Outlook 2016 Search Folders can't search body

Imran Ashraf 21 Reputation points
2021-01-18T18:06:35.317+00:00

Outlook 2016 'Search Folders' are not able to search items in the body.
Search Folders only show results for text in the subject.

If you search the inbox, instead of using Search Folders (with criteria), then results appear correctly.

Outlook is Online mode so index is not an issue.

Outlook Management
Outlook Management
Outlook: A family of Microsoft email and calendar products.Management: The act or process of organizing, handling, directing or controlling something.
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Office Management
Office Management
Office: A suite of Microsoft productivity software that supports common business tasks, including word processing, email, presentations, and data management and analysis.Management: The act or process of organizing, handling, directing or controlling something.
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  1. Jade Liang-MSFT 9,956 Reputation points Microsoft Employee
    2021-01-19T04:16:33.51+00:00

    Hi @Imran Ashraf ,

    Outlook 2016 'Search Folders' are not able to search items in the body

    Could the search folder work normally before? Or did it actually occurr when you first create the search folder? Could the issue be reproduced if you create a new search folder to test?

    Based on my tests, I have tried to create a search folder to search the message that contain "test" in subject and content like below, which could work normally in my Outlook 2016, which seems to I couldn't reproduce your issue.

    If the issue actually occurred when you first configure the search folder, in order to avoid any errors in configuration, please kindly check if your steps are same with mine.
    57907-snipaste-2021-01-19-11-37-24.png
    Also, in order to further confirm if your issue is related to your client, it's suggested to log into your web mail to check if the search folder could work normally.

    If the issue only occurred on your Outlook client, it may be more related to your client itself, so what's the version of your client(File>Office Account>About Outlook), please ensure that you have updated to the latest version of Outlook.

    Also, the issue may occurr when your Outlook profile are corrupted, it's suggested to create a new profile and re-add your account to test if the issue has any difference(Control Panel>Mail>Show profiles>Add>Add your account).

    If the issue still exists or you still need further assistance, please provide me with more information about your issues, so that I would give you more targeted help.

    If the response is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and upvote it.
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  2. Imran Ashraf 21 Reputation points
    2021-01-19T12:06:35.897+00:00

    Thanks for your suggestions. Profile is not corrupted (created new). OWA is fine if you search for text in subject and body. It produces results from both.

    The issue is not with 'Search Tools | Advanced Find'. invoked from the Outlook Ribbon, but appears to be an issue when Search is run from the left hand pane under 'Search Folders'.

    Right Click 'Search Folders' | New Search Folder | 'Choose Create a custom search folder' and define the criteria from a word in subject field and message body. That does not produce expected results.

    Outlook version is 16.0.5056.1000.