mail search completely broken in Catalina

Same problem here, MacBookPro 15" 2019, macOS Catalina with the supplemental update installed.

Bug happened since I migrated from Mojave to Catalina on day one.

Formatted the disk and have done a complete fresh install, still the bug.

Installed the Supplemental Updated, still the bug.

The only way to have the search back is to reboot the computer.

Could not find a way to trigger the bug for sure, seems every time I close the lid and put the Mac to sleep and reopen it the search does not anymore.

Same here. Nothing I have done helps. I was going to reinstall, but after your experience, I’m not going to. Very frustrating. Some times these weird issues never get resolved. I have an ongoing issue with my monitor screen becoming static upon wake up, going back to 2012.

I had all the problems everyone has stated above and tried a few things this finally fixed it. 

sudo mdutil -i off /
cd /System/Volumes/Data
sudo ls         -----to see .Spotlight dir
sudo rm -rf .Spotlight*
sudo mdutil -i on /
sudo mdutil -E /

In mail app / preferences I unchecked all mail accounts except iCloud then re checked them and left iCould at the top and rebooted mac. THIS FINALLY WORKED

When I type the "sudo rm -rf .Spotlight*" command, I get an error message, saying that the operation is not permitted.

Do you know why I could get this result? There is no additional explanation.

Thank you

Followed the advice to deactivate Gmail in accounts (just unchecked the boxes, didn't delete it). Restarted computer, reactivated Gmail in Internet Accounts, and search works fine, even searching gmail folders.

Everything works for a bit. Then it doesn't. But...the latest 10.15.1 Beta (19B77a) may have fixed it. I've not had the problem in over 24 hours which is a new record! And I've rebooted several times for another purpose.

The latest beta seems to have solved this problem. I’m good now for two full days. It’s not gmail. It’s an Apple issue. It doesn’t go way for good no matter which way you try to fix it. The beta seems to solve it. Be patient. It’s soon to be released.

Hi,

The suggested answer of close mail/shift open mail/close mail/shift open mail/close mail/reboot fixed my searches for both gmail, other exchange and iCloud emails, ALL of which were non functional. Now, if only I could adjust column width as before or remove the superfluous inbox label!

Mine started working again after the last update (15.1), but now stopped again. I give up. Can anyone suggest the best alternative to Apple Mail for anyone running multiple gmail IMAP accounts, as it was never that good in the first place, but this renders it utterly useless.

Mail was screwed up after Catalina upgrade, and I followed the advice of

some smart fellow who said:

hold the Shift key down and start Mail,

quit Mail and do the shift key start Mail again.

Quit Mail.

Reboot the Mac (MacBook Pro 2015), run Mail -

fixed.

I also did a Rebuild on each Mailbox, and to be sure, did a Disk

Utility First Aid as well. Back to normal. What a pain.

Search was not working, in Mail Preferences I disabled all my accounts, quit Mail, restarted Mail, enabled all the accounts, Quit and Restarted, Search working perfectly.

WORKS again:

1) disable all mail accounts (system -> preferences -> internet accounts and switched off )

2) Stop Spotlight and remove the indexing: Terminal > sudo mdutil -i off -E < press <return>

3) Reboot your Mac

4) enable all mail accounts again (as described)

5) Enable it again by typing: Termin > sudo mdutil -i on < press <return>

I did these steps from edgemiw in this thread, and it worked immediately. But just booted up this morning and it is back. I don't use Gmail instead just an iCloud account and and exchange server account. It is not just the search function that is broken, it is also the VIP folder/search (of whatever it is called). So normally, initially when you boot up, the vip function will work and sort emails from only those you identified as vip. Same with Search..it works., but have looking at email and then going to do other things, both do not work. Like I said I initially did the steps from edgemiw and that worked immediately. It also corrected a minor lag in the mail app opening after the upgrade.

I had this issue for the last few days since I first updated my iOS. All the fixes I found online would not work EXCEPT - backed up and then reinstalled the iOS through Recovery Mode (Restart and then Cmd+R while rebooting) - took a few hours but now works perfectly

Wiping my computer back to High Sierra, updating my way back to Catalina and then restoring a Catalina Time Machine backup via Migration Assistant seems to have fixed the problem. Easy, if you can waste a day.

This solution worked for me, too. But to clarify...

In Internet Accounts, just Uncheck the Google services (Mail, Contacts, etc.). No need to delete the account.

After reboot and back into Internet Accounts, just check the boxes for the Google services desired.

Catalina v10.15

props to theak123