OSX 10.9 Mail spotlight search not working

Yeah, I just tried that, and the blue bar that took the longest said "Rebuilding", not "reindexing". Still, in the end, I can't search in mail. 😟

I have the same issue.. maybe there is more things for you to try over here https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5647770?start=15&tstart=0 ?

Good luck!

OK -

this may not work forever but it did work for me:

Re-index your Smart Folders:

Just pop into the System preferences and open the spotlight option. In there, there should be a privacy tab.

This would be where you add any volumes for folders you don't want to be searchable. Open a Finder window, and drag and drop your main Macintosh HD here. This will wipe out the spotlight index already saved.

Then remove it from the list again (use the minus sign "-" at the bottom of the little window), and it'll start the indexing process over again. It can take a little while.

(I left my computer on for a couple of hours, when I tried the same search I'd unsuccessfully tried earlier, it worked perfectly).

Give it a go - may not work for everyone (or forever) but it was a reasonably easy fix and it worked for me.

Thanks Magicalcynic,

But, if you read through the posts, you'll see that that's already been suggested a few dozen times and it hasn't worked for most of us.

I fixed the issue by simply choosing Rebuild from the Mailbox menu. Might take a while to rebuild depending on the number of emails etc.

Apple just removed my post for mentioning a developer update... That they do see, but fixing a mega bug is not top priority. Great work Apple!

Update to 10.9.2

The problem is not solved with the search! (

Use Gmail. Imap protocol.😠😢

Same for me...spotlight search works but the search in Outlook for MAC does not

Extremely frustrating and need this fixed! Have done all the troubleshooting, plus completely removed office for mac two times and reinstalled it and still isn't working!

Wish I had not upgradedto Mavericks at this point!

I'm in the same boat with mac mail search not working but broader spotlight does. Have tried rebuild, re-set spotlight to create new index, remove mail accounts and re-add, etc.

Still can search in spotlight and see mail items but get nothing from searchbar in mail app. This is all post the 10.9.2 update with mail 7.2 (1874).

I have found the solution to this go to: http://coolestguidesontheplanet.com/spotlight-control-mac-os-x-mavericks-10-9/

This guys solution worked for me i wish you ALL the best resolving your solution

I am having the same problem on 10.9.4.

My mail is on IMAP and most of the mailboxes seem to be missing from the index. I have tried getting spotlight to reindex and it does not work. I also tried the suggestion above - deleting the spotlight search directory. Nothing has worked.

If I create new mailboxes and move the mail it builds the index for that mailbox, but I have about 100 mailboxes so this is not viable.

Come on Apple - fix the problem

This helped me get to the solution. For some reason in the privacy mine home directory was listed as an exclusion. Strange that I can find mail in spotlight, but not in mail. Either way, problem solved thanks everyone.

For those who have not found a solution yet, this was posted in another thread and helped me:

1) Run disk utility and repair permissions and repair hard drive

2) Open /Applications/Utilities/Terminal, type the following command, and press <Return> (you can copy the command here and paste it in Terminal):

sudo mdutil -E -i on /

The -E option tells Spotlight to delete any already existing index data (so that it’s rebuilt from scratch all over again). The -i on option ensures that indexing is enabled. Finally, the ‘/’ at the end means “apply this command to the startup disk”.

This fixed the mail not finding anything issue for me. Hope it helps all of you!

Thanks!!!! Seems to have worked. What a panick when I saw Search did not find obvious file names in the Images folder! Same for Email. Seems to be working now - hopefully for good. What a disapointing new OS this Mavericks, I really do not like it. The new page scroll system is also less efficient than before.

Thanks for the report. I refuse to upgrade my important work machine to Yosemite until Apple fixes the problem. They support upgrading systems from one version of the OS to another, so this is a BUG, not, as an Apple CEO once said, the way I'm holding my MacBook Pro.

I have been very disappointed with the amazing amount of bugs that Apple let release in both iOS 8 and Yosemite. This includes bugs present in an upgraded iPhone 5S and brand new iPhone 6.

I fear the company and its product quality is suffering from serious issues.