Troubleshooting Outlook 365 Indexing Problem on Windows 11

The Outlook 365 Indexing Problem is a Windows issue that appears to users try to manually index their Outlook files from the Advanced Options menu. This problem appears while the indexing process is ongoing and the utility seems to pause for no reason after a certain number of files have been indexed. This problem is exclusive to Windows 11.

Since Microsoft has already addressed this issue, you might see this behavior if you are missing one or more Windows infrastructure updates.

However, another potential cause for this issue could be that you have too many applications running on your computer. Try to close the unused apps and also restart the Windows Search to clear all the cache files that are affecting it.

You could also have this happen on your system if a registry entry that is not letting the indexing process work properly. You can fix this by enabling the right registry entry.

Besides the above-covered scenarios, the indexing issue could be also caused by system file corruption.

Here is a list of confirmed methods that should help you fix the issue.

Run the Search and Indexing Troubleshooter

This issue could be caused by a generic system error that is affecting the indexing. This can have a lot of different triggers, but fortunately there’s a fix that can be applied for most scenarios. If you haven’t done so already, try running the Search and Indexing Troubleshooter to identify the problem and fix it automatically.

To do this, you need to access the Windows Settings and search for the troubleshooter’s section. Then, run the Search and Indexing Troubleshooter to see if it can identify the problem by leveraging any of the included automated repair strategies.

Here are the steps you need to follow:

Open a Run dialog box by pressing the Windows key + R.
Inside the search bar, type ‘ms-settings:‘ and press Enter to open the Windows Settings.

Opening the Windows Settings
From the System menu, scroll down until you see the Troubleshoot section. Access it when you find it.

Accessing the Troubleshoot section
Select the Other troubleshooters button.
Scroll down through the list of troubleshooters until you find the Search and Indexing troubleshooter.
Click on the Run button when you see it.

Running the Search and Indexing troubleshooter
Now select all the problems that you encounter to help the troubleshooter fix your issue.
Click on Next when you are done.

Selecting the problems that this issue causes
If you want, you can enter a short description of the error. Select Next when you are done.
Select the Try troubleshooting as an administrator button to give admin permission.

Giving the troubleshooter admin permission
Now repeat the process from steps 6 and 7 to see if the troubleshooter detects and fixes your issue.

Install pending Windows updates

This issue could also appear if you’re missing a key Windows infrastructure update.

To make sure this is not the case, make sure that your Windows is up-to-date – this issue was addressed with as series of hotfixes that Microsoft has pushed on every update channel (public and insider channels).

All you need to do is to go to Windows Updates screen and check if there are any available updates. If there are, install all of them.

Press the Windows key + R to open a Run dialog box.
Type ‘ms-settings:‘ inside the search bar and press enter to open the Windows Settings.

Opening the Windows Settings
Access the Windows Update section from the left side.
In case there are pending updates, they will be visible and you will also see the Install now button. Click on it to install them.

Installing the pending updates

Note: If there are no updates displayed when you first open this window, click the Check for updates button to see if the scan detects any.
After installing all available updates, restart your computer and wait for the subsequent startup to complete.
Once your computer boots back completely, test to see if the Outlook 365 Indexing Problem still appears.

Restart the Windows Search Service

Another cause for this issue could be that an associated dependency (Windows Search) is encountering problems. Windows Search process is the primary way that files are bing indexed on both Windows 10 and Windows 11 so having it correctly configured is mandatory for the indexing process to work.

In this case, all you need to do is to restart the Windows Search process. This can be done from the Task Manager. Go to the Details section and end the SearchHost process.

Here are the steps you need to follow to do this:

Press the CTRL + Shift + ESC keys simultaneously to open the Task Manager.
Now you need to select the Details section from the left side menu.

Accessing the Details section
You need to search through the list of processes for SearchHost.exe. To find it faster, you can simply type the first letters and it will appear.
Right-click on it and click on End task, then click again on End process to turn off the process.

Restarting the Windows Search process
To restart it, all you have to do is to open the taskbar of your computer.

Opening the Windows Search option
Now test to see if the Outlook 365 Indexing Problem has been fixed.

Remove Outlook from the index service

The Outlook database files might be unable to work properly with the indexing service because there is an interlock between them. In this case, you can try to remove Outlook from the index service to be able to use it properly.

To do this, you need to access the Indexing Options and remove the location for Outlook.

Note: The only problem with this method is that the search option in Outlook will work a bit slower after enforcing this fix. So if you still need it to work at the best performance, you don’t have to do this.

Follow these steps to see how to remove Outlook from the index service:

Press the Windows key + R to open a Run dialog box.
Type ‘control‘ inside the search bar and press Enter to open the Control Panel.

Opening the Control Panel
Now click on the drop-down menu next to the View by button and select Large icons.

Selecting the Large icons view mode
Through the list of settings, search for Indexing Options and select them.

Opening the Indexing Options
Click on the Modify button to be able to change the locations for indexing.
The box next to the Microsoft Outlook location should be checked. Make sure to uncheck it to remove Outlook from your index service. Press OK when you are done.

Removing Microsoft Outlook from the index service

Note: In case there is more than one location for Microsoft Outlook, disable all of them.
Now test to see if you can use Outlook properly.

Close all the in-use apps

The Outlook 365 Indexing Problem could be also caused if your computer is unable to allocate enough resources to the indexing service. Your PC might be working slowly because there are too many apps turned on at the same time, which can result in the indexing pausing or working very slowly.

You can try to let your computer focus on the indexing process by closing all the other apps that are turned on and that you don’t use. The easiest way to do this is via Task Manager.

Here are the steps you need to follow:

Open the Task Manager by pressing the CTRL + Shift + ESC keys at the same time.
Select the Processes section and sort them to see which are using the most of your computer.

Selecting the Process section
Now right-click on the process you want to turn off and click on End task.

Ending the task
Repeat this process with the rest of the apps that you don’t use.
When you are done, close the Task Manager and test it to see if the indexing is still problematic.

Enable the PreventIndexindOutlook registry entry

Another cause for your indexing problem could be that the Windows Desktop Search is not working properly or it’s being missconfigured by a registry key.

You can fix this by forcing your computer to turn off the Windows Desktop Search via Registry Editor – this way you will make Outlook use its built-in search option.

This can be done by creating a registry entry in the Registry Editor. You can always turn it off if it’s not helping you.

Here is a guide that will show you how to create the registry entry that you need:

Press the Windows key + R to open a Run dialog box.
Inside the search bar, type ‘regedit‘ and press Enter to open the Registry Editor.

Opening the Registry Editor
You will be prompted by the User Account Control (UAC). Click on Yes to give administrator permission.
Now use the search bar from the upper side and search the following subkey:
```
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows
```
Searching for the subkey
Right-click on the Edit button and click on New, then click on Key.

Creating a new key
Name the key ‘Windows Search‘ and press Enter to save it.
Select this key and click on Edit and New, then select DWORD (32-bit) Value.

Creating a new DWORD Value
You need to name the DWORD Value ‘PreventIndexingOutlook‘ and press Enter to save it.
Right-click on this value and click on Modify.

Modifying the DWORD Value
You need to change the Value data to 1 in order to enable this option. When you are done, click on OK to save it.

Enabling the PreventIndexingOutlook option
Close the Registry Editor and restart the app to see if the Outlook 365 Indexing Problem has been fixed.

7. Repair install or clean install your Windows

If you’ve come this far without a viable fx, this Outlook problem could also be caused by some corrupted files that are affecting your computer. In this case, you can fix these problems by refreshing all the files that your system has.

This can be done in two different ways:

Clean install – This procedure will reinstall your Windows, replacing every corrupted file with a healthy equivalent. The system problems should disappear, but remember that you will also lose all your personal files that are currently stored on your computer.
Repair install – If you don’t want to lose all your personal data stored on your computer, you should go with the repair install. This procedure will fix all the corrupted files in your system while also keeping all the data that you don’t want to lose.

The post Troubleshooting Outlook 365 Indexing Problem on Windows 11 appeared first on Appuals.com.