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Mail app won't search emails properly and/or takes very long time

MacBook Air with M1, Ventura 13.2.1 installed.


I've tried all the various resets/rebuilds/reboots/Spotlight settings, but the problem persists.


If I try to search for an email in Mail, one of three things happen:

  1. No emails are returned, and the word "Indexing" appears at the bottom of the mailbox list. "Found 0 results" at top.
  2. No emails are returned, no message just "Found 0 results"
  3. A few emails appear after a long time (30-60 seconds). But not all emails appear, just a few that qualify with the search criteria.


Any ideas about how to fix?


This issue doesn't happen on my 2017 iMac 27". It's lightning fast.

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 13.2

Posted on Aug 7, 2023 4:04 PM

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Posted on Aug 15, 2023 12:17 AM

I solved this.


I had to delete my user account, and set up the MacBook again. This was annoying because iCloud assumed I had acquired a new computer when I hadn't, and it changed some settings e.g. my profile pic, across all my devices.


Anyway, I was able to then reinstall all the Microsoft 365 apps and so forth with all the free space I had created unnecessarily.


Mail will now search as it did before, and is lighting fast.

7 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Aug 15, 2023 12:17 AM in response to Jamie Crain

I solved this.


I had to delete my user account, and set up the MacBook again. This was annoying because iCloud assumed I had acquired a new computer when I hadn't, and it changed some settings e.g. my profile pic, across all my devices.


Anyway, I was able to then reinstall all the Microsoft 365 apps and so forth with all the free space I had created unnecessarily.


Mail will now search as it did before, and is lighting fast.

Aug 8, 2023 12:05 PM in response to Jamie Crain

Hi Jamie Crain,


Try testing the issue in safe mode. This will start up your Mac so that it performs certain checks and prevents some software from automatically loading or opening, which could help narrow down the cause of the issue.


This article will walk you through the steps: Use safe mode on your Mac


"If you're using a Mac with Apple silicon


1. Shut down your Mac.

2. Press and hold the power button on your Mac. As you continue to hold the power button, your Mac turns on and loads startup options. When you see Options, release the power button.

3. Select your startup disk. It's named Macintosh HD, unless you changed its name.

4. Press and hold the Shift key, then click the “Continue in Safe Mode” button below your startup disk.

5. Log in to your Mac. You might be asked to log in again."


You can isolate the issue further by testing it in a new administrator account. This will tell you if the issue is specific to one user account. If needed, this article will guide you through creating a new account: Add a user or group on Mac


Regards.

Aug 8, 2023 5:04 PM in response to Jamie Crain

Hi Jamie Crain,


Per the site Use safe mode on your Mac "If the issue continues in safe mode, the easiest and most likely solution is to reinstall macOS. Reinstalling macOS doesn't remove your personal files, so you can do it whenever you need to." Reinstalling macOS should be the next step.


That article further offers that issues resolved in a new user account often indicates "your user account might contain other software that is incompatible, including certain software that loads at startup." You may check your login items and other running applications for your user account to try to isolate the conflict.


Regards.

Aug 9, 2023 2:34 AM in response to Bill_T1

I'm trying to reinstall Mac OS but just can't do it. I have over 140GB free but according to Disk Utility I have only 27GB free. I need around 60GB to start the process.


I have deleted pretty much every non-system app and all large files but the system won't purge these files so when I try to install Mac OS I get the error saying there's not enough space available.


Really frustrating, there appears to be no way to force the purge of these file without installing some dodgy 3rd party app.


Mail app won't search emails properly and/or takes very long time

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