Windows 7: Can't search emails in outlook 2007

I have a laptop running windows 7 and outlook 2007
I have no problems searching the emails on the server, but as that fills I have other folders which are saved on my HD, for some reason if I try to search for an email in one of those folders I get nothing, it used to work at one time.
I get a message about items not all indexed and if I click on index status it says outlook us currently indexing your items, 4393 items remaining across all open mailboxes. This number has not gone down in hours it may have actually went up.
Any help would be greatly appreciated



Thanks

phoseph24,
I noticed no one had yet answered your post. I don't have an answer off hand but if you are still having the problem I can try to help trouble shoot it.

Rusty

Yup can't figure it out

pjoseph24,

I did not forget you, however since I'm not in a 'server' environment all I could really do was email someone I know who is. I'm assuming an MS Exchange Server. Anyway, I'm sorry to say that, so far, my query is coming up empty--one reason being perhaps all the differences between your environment and theirs.

If I hear anything I'll let you know. Sorry I couldn't be more help... sometimes you can and sometimes you can't.

Good luck.
Rusty

Hi pjoseph24

why don't you start of by taking a look at this thread Reset indexing by rebuilding your Instant Search catalog - Outlook - Office.com

pjoseph24,

Another link for you that may provide help.

Fixing Instant Search | MSOutlook.info

Have you tried using cache mode? Go to email account info and click cache mode box. It should allow your searchs to resume...

I may have found an old workaround (from 2007) - don't use indexing!
Search is a bit slow, but at least it seems to work.

Outlook 2007 search problem

I'm also using a laptop with Windows 7 Professional and before this workaround my Outlook search was sort of working, and that was the problem. It only found a small fraction of hits, and rebuilding the database did not help. I was at the point of moving to Thunderbird after seeing how well its search function works for a colleague.

I've been trying to resolve this issue for a while now. Nothing has managed to solve it.

Thanks. It's one week later, and my Outlook searching (without indexing) is very slow, but at least I can reliably find those really important emails now. In case you want to use this workaround, but have difficulty with the link I've provided above, here are the simple instructions to turn search indexing off:
On the main Outlook window, using the menu options on the top:
Tools >> Instant Search >> Search Options >> "uncheck" all data files under "Indexing".