Oct 30, 2018 Outlook 2016 - Search Not Working. By TitanRob16 on Oct 18, 2016 at 11:59 UTC. I suppose it depends if you're using Exchange/Office 365 or something else? In Outlook 2016 (running in Windows 10): - Click on File: Options: Search.
At times you may find that your Outlook Search grayed out or not working or disabled. In some cases, Outlook may even give out error messages like – Something went wrong and your search couldn’t be completed, or Search results may be incomplete because items are still being indexed.
This problem is faced by many computer users along with those in the business field. It’s quite easy to fix as well, but that’s not apparent to everyone.
Outlook Search grayed out
If Advanced Search function in Microsoft Outlook on Windows PC is not working or grayed out, you can fix the problem via Outlook Options, Registry or Group Policy. Let us dig in to find out how to fix this issue.
Fix Outlook Search not working via Outlook Options
Usually, we tend to look at the registry when there’s a problem with any particular software, and that’s true for this particular issue. However, jumping directly to the registry shouldn’t be your first option since there’s another way that could do the trick.
The first step here is to navigate to Outlook Options via the program itself; the hit the Search tab situated in the left-pane. After that, click on Indexing Options, then select Microsoft Outlook. To move forward, tap the Modify button below then select Microsoft Outlook again by ticking the box beside it.
![Outlook 365 search not working windows 10 free Outlook 365 search not working windows 10 free](https://www.lifewire.com/thmb/D4o6kw1kJWX4qEdl3YXa2gkUfVc=/1202x938/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/003_OutlookSearchNotWorking_4WaystoFixIt-5c2d005f4cedfd0001589aeb.jpg)
Click OK, and that should be the end of your problems.
Fix Advanced Outlook Search grayed out problem via Registry
If that doesn’t work, open Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:
Here in the right side pane, create a new DWORD (32-bit), name it PreventIndexingOutlook and give it a value 0.
Click the OK button and see if it has resolved the issue.
Check Group Policy Setting
While at it, you might want to also have a look at at the Group Policy settings and make a slight change if needed.
Run gpedit.msc to open the Local Group Policy Editor and navigate to the following setting:
In the right side, you will see Prevent indexing Microsoft Office Outlook. Ensure that it is set to Not Configured or Disabled.
That’s it really. Everything should be up and running right now with problems, or little problems. Just make sure to follow the instructions properly.
See this post if Instant Search is not available when Outlook is running with administrator permissions.
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Summary
If you are unable to open or use Outlook 2016 in Windows 10 PC, don't worry. This tutorial article offers you all the possible and practical methods to fix Outlook 2016 not responding, or Outlook gets stuck or keeps freezes in Windows 10 without losing PST email files.
Outlook 2016 Not Responding, how to fix?
Have you ever experienced this issue that when you try to open Outlook to check newly received email in Windows 10, the app gets stuck and not responding anymore? Or when you try to close the program, Windows would remind you that Microsoft Outlook has stopped working as shown below.
So how to get rid of the Microsoft Outlook not responding error without losing any files? And how to make it back to work properly again? Here in the below, you'll find several methods to fix Outlook not working or not responding in Windows 10. Read on to learn details.
Useful Methods to Fix Outlook 2016 Not Responding in Windows 10 Without Data Loss
Before starting to solve Outlook not responding issue, you're highly recommended to try an Outlook data recovery tool to restore all PST in advance. Thus, you can avoid unexpected data loss caused by wrong operations.
Method 1. Restore Outlook 2016 PST Files with Outlook Recovery Software
As mentioned before, to avoid unnecessary PST file loss when Outlook suddenly stops responding, you'd better restore and create backups of important email files at first. Besides, when the Outlook data files have become corrupted or damaged, or your user profile has become corrupted, the Outlook may stop responding. In any of these cases, EaseUS hard drive recovery software can effectively help you to restore lost or corrupted emails in a few simple clicks.
- Tip
- 1. Find the location where you used to save the PST files.
- 2. Only local saved PST files or Outlook folder can be found and restored. If you directly email from the app, the chance to restore will minimize.
- 3. Don't make any changes and apply EaseUS email recovery software to help right now.
Step 1. Run EaseUS email recovery software.
- Select a location where you used to save the lost pst files on EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard.
- Click 'Scan' to let this software find lost PST files.
Step 2. Find PST files.
- Use 'Filter > Email' to quickly find your lost PST files.
- Search with '.pst' can also help you quickly reach the PST file.
Step 3. Recover PST files.
- Select PST files and click 'Recover'.
- Do remember to save them to a secure location on your PC.
Import PST/OST files into Outlook
To retrieve your email to Outlook, do as the following steps.
1. Start Outlook. Go to 'File' > 'Open & Export' > 'Import/Export' > 'Import from another program or file' > 'Open Outlook Data File'.
2. In the navigation pane, drag and drop the emails, contacts, other folders from .pst file to your existing Outlook folders.
If you're not afraid of losing data, or if you are sure that the Outlook data files haven't corrupted, you can use the solutions below to resolve Outlook 2016 not responding problem directly.
Method 2. Start Outlook 2016 in Safe Mode
Step 1: Close Outlook.
Step 2: Launch it in safe mode.
- For Windows 10 users: Click'Start' >'Search' > Type: Outlook.exe /safe and hit Enter;
- For Windows 8 users: Open 'Apps' menu > Select 'Run'> Type: Outlook /safe and then click OK;
- For Windows 7 users: Choose 'Start' > Type: Outlook /safe in the Search programs and files box and then hit Enter.
Step 3: Close Outlook and then open it normally. After this, you shall be able to use Outlook 2016 in Windows 10 again.
Method 3. Install the Latest Windows and Outlook Updates
If Windows or Outlook is outdated, it may affect you using and sending emails. So you can install the latest Windows and Outlook updates to fix the Outlook not responding issue.
To install the Windows update, try tips below.
Step 1: Type: update in the Search box and click 'Check for updates' or 'Windows update' to open Windows Update.
Step 2: Click'Check for updates' >'Install updates'. And then wait for updating process to complete, restart Windows PC to see if Outlook can work or not. If not, continue to update Outlook.
Step 3: Open Outlook and click 'File'.
Step 4: Select Office 'Account' > 'Update Options' > 'Update Now'. If you are using Outlook 2010, select 'Help'> 'Check for updates'.
Method 4. Repair Office Program
You can repair your Office program files to resolve such problems as Outlook freezing or not responding.
Step 1: Close and quit all running Office programs.
Step 2: Enter Control Panel and select 'Programs and Features'.
Step 3: In the list of installed programs, right-click on Microsoft Office 2016 or Microsoft Office 2013 > 'Change'.
Step 4: Select 'Online Repair' >'Repair'.
Wait for the repair process complete and then open Outlook to see if it gets back to normal or not.
Method 5. Repair Outlook Data Files
The outlook may stop working or responding if Outlook data files have an error. You can follow below tips to repair Outlook data files:
Step 1: Open Windows File Explorer and go to C:Program Files (x86)Microsoft OfficerootOffice16.
Step 2: Open 'SCANPST.EXT' > Click 'Browse' > Select the .pst file you want to scan.
Step 3: Click'Start'. Check 'Make a backup of scanned file before repairing' box and click'Repair'. Click 'OK' when the repair process completes.
- Tip
- When you open a file or send email messages in Microsoft Outlook 2016 or later version, Outlook stops working, Outlook freezes, or Outlook is not responding happens from time to time. To prevent data loss, it is necessary for you to back up Outlook emails regularly. If you don't want to do this work manually, you can resort to a professional Outlook backup software to help you automatically back up Outlook emails to hard drive with ease.
Other Possible Fixes for Outlook 2016 Not Responding Issue
As the issue may occur for one or more reasons, therefore, you can try different approaches to solve the problem.
- Make sure that Outlook is not in use by another process.
- Check possible add-in issues that interfere with Outlook.
- Check whether your mailbox is too large.
- Check whether your AppData folder is redirected to a network location.
- Make sure the antivirus software is not outdated, or it doesn’t conflict with Outlook.
- Prevent Outlook from loading external content automatically, such as images in an email.