How to restore Outlook searching indexing on a MacBook M5 Pro running MacOS 26.6.2

Question

How to restore Outlook searching indexing on a MacBook M5 Pro running MacOS 26.6.2

Glenn 20

Outlook's search function no longer returns any results. Even new emails are not returned. I recently migrated from my old Macbook. I'm using Microsoft Outlook for Mac Version 16.112.3. It is set to the Legacy version. The email delivery is through 365 by Godaddy.

I'm looking for guidelines on how to rebuild what I am assuming is a missing index and how to get new email indexed when its received.

Thanks, Glenn

Hornblower409 14,425 Reputation points

2026-09-09T01:30:07.4033333+00:00

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1 answer

Your answer

Hornblower409 14,425 Reputation points

2026-09-09T01:30:07.4033333+00:00

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Answer 1

For Outlook for Mac search returning no results after a Mac migration, the supported recovery path is to repair Spotlight indexing for the Outlook profile.

Run the OutlookSearchRepair utility first.
If the migration was recent, allow time for Spotlight indexing to finish. After a new profile, account addition, or imported data, Outlook can show "No Results" until indexing completes.
Check that the Outlook profile name does not contain special characters such as /.
- Open Go > Applications
- Right-click Microsoft Outlook > Show Package Contents
- Open Contents > SharedSupport > Outlook Profile Manager
- If the profile name contains special characters, rename the profile folder under: /Users/<Username>/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/Outlook/Outlook 15 Profiles/
- Remove the special characters, then confirm the renamed profile in Outlook Profile Manager and set it as default if needed.
Check Spotlight Privacy settings.
- In macOS Spotlight settings, verify the Outlook profile folder or any parent folder is not listed under the Privacy tab.
- If it is listed, remove it and allow time for Spotlight to reindex.
Verify the Outlook data is in the default location:
- ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/Outlook/Outlook 15 Profiles
If search still returns nothing, rebuild the Spotlight index for Outlook:
- Restart the Mac.
- Open Finder > Applications > Utilities > Terminal.
- Run:
```
     mdimport -L
```
- If more than one instance of Microsoft Outlook Spotlight Importer.mdimporter appears, delete the Outlook application that is not being used, empty Trash, restart the Mac, and check again.
- Then run this command, replacing <user_name> and <my_profile_name> with the actual macOS account name and Outlook profile name:
```
     mdimport -g "/Applications/Microsoft Outlook.app/Contents/Library/Spotlight/Microsoft Outlook Spotlight Importer.mdimporter" -d1 "/Users/<user_name>/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/Outlook/Outlook 15 Profiles/<my_profile_name>"
```
- Reindexing takes time. After it completes, quit and restart Outlook.

Important:

Search issues in Outlook for Mac are documented as a Spotlight indexing issue, not an Outlook database rebuild issue.
Outlook 2016 for Mac and later no longer provide a manual database rebuild option.

If search still fails after reindexing and enough time has passed for Spotlight to finish, uninstalling and reinstalling Office for Mac is the documented next step.