
Rebuilding your Outlook database can fix a lot of issues. Microsoft suggests that you back up your Microsoft User Data folder before doing this. This is a sort of cure-all when Outlook misbehaves. If that doesn’t do it, you could try rebuilding the Outlook database. You can continue using your Mac as you normally would (though searching for files won’t work completely until the indexing finishes). Depending on how many files you have on your Mac this could take several minutes to a few hours to complete. This will cause a complete Spotlight reindexing. To do so, launch Terminal (found in /Applications/Utilities) and enter this command and press Return:

Still no good? Maybe you need to perform a complete reset of the Spotlight index. This is the common technique for reindexing folders and volumes.Īdding and then removing a folder or volume to Spotlight preferences will cause Spotlight to reindex that item. This will force Spotlight to reindex that folder. Let it sit there for about 30 seconds and then select it and click on the minus ( – ) button to remove the folder from the window. Drag this folder into the Spotlight window (the one displaying the Privacy tab). Move to the Finder and locate your Microsoft User Data folder (which, as I’ve mentioned, is usually found in your Documents folder). Launch System Preferences, choose Spotlight, and click on the Privacy tab. Now, to the tried-and-true methods for fixing Spotlight indexing issues. This will restore the correct association. If something else appears here, click on the pop-up menu, choose Microsoft Outlook from the list that appears, and then click Change All. Select one, press Command-I to bring up the Info window, and ensure that in the Open With area of the resulting window you see Microsoft Outlook. To find out, travel to youruserfolder/Documents/Microsoft User Data/Office 2011 Identities/Main Identity/Data Records/Messages and then dig down through folders until you finally come to a folder full of files that end with the. When that happens Spotlight indexing won’t work correctly. I’ve heard of cases where messages have lost their association-they’re now linked with Notes, for example. If that doesn’t work, check that Outlook’s messages are indeed associated with Outlook.


Ensure that your Outook messages are associated properly.
