Improving search results - why is Advanced Search no longer working properly?

RB20689 20 Reputation points
2026-05-18T09:19:46.97+00:00

For my work, I regularly need to be able to do advanced searches through my large Email folders, and that was no problem when I had Outlook for Mac Legacy. Now that I updated my Mac OS, I (unfortunately) got updated automatically to Outlook for Mac 16. The Advanced search options are not only more limited; they also don't work properly. Thus, the "From:" field ONLY searches for a full address: if you just put in only one element of the address, it says it does not recognise that as a valid address. If I do put the full address it then gives me all the Emails from that sender, but if I want to add an additional filter, (e.g. has attachments), it finds no messages at all.

This sucks, frankly! Has anyone any suggestion? Am I doing something wrong, or is it just a bug? And if it is just the latter, is it possible for me to revert to an earlier Legacy version of Outlook? I am running Sequoia 15.7.5.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Outlook | MacOS | New Outlook for Mac | For education
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Jayden-P 26,270 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
2026-05-20T07:33:56.7833333+00:00

Hi RB20689

May I ask what is your New Outlook version? You can check this in Outlook > About Outlook.

I am testing on version 16.109 and advanced search works normally. However, I do see the same behavior if you only enter a part of an email address, it will not recognized as a valid sender.

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Despite of that, it will still return the result normally.

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Another alternative you can do is directly enter the query instead of choosing from the UI. For example:

from:<keyword of sender> AND hasattachment:yes AND to:<keyword of recipient>

So, make sure you have updated your Outlook version to the latest. If the issue persists, you can uninstall it and reinstall the latest version here: Update history for Office for Mac - Office release notes | Microsoft Learn

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Please try and let me know how it goes.

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  1. AI answer

    2026-05-18T09:20:17.1+00:00

    Advanced search behavior in Outlook for Mac 2016 and later is tightly tied to macOS Spotlight indexing and has changed compared to Outlook for Mac Legacy. The issues described (more limited criteria, strict address matching in From, and combined filters returning no results) are consistent with how the newer Outlook relies on Spotlight and with cases where Spotlight indexing or configuration is not ideal.

    Key points from the available information:

    1. Outlook for Mac search depends on Spotlight
      • Outlook 2016 for Mac and later rely on macOS Spotlight Search to provide search results and to power filters, including tasks and advanced search.
      • If Spotlight indexing is incomplete or corrupted, or if Outlook’s profile data is not in the expected location, searches and filters can return no results or behave inconsistently.
    2. Common causes of “no results” or incomplete results For Outlook 2016 for Mac / Outlook for Mac for Microsoft 365, search problems can be caused by:
      • Spotlight indexing not yet complete.
      • The Outlook profile name containing special characters such as a slash (/).
      • The Outlook profile folder or one of its parent folders being added to the Spotlight Privacy list.
      • The Outlook 15 Profiles folder not being under:
        • ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/Outlook
      • A corrupted Spotlight index.
      When any of these apply, Outlook search and filters (including advanced search and conditions like “has attachments”) may return “No Results” even when messages exist.
    3. What can be done within the supported behavior Based on the documented behavior:
      • Verify Spotlight is allowed to index Outlook data:
        • Ensure the Outlook profile folder and its parent folders are not listed under the macOS Spotlight Privacy tab.
      • Ensure the Outlook data is in the expected location:
        • Confirm that the Outlook 15 Profiles folder resides under ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/Outlook.
      • Allow or rebuild Spotlight indexing if needed:
        • If indexing is incomplete or the index is corrupted, Outlook search and filters may not work correctly until Spotlight has fully indexed the data again.
      Because Outlook for Mac relies on Spotlight for all search and filters, fixing Spotlight-related issues is the primary supported path to restore correct search behavior.
    4. Legacy vs. current Outlook The provided information does not include a supported method to revert from Outlook 2016/Outlook for Microsoft 365 on Mac back to the older “Legacy” Outlook client. The documented guidance focuses on resolving search issues in the current Outlook by addressing Spotlight and profile configuration rather than downgrading the client.

    In summary, the described advanced search problems in Outlook for Mac 16 are consistent with the newer client’s reliance on Spotlight and with known causes where Spotlight indexing or configuration is incomplete, blocked, or corrupted. The supported remediation is to ensure Spotlight can fully index Outlook’s profile data in the documented location and to correct any Spotlight Privacy or indexing issues.

    References:

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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  2. RB20689 20 Reputation points
    2026-05-19T15:13:19.9966667+00:00

    The above AI suggestions haven't helped yet, as the advanced search still does not work, despite me going through the steps it suggested.

    I have at least been able to switch back to Legacy now and after a restart the Advanced Searching worked again there, but in the long term I may need to move away from Legacy, so any suggestions regarding the "non-legacy" version gratefully received! Thanks.

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  3. RB20689 20 Reputation points
    2026-05-21T17:34:49.98+00:00

    Thanks, Jayden-P, for the very helpful feedback. I had also noticed that part-Emails were not accepted which is tedious, but I'm happy to use directly write queries - It is what I often did in the past anyway.

    Interestingly, after two days, Advanced Search now DOES work on the Legacy version - presumably after I followed the AI advice and did the rebuilding the Spotlight indexing: it must have needed a huge amount of time to reindex! I haven't dared to revert to non-Legacy though, so haven't tested that though.

    (P.S. I am using Version 16.109.1 too.)

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