Outlook 2013 Search Not Working

A recent upgrade to Windows 8.1 Preview killed my Outlook 2013 search. Typing anything in the Quick Search box returned the dreaded “We couldn’t find what you were looking for” U2 message:

Searching on the server or doing an Advanced Search did continue to function, but these options are slow and don’t use the pre-built index that dramatically speeds things up.  I did manage to find tons of helpful notes on the web which helped me isolate and correct the problem. I’ll summarize them below.

I’m assuming that search previously had been working in your Outlook 2013 and you know how to check indexing options to confirm that the Outlook files are included in the index.

Remove Outlook from Index

1. Go to Outlook Settings (File | Options)
2. Go to the Search settings
3. Click on Indexing Options
4. Click Modify and deselect Microsoft Outlook
5. Click Close to dismiss dialog box
6. Exit Outlook

Ensure Outlook Files Can Be Indexed

Any Outlook OST or PST file that you’re using must be allowed to be indexed by Windows.  This is a default file attribute when Outlook indexing is enabled, but for some reason, it was changed during my recent OS upgrade.

1. Find all OST and PST files that you’re using on your computer.  In Windows 8, OST files are usually hidden and stored in the C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook folder.
2. For each file you’re using, right click on the file(s) and select Properties
3. Click on the Advanced button on the general tab
4. Ensure that the Allow this file to have contents indexed in addition to file is checked
5. Click OK

Re-Add Outlook to Index

Now follow the same steps in the first section and re-add Microsoft Outlook to the search index.  Start Outlook, go to the Indexing Options, and add Microsoft Outlook back to the list.

Rebuild Index (Optional)

The above actions corrected the issue for me; however, if it’s still not working for you, then you may need to rebuild the search index.  To rebuild the index:

1. Go to Outlook Settings (File | Options)
2. Go to the Search settings
3. Click on Indexing Options
4. Click Advanced
5. Click Rebuild
6. Click OK and then Close to dismiss the dialogs

Indexing will run for a while but quick search should begin working shortly, using whatever index has been built thus far.