Mail App search not working

My Mail completely stopped reacting to anything I typed in the search field.

In summary, follow the following steps:

quit all the app on your mac

hold down the shift key and launch the Mail app, then quit it.

repeat step 2.

restart your mac

Hope this helps

[Link Edited by Moderator]

This has worked for some:

Boot into Safe Mode according to Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support and test to see if the problem persists. Reboot normally and test again.

NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to 10 minutes as it's doing the following; 

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts 

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files

Thanks for that "Old Toad". I hadn't found this recommendation before, and it seems useful so far. Summary:

1. Initial state ... in normal mode: mail search didn't work
2. After booting into Safe Mode: mail search worked again !!
3. Rebooting normally afterwards: mail search didn't work
4. Quick Mail and started it again: mail search worked again !!
5. Tried quitting & restarting Mail a few more times and it stayed working !!

I'll keep testing this for a bit, and try a further reboot or two later to see if search keeps working.

I will aim to give a further update here on how it goes, but let's say "no news is good news" ... so if I don't post back here soon then assume it stayed working.

Download and run Etrecheck. Etrecheck is a diagnostic tool that was developed by one of the most respected users here in the ASC and recommended by Apple Support  to provide a snapshot of the system and help identify the more obvious culprits that can adversely affect a Mac's performance.

IMPORTANT:

Before running Etrecheck assign Full Disk Access to Etrecheck in the Etrecheck's Privacy preference pane so that it can get additional information from the Console and log files for the report:

Also click and read the About info to further permit full disk access.

Copy the report

and use the Additional Text button to include the report in your reply.

Then we can examine the report and see if we can determine what might be causing the problem.

I have this too, and I interpret that the issue is not yet addressed by the answer so far from Hilal Halawi.

Mail search stops working; yes the shift-key / Mail & Mac-restart gymnastics gets it working again *temporarily*, but it very quickly stops working again.

Also, same as reported by Berthos Too, the mailbox 'rebuild' (which I have seen recommended elsewhere for this sort of issue), and sounds intuitively as though it could be relevant, but it doesn't make any improvement on this issue for me, and doesn't visibly seem to do anything as far as I can tell.

Is there a full and long-lasting solution known yet for this mailbox search issue?

Further update as promised, and yes mail search has stayed working (to my great relief) after the Safe Mode test sequence described above courtesy of "Old Toad".

"Berthos Too", if you are still monitoring this thread, did this or other solution resolve the issue for you too?

Glad to hear it's working.

I have done this several times, but the problem keeps returning. What's the official Apple solution for this problem? Thanks!