MrMinnMac

Q: What is the problem with Mail Search???

I've seen all the mentions here of a non-functioning Search feature in Lion Mail - I've experienced it, too.  I upgraded to Mountain Lion, and still... no fix.  Search does not find emails that I *know* are there.  I've rebuilt all the mailboxes, exported and imported all the messages, created "Test" accounts and imported messages files... and still, no joy.

 

WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?  And WHERE IS THE FIX?

 

I'm tired of having to go to my Snow Leopard machine to find emails!  Help!

MacBook & iMac, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Aug 11, 2012 6:55 AM

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Q: What is the problem with Mail Search???

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  • by William Lloyd,

    William Lloyd William Lloyd Aug 11, 2012 7:10 AM in response to MrMinnMac
    Level 7 (21,141 points)
    Aug 11, 2012 7:10 AM in response to MrMinnMac

    Mail uses Spotlight to find emails.  It sounds to me like the Spotlight index may have issues.  You could try rebuilding it.

     

    To rebuild it just go to the Spotlight system preference, select the privacy tab, and drag your boot hard drive (often called Macintosh HD) to the privacy pane.  Then wait about 10 seconds and then click it and hit the - button at the bottom.  You'll see the Spotlight icon in the menu bar get a little throbbing dot in the middle and after an hour or two you should have a new index.  See if you can then see the emails.

  • by profbg,

    profbg profbg Aug 25, 2016 6:28 PM in response to MrMinnMac
    Level 1 (17 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 25, 2016 6:28 PM in response to MrMinnMac

    i'm using El Capitan on a new Macbook Pro and have same issue, happened about a month after purchase.  However I AM able to search on iphone mail app and when logged in to iCloud.  Been on the phone with support 4 times, with 5 senior advisors", including screen-sharing, ultimately re-installing OS, but finally ending with "take in to genius bar".  Seems odd for a  software problem clearly on their part.

     

    But will schlepp down to Apple store and have them take a look I guess... pain in the ***. 

  • by profbg,

    profbg profbg Aug 25, 2016 6:34 PM in response to William Lloyd
    Level 1 (17 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 25, 2016 6:34 PM in response to William Lloyd

    I did that unsuccessfully, per support, and may I point out that it does not re-index everything on my icloud account, only those mailboxes on my computer, as I understand it.

    Anyway, did not work.

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Aug 26, 2016 7:00 AM in response to profbg
    Level 9 (69,813 points)
    iTunes
    Aug 26, 2016 7:00 AM in response to profbg

    You might want to consider starting a new discussion. Since this one is a couple of years old, less people are likely to look at it. A new post would be much more visible. You can link to this one.