nealeh01

Q: Mail indexing not working following MacOS Sierra install

Mail search is not working since I installed macOS Sierra. I have tried to use a previously posted fix to Rebuild the Spotlight index on your Mac - Apple Support however I get a dialogue box saying the HDD can't be added due to an unknown error. I have also tried trashing the 'Envelope' preferences to get a rebuild, to no avail. Any suggestions?

iMac (27-inch, Late 2012)

Posted on Sep 26, 2016 6:45 AM

Close

Q: Mail indexing not working following MacOS Sierra install

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by dianeoforegon,

    dianeoforegon dianeoforegon Sep 27, 2016 2:43 PM in response to nealeh01
    Level 5 (5,731 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 27, 2016 2:43 PM in response to nealeh01

    Boot into Recovery drive and run Disk Utility > First Aid.

    Some users have had to reinstall Sierra to get things working properly. See other fixes for Sierra by Kappy\

     

    Boot into the Recovery Drive by holding down Command R when restarting.

     

    Open Disk Utility

    Run First Aid on your internal drive, Macintosh HD

    Quit Disk Utility

     

    Select Reinstall macOS

    Depending on your internet connection this could take some time to download the installer. Connect via Ethernet if possible

    (You can reinstall Sierra over Sierra. This procedure is no different than installing one OS over another.

     

    This process should not damage your data but it's always advised that you backup first.

  • by nealeh01,

    nealeh01 nealeh01 Sep 29, 2016 11:06 AM in response to dianeoforegon
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 29, 2016 11:06 AM in response to dianeoforegon

    Tried all of this without success or any change. What I have discovered is that Spotlight is indexing the emails - I can find them in a Spotlight search, but they are not showing up in mail. Even the smart boxes are failing to show 'unread' or 'today' emails.

     

    I have tried logging accounts out of mail and logging them back in - no change....I don't want to do a clean install if I am just going to have the same issue...help!

  • by dianeoforegon,

    dianeoforegon dianeoforegon Sep 29, 2016 11:09 AM in response to nealeh01
    Level 5 (5,731 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 29, 2016 11:09 AM in response to nealeh01

    With Mali quit....

     

    Go to User's Library > Mail >V4 > MailData

    Find the 3 files with envelope in the name.

    Delete the files.

    Log Out under the Apple in the Menu bar

    Log in

    Open Mail

    Mail will reindex your files.

    Test search when complete.

  • by nealeh01,

    nealeh01 nealeh01 Sep 29, 2016 5:07 PM in response to dianeoforegon
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 29, 2016 5:07 PM in response to dianeoforegon

    Tried that before without the log out. It rebuilt the message list, but search is still not working...