slozos

Q: El Capitan upgrade - Search not working in Mail or iCal

I've seen many people have this issue with no solutions. Ever since I upgraded to El Capitan, my search function is not working properly in Mail or iCal. It works for some items (it seems to work for older items, but not new items), but my job demands that it work for EVERYTHING. This is severely handicapping me on an hourly basis. I've attempted all the fixes that the forums suggest - rebuilding, re-indexing, etc. Nothing is working. Is there ANY solution? I'm pulling my hair out.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X El Capitan (10.11.2)

Posted on Jan 15, 2016 8:34 AM

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Q: El Capitan upgrade - Search not working in Mail or iCal

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  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jan 15, 2016 9:21 AM in response to slozos
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    Applications
    Jan 15, 2016 9:21 AM in response to slozos

    Is Spotlight working?

  • by slozos,

    slozos slozos Jan 15, 2016 2:42 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 15, 2016 2:42 PM in response to Linc Davis

    It seems to be, yes. From what I can tell, it is pulling up messages in Mail accurately, but not in iCal.

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jan 15, 2016 2:53 PM in response to slozos
    Level 10 (207,958 points)
    Applications
    Jan 15, 2016 2:53 PM in response to slozos

    I'm asking whether you can search Spotlight by clicking the magnifying-glass icon in the menu bar.

  • by slozos,

    slozos slozos Jan 15, 2016 3:06 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 15, 2016 3:06 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Yes, and when I search using Spotlight, it is pulling up messages in Mail that don't show up when I try to search them in the Mail program. So Spotlight is currently doing a better job of searching my email than Mail is, but it does not pull up matches in iCal, and I need to be able to search both programs.

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jan 15, 2016 3:35 PM in response to slozos
    Level 10 (207,958 points)
    Applications
    Jan 15, 2016 3:35 PM in response to slozos

    To avoid repetition, please list the steps you've already taken to try to solve the problem. I can't tell from your original question.

  • by slozos,

    slozos slozos Jan 15, 2016 3:53 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 15, 2016 3:53 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Of course! I've rebuilt my Mail inbox and rebuilt my Spotlight index (added my HD to the "privacy" portion of spotlight, then removed). Any other recommendations are greatly appreciated.

    The strange thing is, both Mail and iCal seem to find older entries with no problem. Anything received or entered into iCal over the past couple weeks does not come up when searched for.

     

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jan 15, 2016 5:43 PM in response to slozos
    Level 10 (207,958 points)
    Applications
    Jan 15, 2016 5:43 PM in response to slozos

    Please quit Mail. Force quit if necessary.

    Back up all data before proceeding.

    If you're running OS X 10.11 ("El Capitan") or later, triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:

    ~/Library/Mail/V3/MailData

    If you're running an older version of OS X, use this line:

    ~/Library/Mail/V2/MailData

    Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. In the Finder, select

              Go Go to Folder

    from the menu bar. Paste into the box that opens by pressing command-V, then press return.

    A folder window will open. Inside it there should be files with names as follows:

              Envelope Index

              ExternalUpdates.storedata

    Move those files to the Desktop, leaving the window open. Other files in the folder may have longer names that begin as above. Move those files, if any, to the Trash.

    Relaunch Mail. It should prompt you to re-import your messages. You may get a warning that the index is damaged and that Mail has to quit. Click OK. Typically, the process takes a few minutes, but it may take hours if you have gigantic mailboxes. In that case, you may be able to speed things up by temporarily adding your home folder to the Privacy list in the Spotlight preference pane. Remove it when Mail has finished importing.

    If the import operation stalls or fails with an error message, quit Mail, delete the two new index files (keeping the original ones that you moved to the Desktop), and try again. According to many reports, the second attempt may succeed after the first one has failed.

    Test. If Mail now works as expected, you can delete the files you moved to the Desktop. Otherwise, post your results.

  • by slozos,

    slozos slozos Jan 18, 2016 8:11 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 18, 2016 8:11 AM in response to Linc Davis

    Awesome, thank you so much for this. I should be able to do this later this afternoon, will report back.

  • by slozos,

    slozos slozos Jan 19, 2016 1:11 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 19, 2016 1:11 PM in response to Linc Davis

    The mailbox importation failed about halfway through like you said it might, and it said I didn't have enough room on my startup desk to continue. Strange, because I didn't realize I would need space for my mailbox, as it was already occupying the space it is now refilling. I deleted a bunch of extra files on my hard drive and prompted Mail to re-import my messages again. It took about an hour, but got all the way through without any issues, until the end. The "importing mailbox" box is still up, and it seems to have frozen. It has imported all of my messages, says the time remaining is "less than a minute", but is not opening my mail program. How to proceed?

  • by slozos,

    slozos slozos Jan 19, 2016 1:29 PM in response to slozos
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 19, 2016 1:29 PM in response to slozos

    Disregard my last post, it finally came back up and Mail appears to be in working order.

     

    However, I still have the search issue I had before.

     

    Our job numbers are based on the calendar, the first two digits are the current year, and the following numbers are chronological. So, the first job we've created this year was 161. It seems to be this series of numbers that are not being found in my email when I search. Job number 1641 was just delivered to my inbox, and I tried to search for 1641 to test my search function. Zero results found. However when I search older job number that was created/emailed out last year, like 151583, every single email containing those numbers show up with no problem.

     

    Same issue with ical.

  • by SandraLowe,

    SandraLowe SandraLowe Jan 20, 2016 6:35 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 20, 2016 6:35 AM in response to Linc Davis

    I had hoped this version 10.11.3 (15D21) of OS X El Capitan would have fixed this problem, but it has not.

  • by slozos,

    slozos slozos Jan 20, 2016 6:44 AM in response to SandraLowe
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 20, 2016 6:44 AM in response to SandraLowe

    Are you having the same issue? I've seen people posting with similar issues in mail, but not ical. Either the solutions I've already tried have worked for them or the forum discussion remains unresolved. So very frustrating, my efficiency at work has been majorly crippled by this issue.

  • by SandraLowe,

    SandraLowe SandraLowe Jan 20, 2016 7:10 AM in response to slozos
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 20, 2016 7:10 AM in response to slozos

    I had hoped this version 10.11.3 (15D21) of OS X El Capitan would have fixed this problem, but it has not.

    Sorry, I am having Search problems with the Calendar not mail.

  • by slozos,

    slozos slozos Jan 20, 2016 7:29 AM in response to SandraLowe
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 20, 2016 7:29 AM in response to SandraLowe

    I'm glad it's not just me, but I can certainly sympathize! I will let you know if I ever encounter a solution.

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