Microsoft Outlook is the preferred email client for sending and receiving emails from Microsoft Exchange Server. Although you can use it independently, Microsoft Outlook is a component of Office 365 and the Microsoft Office suite, including Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint.
Outlook is available to consumers as a stand-alone personal email program and to businesses as multiuser software. Thanks to its integration with Microsoft SharePoint, users can collaborate with coworkers, share documents and project notes, get reminders of appointments, and more.
Despite Outlook’s dependability, some features will stop functioning. For example, outlook’s search capabilities may stop functioning. When Outlook’s search feature isn’t working, you’re less productive. Here’s how to solve it.
What services does Microsoft Outlook provide?
Outlook’s fundamental features include the email service, email search, flagging and color coding, and preview pane options. Appointments and meetings can be scheduled, viewed, and discussed using the calendar function. Outlook offers 99 GB of storage for data in the archive and the option to program automatic responses.
One or more of the following additional Outlook features are:
- Alerts for newly added items. New emails are announced as overlay messages that appear on the user’s screen.
- Setting up an email. Users can choose when to send emails that they have already written.
- Quick Parts. Users can copy the text from one email and paste it into other emails using this function. In addition, users who must send similar emails to various recipients can benefit from this feature.
- Choosing Clean-Up Conversation. Users can delete messages and keep only unread ones by clicking a button.
- Exchange of calendars. Users can view each other’s availability when scheduling meetings by sharing calendars.
- Disregard messages. You can set up a conversation so that all messages are delivered to the deleted items folder rather than the user’s inbox.
- Note regarding file attachments. Before sending the message, Outlook will inquire about the user’s intent if they mention an attachment in an email but fail to attach it.
- @mention. When a user types @ and another user’s name, Outlook adds that user to the email list, ensures they are mentioned, and notifies them.
- Automatic calendar updates. Bookings for lodging, transportation, and flights are automatically added to the calendar by Outlook.
- Using keyboard shortcuts. There are a few key combinations available, like these:
- Toggle to Mail (CTRL+1).
- (CTRL+2) to switch to the calendar
- (CTRL+3) to change to Contacts
- Make new appointments by pressing (CTRL+SHIFT+A).
- (ALT+S) message sending
- (CTRL+R) to respond to a message
What potential issues could arise despite these incredible features?
Despite being widely used, Microsoft Outlook is not a perfect email program. As a result, users frequently encounter various problems that can degrade their experience. The most effective solutions to the most typical Microsoft Outlook problems are listed below.
Send/Receive Error in Outlook
The most frequent annoyance that users have reported is the Outlook Send/Receive error. Numerous solutions are available, according to the Microsoft Support website. Refer to these tried-and-true solutions before attempting to resolve this problem!
- Make sure your computer is connected to the Internet.
- Eliminate any messages that are clogging up your outbox.
- Verify the settings for your Outlook email account.
Inability to open Outlook window
This is a common error message informing you that the data file that contains all of your Outlook information cannot be opened. Restarting Outlook in safe mode will automatically fix the issue.
PST file size expansion
If you utilise Outlook frequently, you might have amassed many emails. However, because of the larger PST file, you must process, Outlook becomes slower.
Navigate to “File -> Account Settings -> Account Settings” in Outlook 2016 and later to resolve this problem.
Application sluggishness caused by ads
Without your knowledge, you might frequently add a lot of extra programs to Outlook, which slows it down. If the add-ins are unnecessary, you can easily remove them so that the message window is uncluttered and the emails open quickly.
To perform tasks associated with Outlook, select “File -> Options” to bring up a new window.
Outlook frequently crashes
The most recent Outlook 2019 client and Outlook 2016 experience this error much less frequently, but it still occasionally manifests, abruptly crashing your Outlook window and requiring you to restart the client. Microsoft recently unveiled a fantastic single-window solution to address the Outlook crashing issue, which it hopes to expand for all potential Outlook problems.
Download the Microsoft Outlook Advanced Diagnostics program. Then, run the diagnostics tool.exe in Administrator mode after closing the Outlook client.
These were some of the typical issues that Windows Outlook users might experience. How can users resolve the issue with Outlook’s search not functioning? How are users going to fix it?
Is Windows 11 Outlook search not working? Here’s a fix for it!
For Windows users, Outlook has consistently provided the most dependable email service. However, that does not guarantee it will continue to operate without issues. One instance is when Outlook’s search malfunctions.
Here are some troubleshooting suggestions to fix the Outlook search on Windows 11 if you haven’t been able to search through your mailbox because the Outlook search isn’t returning any results.
- Conduct troubleshooter
Since Outlook uses Windows Search to deliver quicker results, you can try running a troubleshooter to determine if the issue is with Windows Search. This is how.
- You should type the troubleshooting settings into the Start menu before pressing Enter.
- Choose Additional troubleshooters.
- The Search and Indexing section is down at the bottom. Troubleshooting can start by clicking the Run button and following the on-screen directions.
- Fix the app.
When there are issues with the Microsoft Office apps, Microsoft provides a helpful repair tool to find and fix them. Consequently, it is where you ought to start.
- Enter appwiz.cpl into the Run command after pressing the Windows key + R to open it.
- Search for Microsoft Office Suite or Microsoft 365 in the Programs & Features window. Right-clicking it will allow you to select Change.
- Click the Repair button after selecting Quick Repair or Online Repair to go further.
- Employ Registry Editor
You can try using a workaround method recommended by Microsoft to fix the Outlook search in Windows 11 if the fixes mentioned above are unsuccessful. The method entails modifying the registry editor to turn off Outlook’s Windows Desktop Search service.
- To display the run dialogue, press the Windows key, and R. Regedit is entered into the Open field after typing it in.
- Use the address bar at the top to get to the next key.
- Click your right mouse on the space to your right, then choose New > Key. Identify it as Windows Search.
- Choose the freshly made key. Then, select the DWORD (32-bit) value from the New menu when you right-click on a space. Give it the name PreventIndexingOutlook.
- Using a double-click, set the newly created DWORD’s value data to 1 and save the change.
- When finished using the Registry Editor, restart your computer. The Outlook Search on Windows 11 should now work properly.
- Examine Search Indexing and Locations
You can then examine the Indexing options and locations to confirm that everything has been configured correctly.
- Open Outlook and go to the top-most Search box.
- Select Indexing Status from the Search Tools menu after expanding it.
- Wait for the indexing process to be completed before trying the Outlook search once more to ensure it is working if Outlook is indexing files.
- Update the Search Index
Manually rebuilding the Search Index cache allows Outlook search issues on Windows to be resolved. With this approach, the problem has been resolved for several users. You can try it as well.
- You can access Control Panel by selecting the Search icon from the Taskbar, typing its name, and hitting Enter.
- Click on Indexing Options after changing the View type to icons.
- Simply select Advanced from the Indexing Options window.
- Select the Rebuild button located in the Troubleshooting section.
- After that, restart the Outlook application and check to see if the search is operating properly.
- Install Outlook once more
You can reinstall Outlook if the issue doesn’t go away by uninstalling it first. By doing this, you should fix Outlook search issues and delete any data connected to the app.
Start by typing Outlook into the Start menu to uninstall Microsoft Outlook. Then, choose Uninstall from the context menu by right-clicking the top search result.
- Restore the system
Finally, if all else fails, you can try using Windows’ System Restore feature. For example, your computer may have recently undergone changes to blame for the problem with Outlook search. If that’s the case, you can use System Restore to go back to when Outlook Search was operating normally. This is how.
- You can find a restore point by opening the Start Menu, typing the phrase, and selecting the first result.
- Select the System Restore option on the System Protection tab to restore your system.
- By selecting the second option, you can choose the suggested restore point or pick one on your own.
- Select a restore point that you made before the issue started, then click Next. Then, carry out a system restore by adhering to the directions displayed on the screen.
Conclusion
Outlook’s search feature makes it easy to locate emails, contacts, tasks, and other items. Hopefully, the fixes mentioned above have ended your Outlook search issues. Unfortunately, numerous other issues besides the Outlook search tool issue have been brought up. Hope you find it useful!