Recently, we’ve been running into several computers that are having trouble with the search functionality of Outlook. In most of these cases, the fix is quick and easy – you just have to rebuild the Windows index file.
To do that:
- Open the Control Panel, and go Indexing Options.
- In the window that appears, click the Advanced button towards the bottom center of the window.
- In the new window that appears, click the Rebuild button towards the center right of the screen.
- Click OK to close both windows. Depending on how many files and folders are on your computer, this operation could take several hours.