Search Cannot Complete the Indexing of Your Outlook Data Indexing Cannot Continue for Pst

Summary: This blog outlines Microsoft Outlook search problems such as 'Outlook search not working' and 'returns no or incomplete results'. It also describes workarounds on 'how to fix Outlook problems'. These workarounds apply to Microsoft Office 365, Outlook 2019, 2016, and 2013.

Microsoft Outlook features a search option that helps you find email items based on keywords. You may further add filters to your Outlook search function to locate specific email items much more quickly. In outlook, Sometimes you get surprised when you find something went wrong and your search couldn't be completed you encounter problems with the Outlook search function such as Outlook search does not find any matches, won't work & Other Outlook Problems.

When Outlook search not working in outlook, you may experience any of these 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
Outlook search does not find any matches
Search tab not working, turns grey (specific to Outlook 2016)

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How to Fix 'Outlook Search not Working?'

When the Outlook indexing tool is not working or not functioning properly, It is required to check outlook Indexing Status. Like, it may not show the recent email search result due to the outlook email search which is not working. Further, it may display results like Outlook search by date or may show that items based on search criteria waiting to be indexed in the output panel. This indicates a problem with the Outlook Indexing services.

Following are some workarounds that you can try to resolve Outlook 2016 search not working issues:

Fix Outlook Indexing Status
Fix Incomplete Search Results Problem
Fix Greyed Out Search Bar in Outlook 2016
Fix Personal Folder Outlook Data File (.PST)
Disable Add-ins
Inspect Windows Search Service
Fix Outlook 2016 Search Issue via Windows Registry

Note: In case, the Outlook search bar isn't visible, perform the below steps or else proceed with the following workarounds. Go toFile > Options > Customize. SelectAll Tabs under 'Choose commands from ' section.From the list of tab selections, select 'Search ', click 'Add ', and then click 'OK ' (refer to Fig 1 below).

Go to File > Options > Customize. Select All Tabs under 'Choose commands from' section. — *Fig 1: Add Search bar to Outlook*

Note: If you find that problem is due to damage in an Outlook PST file then, try PST file recovery softwareto make Outlook error-free and to fix "outlook 2016 search not working" related problems.

1. How to fix Outlook Indexing Status

To 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 …'

click on 'Search' bar>Click 'Search Tools' drop-down and choose 'Indexing Status…' — *Fig 2: Search Tools*

Click ' OK ' when the 'Outlook has finished indexing all of your items ' message is displayed within the ' Indexing Status ' dialog box.

Indexing Status' dialog box — *Fig 3: Loading Outlook Index Status*

When the indexing is complete, Outlook will display mailboxes awaiting to be indexed. You can use the search function but may not find the desired mails or get incomplete results due to incomplete indexing status. So, if the indexing does not finish, try rebuilding the Outlook index.

Steps to Rebuild the Outlook Index

There are two different ways to rebuild the Outlook index and resolve the Outlook 2016 search issue.

a. Repair MS Office Installation

Go to Control Panel>Programs>Programs and Features .
Click on Outlook 2016 or Microsoft Office [VERSION].
Click the 'Change' button at the top.

Control Panel>Programs>Programs and Features. — *Fig 4: Repair Outlook or MS Office Installation*

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Select ' Repair ' and click ' Continue '.

Select 'Repair' and click 'Continue — *Fig 5: Repair Outlook Installation*

This will begin repairing MS Office or Outlook 2016 installation that may fix the Outlook 2016 search issue.

b. Using Outlook Index Repair Option

Outlook 2016 also features 'Indexing options…' to fix Outlook index related issues. Follow these steps to rebuild the Outlook Index and fix the Outlook search problem:

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

Go to File > Options > Search — *Fig 6: Rebuilding Outlook Index*

Click ' Microsoft Outlook' and then click 'Advanced' button.

Click 'Microsoft Outlook' and then click 'Advanced — *Fig 7: MS Outlook Index status*

Click 'Rebuild ' and then click 'OK' .

Click 'Rebuild' and then click 'OK' — *Fig 8: Rebuild MS Outlook 2016 Index*

Click ' OK ' to continue with Outlook Index Rebuild.

Click Ok. — *Fig 9: Confirm Outlook Index Rebuild*

Wait for the Indexing process to complete.

Wait for the Indexing process to complete — *Fig 10: Indexing in progress*

Once the Indexing process is complete, check if the 'Microsoft Outlook search not working' issue is resolved. Once the Indexing process is complete, check if the 'Microsoft Outlook cannot perform your search' issue is resolved.

TIP: You may also search and open 'Indexing Options' from the Control Panel (as shown in the image below).

2. Fix Incomplete Outlook Search Results Problem

Outlook search function not working that indicates to 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.

Open Outlook and go to File > Account Settings > Account Settings — *Fig 12: Access Outlook Account settings*

Select your email account and then click 'Change'.

Select your email account and then click 'Change — *Fig 13: Change the Offline Settings*

Drag the slider to 'All' and then click 'Next'.

Drag the slider to 'All' and then click 'Next' — Drag the slider to **'*All*'** and then click **'*Next*'** *Fig 14: Move Slider to ALL*

Click 'OK' when a prompt appears.

Click 'OK' when a prompt appears — *Fig 15: Confirmation message*

Click 'Finish' to close the window and then restart Outlook.

Click 'Finish' to close the window and then restart Outlook — *Fig 16: Finishing Offline setting wizard*

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

Outlook syncing older emails (Status Bar) — *Fig 17: Outlook syncing older 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 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 'Include messages from Deleted items folder …' checkbox to improve search results.

3. Fix Outlook Search bar when it's Greyed in Outlook 2016

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 'Modify' and then select 'Repair' option — *Fig 19: Modify MS Office Installation*

Click 'Continue' to repair the MS Office installation which may fix the greyed out search bar issue in Outlook 2016.

Select Repair & press Continue — *Fig 20: Repair MS Office Installation*

4. Fix 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 a corrupt or damaged PST file. The tool comes integrated with all the versions of Microsoft Outlook email client.

The default PST file location in Windows is: C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Local\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\

Click on SCANPST.EXE tool — *Fig 21: Access SCANPST.EXE tool*

Find and double-click on SCANPST.EXE
Click 'Browse' to choose the corrupt Outlook PST file.

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

Click Browse to search Outlook Data File (PST) . — *Fig 22: Browse Outlook Data File (PST)*

Click on the 'Start' button to begin the Outlook data file scan process.

Press Start to Scan the Outlook PST File — *Fig 23: SCANPST.EXE scanning the PST file*

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

When scan completed, Press Repair — *Fig 24: Scan result displays errors in PST*

After the repair, the following message is displayed. Click 'OK' to close it.

PST repair complete, Now Press OK. — *Fig 25: PST repair complete*

Now you may restart Outlook and check if the search not working in outlook problem is resolved.

Alternatively, you can use a PST repair tool such as Stellar Repair for Outlook to fix a corrupt PST file. The software can also fix oversized, encrypted, or severely corrupt PST Outlook data file.

It not only helps resolve Outlook search problems by fixing corrupt PST files but also lets you save the repaired PST mail items to various file formats such as MSG, PDF, HTML, RTF, and EML.

5. Disable Add-ins

Outlook add-ins help add features and improve productivity. However, sometimes an incompatible or outdated Outlook add-in can cause chaos and lead to issues such as Outlook crash, Outlook not responding, or Outlook search problems.

Follow these steps to disable Outlook add-ins and fix the Outlook search issue:

In Outlook, and go to File > Options > Add-ins.
In Manage list , select COM Add-ins and click ' Go '.

Go to File > Options > Add-ins — *Fig 26: Disable Add-ins in Outlook*

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

Clear checkbox of all add-ins & Press Ok. — *Fig 27: Clear checkbox of add-ins*

Restart Outlook.

6. Inspect Windows Search Service Status

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

Press Windows+R , type services.msc , and click ' OK '.

Press Windows+R, type services.msc, and click 'OK' — *Fig 28: Access Services.msc*

Scroll down and find ' Windows Search '.

Scroll down and find 'Windows Search — *Fig 29: Check Windows Search status*

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

Check if its 'Status' is 'Running'. If not, right-click on 'Windows Search' and select 'Start — *Fig 30: Starting Windows Search service*

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

double click on 'Windows Search' and select 'Automatic (Delayed Start)' in 'Startup Type' drop-down — *Fig 31: Startup Type of Windows Search*

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

7. Fix Outlook Search Issue via Windows Registry

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 .

Right-click on 'Windows Search' and select New>Dword (32-bit) Value — *Fig 32: Adding new registry- Outlook Search*

Name the Dword as ' PreventIndexingOutlook'.

Name the Dword as 'PreventIndexingOutlook' — *Fig 33: PreventIndexingOutlook registry entry*

Double-click on PreventIndexingOutlook . Enter 0 in Value data: field and click ' OK '.

Double-click on PreventIndexingOutlook. Enter 0 in Value data: field and click 'OK — *Fig 34: Changing Registry value*

Reboot your system.

For Troubleshooting Outlook search issues here is the Manual Guide

Conclusion

You may face 'Outlook search not working' issue due to incomplete Outlook indexing or corrupt PST file. This blog helps you understand variousOutlook search problems and details several troubleshooting methods to fix these problems.

For instance, if the cause of the Outlook search problem is a corrupt Outlook data file, you can repair the PST file by usingStellar Repair for Outlook orInbox 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 fixing such issues caused by corrupt PST files as it provides several advantages over theSCANPST.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.

Check What MVP says about our software:

MVP Recommendation for Stellar Repair for outlook

About The Author

Eric Simson

Eric Simson is an Email Platform Consultant and is associated with Stellar Data Recovery from last 6 years. He writes about the latest technology tips and provides custom solutions related to MS Outlook, MS Exchange Server, Office 365, and many other Email Clients & Servers.

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