How to Reindex Outlook 2007 or later

If you search for items in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 or later and do not receive the results that you expect, the indexing of your Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office system data files (the search catalog) may not be complete.

 

Symptoms of an incomplete index include the following:

Partial or no search results are returned.
Items that you expect to appear based on your search criteria are not displayed.
You can rebuild the search catalog, which restarts the indexing of your data files. The search catalog is a file where all of your Outlook and Microsoft Windows items (data files) are indexed. To rebuild your search catalog, do the following:

1.Exit Outlook.
2.In Microsoft Windows, click the Start button, and then click Control Panel.
3.Do one of the following:

 

1) Windows 7 Click Index Option

2) Windows Vista     Click System Maintenance, and then click Indexing Options.
    Note   In Classic view, double-click Indexing Options.

3) Microsoft Windows XP     Under See Also, click Other Control Panel Options, and then click Indexing Options.
    Note   In Classic view, double-click Indexing Options.

4.Click Modify, select the check boxes for the locations you want to index (Outlook), and then click OK.
5.Click Advanced.
6.Click Rebuild.
7.Restart Outlook.
If rebuilding the search catalog does not correct your search problem and retrieve the expected search results, see Instant Search is not finding all the items I expect for additional information.