Mail search not working after Big Sur install

In the previous iteration of macOS, when you started searching it defaulted to the current folder, but there was a button you could click somewhere near the top (can't recall where, and all of my computers have now been updated to Big Sur) that would allow you to toggle exactly which folder or folders you were searching.

I don't see how you can "not select a folder" to easily facilitate a search of all folders. Each time I launch Mail there is always a folder selected (I think the last folder I had selected when I last closed Mail).

It only searches the selected mailbox for me, unfortunately. Maybe it's because I'm on Office365 for email service? This is on my work computer. Haven't noted how search works on my home computers, where I used iCloud email accounts.

That's interesting, por13. When I switched users, search worked for the other user. But still not for me (after switching back) - until after a restart.

And now, after switching back, search does not work for me. That definitely feels like a bug.

I had that problem but after rebooting, the search icon appeared. Now, whenever I do a search in mail, the other messages in any folders are gone - only the applicable searched items show. I have to close out the mail app and reopen to see all my messages. That is annoying . . .

It's always been that way for me. At least as long as I can remember. Just reading all these posts makes it sound like there are several different pieces of code for this and you kinda sorta randomly get one according to the lunar cycle and the direction you're facing or something.

How do we Mail Users get notified by Apple that they have recognised and taken ownership of the bug (bug id .....?), and an indication by when a fix can be expected. ?

This discussion could go on forever if they're is no official "Apple Support "bug recognition and advice".

And save our time wasted by all of us in the Apple user crowd trying various solutions which are not working satisfactorily and never will without a fix,

Thanks for keeping us informed when Apple Support service come up with some concrete acknowledgement of the issue and resolution..

There certainly seems to be enough "noise" around these issues for them to have been escalated beyond first level Apple Support.

Suggesting "reinstall Big Sur" is the Windows equivalent of "have you tried rebooting" !

Ironically, rebooting does seem to work - for a while!

First line support told me there is no known problem. Of course, the issue might not be affecting that many people - a few reports on here but is it affecting everyone? Or does it depend on certain factors?

sadly this didn't do it for me. Mail search is so essential to those of us with lots of organized mailboxes for current and historic data. I sure hope apple finds and kills this glaring bug fast! I really don''t want to read in thunderbird and I file across different imap accounts regularly. Need this to work.

@Gregg Radell

Exactly! I have my email super organized, with lots of folders between accounts. It's essential in order to keep my work organized. And so, I use the search function very regularly because I don't always recall which folder might contain what I'm looking for. And I agree, I don't want to begin using a 3rd party application. I've tried several and I've yet to find one that accomplished Mail's simple interface, ease of use, etc.

I'd agree. We need a solution which is reliable, and which works with multiple users on the same device.

I'm also a little loathe to disable other functionality just to get Mail Search to work. That said, if it does sort this permanently, I would be inclined to give it a go!

I took the 11.1 Upgrade last night. It does not appear to have completely resolved the issue if at all. Searching seemed lightning fast this morning but by mid day it is back to not finding things that I know are there. Just hangs on "searching" and produces no results. This problem is very frustrating.

The update did seem to solve the issue of the finder insisting on opening new windows and changing its focus every-time you returned to it via the dock icon.

NevadaDan,

Has the issue fully resolved for you? I tried re-installing OSX and it worked for a few days but the issue returned... I think after a reboot. So far I've received initial results from re-installing OS X, rebuilding mail indexes and logging out of my user account, followed by logging back in. I didn't have positive results from rebuilding my mailboxes nor the close-ShiftClickOpen-close-ShiftClickOpen-reboot suggestion. I tried rebuilding my mail indexes but it crashed after 3 hours so I just restored my old indexes.

If your reinstalling OSX fix has fully resolved the issue (surviving reboots and time), perhaps it was the combination of some of the things you've done rather than just that one thing. If so, I may try doing what you did sequentially.

I still have the problem after the 11.1 update. wouldn't that be comparable to reinstalling the os? It was a very long update. As noted in my post above. Pretty much still have the problem though right after the update it worked flawlessly and seems more intermittent since the update (i.e. sometimes functional, more often not)

Gregg,

Ditto... I initially was encouraged from the 11.1 update but the problem returned. I then took many of the steps throughout this post and have not yet found a fix that fully resolves it. NevadaDan indicated that reinstalling OSX worked for him but it only worked for me for a short while.... he had tried a number of other steps preceding that, so I'm wondering if he's still finding that the issue is fully resolved. If so, perhaps it was the combination of those steps rather than the final.