Microsoft exchange no longer able to search emails

Question

Microsoft exchange no longer able to search emails

Gary Holland 5

I'm using Microsoft exchange and until this morning we were able to search emails in the any of the folders but now the search facility isn't working and each time we receive a message stating "We're having trouble fetching results from the server"

Toni Tanev (Sofia) 0 Reputation points

2026-09-04T12:40:40.5033333+00:00

Multiple people in the organization are still facing this. I can see that the INC is closed now...
We are using Exchange Online. Some people are facing it both on OWA and Outlook Classic, while for some is just on the desktop version.
Jayden-P 3,130 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-09-04T12:59:57.4933333+00:00

I'm sorry to hear that, can you please ask the users to clear browser cache or try signing out and in again.

You can also try some basic troubleshooting steps here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/troubleshooting-outlook-search-issues

1 answer

Your answer

Toni Tanev (Sofia) 0 Reputation points

2026-09-04T12:40:40.5033333+00:00

Multiple people in the organization are still facing this. I can see that the INC is closed now...
We are using Exchange Online. Some people are facing it both on OWA and Outlook Classic, while for some is just on the desktop version.
Jayden-P 3,130 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-09-04T12:59:57.4933333+00:00

I'm sorry to hear that, can you please ask the users to clear browser cache or try signing out and in again.

You can also try some basic troubleshooting steps here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/troubleshooting-outlook-search-issues

Answer 1

Jayden-P 3,130 Independent Advisor

Hi @Gary Holland

Could you please provide the following information?

Are you using Exchange Online (Microsoft 365), on-premises Exchange Server, or a Hybrid Exchange environment?
If you are using on-premises Exchange, which version are you running?
- Exchange Server 2016/Exchange Server 2019/Exchange Server Subscription Edition (SE)
Does the issue occur in:
- Outlook Desktop Client only
- Outlook on the Web (OWA) only
- Both Outlook Desktop and OWA
Is the issue affecting other users as well?

As an initial troubleshooting step, please test searching for emails directly in Outlook on the Web (OWA). If the search works in OWA but not in the Outlook desktop client, this may indicate an Outlook client or Windows Search indexing issue.

In case you are using Exchange Online, there is an ongoing incident that might affect Exchange funtionality.

You can track via https://admin.cloud.microsoft/?#/servicehealth/:/alerts/EX1464935 (please note that this link requires admin role to access).

If you are using Exchange Server, please let me know your environment setup.

Gary Holland 5 Reputation points

2026-09-03T15:25:24.2733333+00:00

Hi Jayden,

Thank you for your response.

How do I find out which type we are using?

Kind regards

Gary
Jayden-P 3,130 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-09-03T16:22:46.21+00:00
To determine which type of Exchange environment you're using, could you please check the following:

If your email account is hosted through Microsoft 365, you can sign in Outlook web via https://outlook.office.com, you are likely using Exchange Online.

Typical Outlook web URLs for Exchange Server environments are: https://<ExchangeServerFQDN>/owa

You can reach out to IT admin and ask them for more information.

Can you also let me know which Outlook client you cannot search emails? (Outlook web/ Classic/ New Outlook for Windows/ Legacy/ New Outlook for Mac)
Gary Holland 5 Reputation points

2026-09-03T16:34:41.23+00:00

Hi Jayden,

We are using Exchange Online and the Outlook Classic version.

Kind regards

Gary
Jayden-P 3,130 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-09-03T16:40:08.4733333+00:00
If so, please test if you can search in Outlook web. If yes, the issue is likely specific to Outlook Classic only.

You can try:

Rebuild .ost file: Close Outlook > Press Windows + R > Type in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Outlook\ > Look for your email address and delete it > Restart Outlook.

Setting the Mail to keep offline slider to All in Classic Outlook (File > Account Settings > Account Settings > select account > Change). This ensures the entire mailbox is cached locally and indexed, which can help improve search performance.
Jayden-P 3,130 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-09-04T12:14:34.93+00:00

Have you checked the provided answer? Any update would be great.
Nick Freeman 5 Reputation points

2026-09-08T11:46:40.9133333+00:00

I can expand on this, as I have now seen this issue across multiple clients.

Issue appears in outlook classic, searching shared mailboxes the user has access to, works fine, however searching their own mailbox fails with the same error as OP. All started seeing the issue the same time (sept 3rd) Affected clients are not in the same tennancy...
Jayden-P 3,130 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-09-08T11:54:12.7866667+00:00
Thanks for your sharing, may I ask what is your Outlook Classic version?

Also, have you tried these steps?

Rebuild .ost file: Close Outlook > Press Windows + R > Type in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Outlook\ > Look for your email address and delete it > Restart Outlook.

Setting the Mail to keep offline slider to All in Classic Outlook (File > Account Settings > Account Settings > select account > Change). This ensures the entire mailbox is cached locally and indexed, which can help improve search performance.

If the issue persists and affect multiple users, I recommend you to contact Microsoft support via Admin Center so they can investigate this behavior further.
Toni Tanev (Sofia) 0 Reputation points

2026-09-08T12:01:10.1033333+00:00

Although most of our users are not experiencing this anymore, we still have 2 users that reached out today that they still does. I am going to try the proposed by you, but one of them is also facing it on OWA trough incognito, so those are not going to affect it. I am having a case with Microsoft and will post the outcome here.
Jayden-P 3,130 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-09-08T12:04:19.32+00:00

Thank you @Toni Tanev (Sofia) , I appreciate your contribution. If you have any news from the support team, please feel free to share here.