What do you do when your Outlook search function is not working?

If Outlook does not respond to your attempts to close it, you can also force this through the Task Manager. To do this, end the “OUTLOOK.EXE” process. Follow these simple steps:

1. Press [Ctrl] + [Alt] + [Del] simultaneously on your keyboard to open a selection field and select “Start Task Manager.”
2. Task Manager now lists all applications that are currently active on your PC. Select “Outlook” and close it.
3. Additionally, Task Manager lists all running processes under the “Processes” tab. Outlook can also be found there. Exit “OUTLOOK.EXE” by selecting it and then clicking on “End Process.”

If a restart does not solve the problem, you can then try to repair the program virtually. Just go to the Window control panel and select the “Programs” category. You now have the option to uninstall or modify the program. Usually you select your entire Microsoft Office package to be repaired, since Outlook is a part of that package.

Click on “Change” and then “Repair.” When the repair is complete, close the window and restart Windows. If the cause of the problem lies in the repair tools’ access area, the Outlook search function should return to normal.

Outlook has an index that is structured like a data catalogue. It combines all important terms in saved e-mails. This allows users to find specific messages just by entering a search term.

If the Outlook’s search engine is no longer working, it is often because the program settings are incorrect and because the necessary information has not been collected. To find out whether this is the case for you, you need to check the indexing options. To do this, proceed as follows:

1. Go to “File” in the Outlook program and open the tab “Options” after which the pop-up window “Outlook Options” will appear
2. Select “Browse” or “Search”
3. Click on the field “Indexing Options” on the right-hand side, which opens a window containing all Outlook indexed locations
4. Check whether “Microsoft Outlook” is listed – if not, click “Change” and then “Indexed Places”
5. Select the box “Microsoft Outlook”
6. Confirm your selection with “OK”

A PST file (“PST” stands for “personal store”) is used by Outlook to store all personal elements that a user may have. In addition to e-mails, this also includes appointments, contacts, or notes. The program manages and stores all data in the PST file like a virtual filing cabinet. Outlook requires at least one PST file, but can easily separate several of these files. For example, if the user distinguishes between private and business e-mails, Outlook creates two different PST files in its index.

If you suspect that one of these files has become corrupted, you will need a tool to repair your inbox. Outlook has already integrated the scanpst.exe tool. It detects whether a PST file is damaged and then repairs it. The following steps will help you repair a PST file:

1. First, close the Outlook program
2. Now open the folder C:\Program Files or C:\Program Files (x86) (the Outlook program folder is in one of the two)
3. Enter “scanpst.exe” in the file explorer search field to find their chosen file, or check your Outlook folder manually
4. Run scanpst.exe
5. In the option “Enter the file name to be checked,”enter the name of the PST file you want to check, or if you don’t have one, search for and select the file you want with “Browse”
6. Begin by selecting “Start”
7. If there are errors in the file, the check will show them
8. Click on “Repair” to start the repair process
9. Restart Outlook to see if your repair was successful

In some cases, however, scanpst.exe cannot do anything either, and the user first needs to delete and then recreate their entire index. This process takes some time and is not intended for short-term problem solving. If you need your computer to work immediately, you should do this at a later time.

1. Go to “File” in the Outlook program and open the “Options” tab to open the pop-up window “Outlook Options”
2. Select “Browse” or “Search”
3. Select “Indexing Options” on the right-hand side to see a window with all locations indexed by Outlook
4. Select “Advanced” or “Advanced Options” and find the item “Troubleshooting”
5. Now click on the button “Create New”, which can be found next to “Delete and Create new index”
6. Confirm with “OK”
7. After the program creates a new index (it may take a few moments), close all open windows