How to Fix Outlook Search not Working Error Code

Summary: MS Outlook search index is a very helpful function that allows you to search anything, so you don’t have to scroll through hundreds of emails to find something. But sometimes this function stops working due to various reasons. Therefore, in this write-up, we will describe several ways including a professional solution consisting of the best Outlook PST Repair Tool to fix Outlook search not working error. Download Now   Purchase Now

A Brief Introduction to Outlook Search Function

Outlook’s search box is a powerful tool to help you to find specific information in an email message, such as the sender, date, folder, keywords, contacts, tasks, and calendar entries, with the assistance of search operators. However, users face the problem of the search function not working in Outlook, which may be caused by an outdated program, an indexing error, or some other problem. So let’s move forward to learn the various solutions to fix this error.

Methods to Fix Outlook Search not Working Error

If your Microsoft Outlook not searching properly, then you don’t have to worry about it. There are numerous procedures that you can fix in many ways, which are described below, so go through every solution and pick the method that best suits you.

Method 1: Update Outlook Account

1. Open your Outlook account.
2. Go to File >> Office Account.
3. Select the Product Information.
4. Click on the Update Options button.
5. Choose the Enable Updates feature.
6. Finally, click the Update Now button.

Method 2: Restart Outlook Using Task Manager

1. Open your system and locate the Task Manager.
2. Now, in the processes section, right-click on the Mail and choose the End Task button.
3. Restart Outlook to see the changes.

Method 3: Rebuilt Outlook Index

Well, a corrupted index is always one of the common reasons because the Outlook search box does not respond, so try the given solution to fix it.

1. Open the Outlook account and click on File >> Options.
2. Choose search >> Indexing Options.
3. Select the Advance option and click on the Rebuilt button.
4. Finally, click the OK button to complete the process.

After completion of the process, restart your system to see the effective chances.

Method 4: Use Registry to Fix Outlook Search Not Working Error

If your registry key setup is not established properly, then you can face this error in Outlook. Hence, follow the below steps to resolve the above issue.

1. Press Windows+R and type regedit, and click OK to move forward.
2. Now in the search bar, enter the following command:
3. Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Search
4. In the respective window, right-click on space and choose DWORD (32-bit) from the New tab.
5. Enter PreventIndexingOutlook and keep the value 0.

Lastly, click OK and restart your computer to see the effect.

Method 5: Run the Search Troubleshooter on your System

You can easily solve the Microsoft Outlook contacts search not working problem using the built-in feature in Windows by Microsoft. Therefore, let’s move ahead to fix this error with the help of search services built into Windows.

1. Open your system and go to Settings.
2. In the search box, type troubleshoot, and when it appears, click on it.
3. Now, click the Run for Search and Indexing option.
4. Here, Click on all the problems you are having, including the Outlook search not working.
5. Finally, click the Next button to run the troubleshooter.

Method 6: Reinstall Outlook

If none of the above methods work, then try to reinstall Outlook.

1. Go to the taskbar and click on the Search icon and search App & Features.
2. Scroll down to locate, click your Microsoft Office version, and select Uninstall.
3. Remove Outlook completely from your system.
4. Open your browser and download the latest version of MS Outlook.

Method 7: Remove and Rebuild Outlook Search Index

1. If everything is working fine and you don’t see any other problem, but still your Outlook’s search box is not working, then it might be corrupted.
2. Open Outlook and go to File >> Options.
3. Click the Search button from the left side of the panel.
4. Go to the Sources section and click the Indexing Options >> Advanced.
5. Finally, click the Rebuilt button to restore it again.

There are all the effective methods that can resolve the search function not working in Outlook error. However, these solutions are temporary and do not provide a 100% guarantee to fix it all at once. Moreover, if you don’t have technical expertise, then it might be hard for you to operate the manual methods. In this case, we have introduced a professional solution that can fix this error in minutes, so let’s continue without any delay.

Method 8: Repair Corrupt PST file

Outlook PST Repair Tool is one of the top software to repair any corrupted and inaccessible PST files that can resolve Outlook search not working error. It has three different modes for scanning, for instance, Standard, Advanced, and Deep, to perform recovery on Outlook PST files.

1. Download and Run Outlook PST Repair.
2. Select the PST file and recovery mode and click OK to move ahead.
3. Check the folders, preview them, and click Save.
4. Select the PST file as your saving format.
5. Use other features and click OK to start the recovery process of mailbox data.

By utilizing the above method, you can resolve the issue you are facing with 100% data integrity and authenticity.

Conclusion

Through the above write-up, we have explained the best solution to fix Outlook Search not Working error. You can choose any of the above 08 solutions we have provided. However, we suggest you opt for the last method if others don’t give you a satisfactory result. Additionally, it can repair any PST file without scanpst and other different applications like MS Outlook.