps:

• In Windows 10 PC, go to Settings > Apps. 
• Search and click on Microsoft Office.
• Click ‘Modify’ and then select ‘Repair’ option.

• Click ‘Continue’ to repair the MS Office installation.

Method 6. Repair Personal Folder Outlook Data File (.PST)

A corrupt Outlook data file (.pst) can cause severe issues, including Outlook search problems. However, Outlook provides an Inbox Repair Tool or SCANPST.EXE to analyze and repair corrupt or damaged PST files. The tool comes integrated with all the versions of Microsoft Outlook.

To access and use the SCANPST.EXE tool, follow these steps:

• Open File Explorer and go to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office16\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office16\.

• Find and double-click on SCANPST.EXE
• Click ‘Browse’ to choose the corrupt Outlook PST file. The default PST file location in Windows is: C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook.

NOTE: Note: SCANPST.EXE supports the PST file of size up to 2 GB. It doesn’t support an encrypted PST file.

• Click on the ‘Start’ button to begin the Outlook data file scan process.

• After the scan, if the Inbox Repair Tool detects any error, it displays the following screen. Click ‘Repair.’

• After the repair, the following message is displayed. Click ‘OK’ to close it.

Now, restart Outlook and check if the search not working in Outlook. The problem is resolved.

Alternatively, you can use a PST repair tool, such as Stellar Repair for Outlook to repair the corrupt PST file. The software can also fix oversized, encrypted, or severely corrupt PST Outlook data files. It lets you save the repaired PST mail items to various file formats, such as MSG, PDF, HTML, RTF, and EML.

Method 7. Disable Add-ins

Outlook add-ins help add features and improve productivity. However, sometimes, incompatible or outdated Outlook add-ins can lead to issues, such as Outlook crash, Outlook not responding, Outlook search problems, etc. Follow these steps to disable Outlook add-ins and fix the Outlook search issue:

• In Outlook, go to File > Options > Add-ins.
• In the Manage list, select COM Add-ins and click ‘Go’.

• Clear the checkbox of the add-ins that you want to remove, and then click ‘OK’.

• Restart the Microsoft Outlook.

Method 8. Check System Resources

Make sure your system has enough or sufficient resources to run Outlook and allow it to function properly. To check this,

• Open the Task Manager. For this, right-click on the Task Bar and choose Open Task Manager. Alternatively, press CTRL+ALT+DEL key and then click Task Manager option to launch Task Manager.

• Here, check the CPU and Memory usage while Outlook is running.
• If you see high CPU usage and low RAM in the Task Manager, close the other apps to free up resources.
• You may also add more RAM or upgrade to a better system.

Method 9. Update Outlook and Windows

Outdated Outlook or Windows may have bugs or glitches that may lead to search-related issues in Outlook or indexing problems. To resolve this, you can check and apply latest updates to Outlook and Windows OS. Below are the steps to update Outlook:

1. Open Outlook.
2. Go to File > Office Account (or Account in some versions).
3. Under Product Information, select Update Options and then click Update Now.

If the Update Now option is not available in your Outlook client, you can download and install Windows Updates to get the latest bug fixes and updates for MS Office, including Outlook.

To update Windows OS,

• Open Settings > Windows Updates or Settings > System and click Windows Updates.
• Then, click the Check for Updates button.
• If new updates are available, download and install them.
• Then, restart the system and see if the search problem is resolved in Outlook.

Method 10. Inspect Windows Search Service Status

To inspect Windows Search Service status, follow the given steps:

• Press Windows + R, type services.msc, and click ‘OK’.

• Scroll down and find ‘Windows Search’.

• Check if its ‘Status’ is ‘Running’. If not, right-click on ‘Windows Search’ and select ‘Start’.

• Then double click on ‘Windows Search’ and select ‘Automatic (Delayed Start)’ in ‘Startup Type’ drop-down.

• Click ‘OK’ and close all windows.
• Restart Windows PC and Outlook to check if the Outlook search problem is resolved.

Method 11. Fix Outlook Search Issue via Windows Registry

You can also try to resolve the Outlook search issue via Registry Editor in Windows. Here are the steps:

• Press Windows+R, type Regedit and click ‘OK’. This opens the Registry Editor.
• Paste the following registry key location in the address bar and press ‘Enter’.

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Search

• Right-click on ‘Windows Search’ and select New>Dword (32-bit) Value.

• Name the Dword as ‘PreventIndexingOutlook’.

• Double-click on PreventIndexingOutlook. Enter 0 in Value data: field and click ‘OK’.

• Reboot your system.

For Troubleshooting Outlook search issues here is the Manual Guide

Conclusion

You may face the ‘Outlook search not working’ issue due to incomplete Outlook indexing or corrupt PST file. You can follow the solutions mentioned above to resolve the issue. If the cause of the Outlook search problem is corrupt PST file, you can repair the file by using Stellar Repair for Outlook or Inbox Repair Tool (SCANPST.EXE). These utilities can repair PST file and recover the entire mailbox data. After the damaged PST file is repaired, the ‘Search’ feature in Outlook should work properly.

Stellar Repair for Outlook is a recommended solution for repairing corrupt PST files as it provides several advantages over the SCANPST.EXE tool. The software supports encrypted Outlook data files, shows a preview of recovered mailbox data before saving, saves the recovered Outlook data file in multiple file formats, and more. It works in almost all situations when the Inbox repair tool fails to resolve the issue.

Check what the other MVPs and other experts have to say about this software: Click Here.

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About The Author

Ravi Singh

Ravi Singh is a Senior Writer at Stellar®. He is an expert Tech Explainer, IoT enthusiast, and a passionate nerd with over 7 years of experience in technical writing. He writes about Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft 365, Email Migration, Linux, Windows, Mac, DIY Tech, and Smart Home. Ravi spends most of his weekends working with IoT (DIY Smart Home) devices and playing Overwatch. He is also a solo traveler who loves hiking and exploring new trails.