Know How Do I Fix Outlook Search Not Working on Mac OS? – Quick Tips

Sarabjeet Kaur | olm outlook for mac Software Technology | 5 minutes read | Modified on: 28-04-2025
how do i fix outlook search not working on mac

Do you have an Outlook for Mac email account? Having trouble using its search function! Are you thinking why Outlook search on a Mac doesn’t work? Are you frequently searching for methods to fix the problem? If the answer is yes, you are right where you should be. Simply follow this section to find several solutions that will enable you to use Outlook Mac’s search feature.

Outlook is a very efficient email management tool. Additionally, there is a specific program for both desktop computers and Apple laptops. It gives customers the advantage of real-time syncing and enables them to combine all of their email accounts in one location. Furthermore, the Mac’s time management tools make its fans even more tempted. There are undoubtedly a lot of good features, yet sometimes a number of glitches can make the work difficult.

When trying to use the built-in search feature in the Mac version of Outlook to look for messages, a frequent issue appears. There are situations when you encounter a “No Results” error message even when you are positive that a particular email is present. Yet, using the Mac’s Spotlight Tool to locate the required mails in Mac Outlook is an alternative method that might not work either.

Updating Outlook to the most recent edition may fix the problem in certain cases. This is the most straightforward method, and it’s absolutely worth a go. But what if the issue continues? Let’s examine more and discover the causes of the mistake in order to resolve it.

The following is a list of the most likely causes of Outlook search not working on Mac OS:

Outlook Profile Displayed in the Privacy Tab of Spotlight:  macOS spotlight feature is unable to locate that spot.

Special Characters in the Profile Name:  Outlook search may not function as intended if the Outlook profile name contains special characters such a forward slash (/), ampersand (&), asterisk (*), backslash (\), hyphen (-), exclamation mark (!), or others within a specific range.

At the halfway point, Spotlight Indexing Stopped: Although it is hard to pinpoint the precise causes of the various scenarios, it causes some emails to go unnoticed when using the search feature. One of the most frequent causes is that if you recently made a new profile in Outlook for Mac, Spotlight hasn’t yet indexed the data. You may need to discover other method of re-indexing messages if the Spotlight index becomes corrupted.

Incorrect Location of Outlook Profile Folder: If you’re using Outlook Mac 2016 or later, the folder named “Outlook 15 Profiles” should be saved at ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/Outlook. If it’s not perfectly the same, you can find yourself searching mail folders for private correspondence.

Important Note: To convert Mac Outlook OLM files into another format, use CubexSoft OLM Converter for Mac Tool. This software easily convert OLM to PST, PDF, EML, MSG, MBOX, CSV, ICS, HTML, DOC, Yahoo, Gmail, G Suite, IMAP, Office 365, Amazon WorkMail, Windows Live Mail Hosted Exchange Server, IBM Verse, Thunderbird, Zimbra and more.  You can test the working steps of the tool by downloading a trial version for free.

Solution for Outlook Search Not Working on Mac

The best methods for making sure the search option functions as intended will be highlighted in this section.

Solution 1: Verify that the Outlook Profile is Not Added under the Privacy Tab of Spotlight.

#1: Tap the Dock’s System Preferences icon. Choose Spotlight.

#2: Make sure the Outlook profile is not added here by selecting the Privacy Tab. Spotlight will not index it if it is. To delete the folder, choose it and hit the minus symbol at the bottom.

Solution 2: Verify that the Name of your Outlook Profile Contains No Special Characters

#1: Press the Dock’s Finder icon. Navigate to Applications from the sidebar. Locate Microsoft Outlook, press a right-click, and select Show Package Contents, as shown below.

#2: Open the Contents page. After choosing SharedSupport, pick Outlook Profile Manager.

#3: Check for special characters in the profile name. If none exist, use the third technique described above. If not, rename the profile using the procedures detailed below.

#4: Hit Go to Folder after expanding the Go menu in the Finder. Press Enter after entering the path. Office/Outlook ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.

#5: To open the Outlook 15 Profiles folder, double-click on it.

#6: Rename Outlook to remove all special characters from the Mac profile folder.

#7: Return to Content, select Outlook Profile Manager under SharedSupport, and confirm that the profile name has been modified.

Solution 3: Check for Outlook for Mac Application Updates

#1. The simplest way to check for updates if you installed the Outlook  Mac email client from the Apple software marketplace is to click the App Store icon in the Dock and select Updates that will show up in the sidebar. You can proceed if you don’t see any Outlook updates available. Go for the update right away if it’s indicated.

#2: To confirm new build releases and start the updating procedure, utilize the Microsoft AutoUpdate Tool. Once the tool is displayed, select Spotlight Search, type “Microsoft AutoUpdate,” and press Enter.

#3: Select “Check for Updates.” Go to the next step if the pop-up that appears indicates that there are no updates. In addition, make sure the radio button next to Automatically is turned on. As an aside, Microsoft ought to provide support for the macOS operating system dark mode for the presently unavailable tool.

Solution 4: Remove and Re-Add an Outlook Profile

You May Also, Like – How to remove and re-add Outlook account on Mac

#1: Select the Preferences option from the Outlook menu that is displayed in the Finder bar.

#2: From the Outlook Preferences Screen, select Accounts.

#3: Select the Outlook account that is giving you trouble. To remove the same, click the minus symbol that appears at the bottom of the screen.

#4: Open the Contents page. After selecting SharedSupport, select Outlook Profile Manager. To remove a current profile, select it and hit the minus sign.

#5: Following the deletion of the profile. To add a new account, click the + sign icon. Make sure the new Outlook profile has a different name than the previous one by specifying its name. Further, don’t use any special characters while defining the name.

#6: Launch the Outlook program. Tap Accounts after navigating to Preferences. To create a new account, hit Plus Sign. Then, input your email address and follow the on-screen instructions to start over with your Outlook profile.

Final Words

Mac Outlook is a fantastic and versatile email message management application. However, it also has certain disadvantages. When the built-in search function isn’t functioning appropriately, the user experience severely changes. A lot of users are being impacted by this quite significant issue. But if you find yourself in a similar situation, be sure to follow all the steps listed above.