Searching email on a Mac

Why Spotlight misses mail, how to rebuild the Apple Mail index, and what to do about slow search in Outlook for Mac.

Apple Mail: rebuild the index

Apple Mail keeps its own search index, and it does get corrupted. Quit Mail, then delete the envelope index files in ~/Library/Mail/V10/MailData/ (the version number varies by macOS release). Files beginning Envelope Index are the ones. Reopen Mail and it rebuilds them. Back the folder up first.

Alternatively, in Mail choose Mailbox, then Rebuild, with a mailbox selected. That is slower but safer, and it only rebuilds the one mailbox.

Outlook for Mac

Outlook for Mac relies on Spotlight. If search returns nothing at all, the usual cause is that Outlook's profile folder has been excluded from Spotlight. Open System Settings, then Siri & Spotlight, then Spotlight Privacy, and remove any entry covering your home folder or Outlook's data.

The new Outlook for Mac behaves differently from the classic version and searches more on the server. If you have switched over recently and search feels worse, that is why.

Why Spotlight misses old mail

Spotlight indexes the whole computer and deprioritizes mail when it is busy. On a large mailbox it never fully catches up, and nothing tells you. You simply get fewer results than exist.

A tool that indexes only your mail, and keeps that index to itself, does not have this problem. KAM-Q reads your mail through Outlook or Apple Mail, keeps its index in your own folder, and does not compete with everything else on the machine.

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KAM-Q builds a private search index of your mailbox on your own computer, so results appear as you type. It works with classic Outlook on Windows and Mac, and with Apple Mail. Your mail never leaves your machine. Try it free for 7 days.