Outlook 2024 (POP/PST): Search does not index HTML email bodies (IFilter issue)

@bernard Andri Yes, that comparison is very useful, but I would not replace Office 2024 with Office 2019 just yet.

The fact that the same type of POP/PST configuration worked correctly on Windows 11 with Outlook 2019, while the new Windows 11 + Outlook 2024 installation does not index HTML message bodies, makes the Outlook/Office version or its Windows Search integration a much stronger suspect.

Before downgrading, I would complete the COM Add-ins test Bernard suggested earlier:

1. Start Outlook 2024 normally.
2. Disable all COM Add-ins.
3. Restart Outlook normally.
4. Test a search for a word that exists only inside the HTML body of a message.

If the problem remains, I would then consider Office 2019 a very useful diagnostic test — not necessarily the permanent solution.

If you still have access to the old computer, an even better comparison would be to check the Windows Search/File Types configuration on both machines, particularly the Outlook-related filter registrations. That could show us whether Office 2019 and Office 2024 registered different search components.

If Office 2019 indexes the same test PST correctly on the new computer while Office 2024 does not, that would be very strong evidence that we are dealing with an Office 2024/Windows Search integration issue rather than corrupted PST data, the Outlook profile, or Windows itself.

So yes, testing Office 2019 could be worthwhile — but I would use it as a controlled troubleshooting step after testing Outlook 2024 with all COM Add-ins disabled.

Also, before changing Office versions, I would make sure you have a backup of the PST files and your Office 2019 installation/license available.

If this answer helped, please consider marking it as helpful. It helps other users experiencing the same issue find the troubleshooting path more easily.

@bernard Andri said

Do you think it would be worth trying to install Office 2019 instead of Office 2024 on my new laptop?

Before you go down that path, I would suggest that you bring in Microsoft Support. They can examine your setup and pull diagnostic logs from Outlook and Windows Indexer.

For Classic Outlook In-App Chat Support, do Help -> Contact Support

I can confirm the same issue and have performed fairly extensive troubleshooting.

The problem has been reproduced on two different new hardware platforms:

Dell Pro Premium Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 14

In both cases, Classic Outlook indexes and searches:

subject sender plain-text email body

but does not index the body of HTML-formatted messages.

I have tested:

Office 2024 Microsoft 365 Apps 64-bit Microsoft 365 Version 2608, build 16.0.20326.20132 Microsoft 365 Version 2508, build 16.0.19127.20264 after rollback clean Windows 11 installation no third-party antivirus no BitLocker no Dell/Lenovo OEM applications new Outlook profile new Windows user profile multiple index rebuilds IMAP and POP accounts

The same behavior occurs on both new hardware platforms.

I also performed additional diagnostics using MFCMAPI and direct Windows Search queries.

For an affected HTML email, MFCMAPI shows:

PR_HTML present PR_NATIVE_BODY_INFO = 3 PR_BODY_W present

PR_BODY_W contains the complete readable text of the HTML message.

The email itself is present in the Windows Search index as a mapi16:// item and its subject/sender are indexed correctly.

However, when querying Windows Search directly for a unique word that exists only in the HTML body, using:

SELECT System.ItemName,System.ItemUrl FROM SystemIndex WHERE CONTAINS(System.Search.Contents, 'unique_html_body_term')

the result is:

Rows.Count = 0

At the same time, if the same HTML email is saved as a .msg file into an indexed Windows folder, Windows Search successfully indexes and finds text from the HTML body.

This strongly suggests that the issue is not the MSG IFilter itself, but rather the path used when Outlook messages are indexed through the MAPI16 Search Protocol Handler.

In other words:

Outlook HTML message PR_HTML -> OK PR_BODY_W -> OK

MAPI16 Search Protocol Handler Subject -> indexed Sender -> indexed Plain text -> indexed HTML body -> NOT indexed

I have also tested disabling HVCI / Memory Integrity and VBS security services. This did not change the behavior.

Interestingly, this problem seems to be associated with newer hardware platforms. An older ThinkPad previously used with the same Outlook/Windows environment did not exhibit this issue.

I have already submitted this to Microsoft Support / Feedback Hub. If anyone from Microsoft is monitoring this thread, it would be useful to have this escalated to the Windows Search / Outlook MAPI indexing engineering team, as the issue appears to occur specifically when HTML body content is passed from the Outlook message store through MAPI16 into System.Search.Contents.

The fact that the same issue is reproducible on both a Dell Pro Premium and a Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 14, while an older ThinkPad worked correctly, may be relevant when investigating interaction between Windows Search/MAPI16 and newer hardware platforms.

@Marek Majewski said

I have already submitted this to Microsoft Support / Feedback Hub. If anyone from Microsoft is monitoring this thread, it would be useful to have this escalated to the Windows Search / Outlook MAPI indexing engineering team

No one from Microsoft Support monitors this forum. If you want to start a Support Escalation case you have to initiate it using the standard channels.

Qualified MS 365 Subscriptions only
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/admin/get-help-support

Classic Outlook In App Support
Help -> Contact Support

Free Chat Support

• Open a browser to https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/home/contact
• Tell us your problem: {Whatever}
• [Get Help] {Scroll down to the bottom of the page} [Sign in to Contact Support]
• Sign in with any Microsoft account
• Products and services: "Microsoft 365 and Office"
• Category: "Outlook"
• [Confirm]
• Choose a support option -> "Chat with a support agent in your web browser"

Thank you for your reply.

The issue has already been submitted to both Microsoft Support and Feedback Hub.

Based on the troubleshooting performed so far, the problem appears to be more complex than a standard Outlook search or indexing issue. The HTML message body is available through MAPI, but it is not being added to System.Search.Contents when indexed through the MAPI16 Search Protocol Handler.

I am still waiting for a response from Microsoft Support, although at this point I am not particularly optimistic that I will receive a technical answer or a concrete solution. If I do receive any useful findings, workaround, or confirmation of the issue, I will update this thread.

I'm facing the same issue.

I have several PST files, each around 50 GB. They worked fine on my old Dell Inspiron 14 (11th Gen Intel CPU) with Microsoft 365. I could search the email content normally, including the message body.

However, after transferring the same PST files to a new Acer laptop with an Intel Core Ultra 7 processor and Microsoft 365, Outlook can no longer search the email body/content properly. It can find emails based on the subject and sender, but the content within the emails cannot be found.

This is really frustrating and is causing significant problems in my daily work, especially because I have a large number of historical emails that I need to search.

For now, the only workaround I have found is to use email archiving software to search the email content instead of Outlook.

@Bruce Hsueh said

Outlook can no longer search the email body/content properly. It can find emails based on the subject and sender, but the content within the emails cannot be found.

Does your search work correctly when running Outlook in Safe Mode, like Marek?
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/open-outlook-in-safe-mode-f394c2ee-b2af-e97a-64ee-35cd24414811

Does your search work correctly if you disable the Windows Search and use the native (slow) Outlook search?

• File -> Options -> Search -> [Indexing Options ...]
• On the "Indexing Options" dialog: [Modify]
• On the "Indexed Locations" dialog: Uncheck "Microsoft Outlook"
• [OK] [Close] your way out.
• Restart Outlook.
• Do a Search Test
• Re-enable Windows Indexed Search

If Safe Mode or using native Outlook Search works OK, please come back here and advise.

Or, if you are reasonably Windows proficient, you can try the Windows Search Troubleshooter "Virtual Agent" at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-client/shell-experience/fix-problems-in-windows-search

Following up on my last message from September 8, I uninstalled Office 2024 and installed Office 2019 on my new laptop, but the same problem persists: I can’t search within the body of messages if they’re in HTML format, whereas on my old laptop, the search function worked correctly.

All other settings (Windows Search, COM add-ins, etc.) are, however, exactly the same..

Following up on my last message from September 8, I uninstalled Office 2024 and installed Office 2019 on my new laptop, but the same problem persists: I can’t search within the body of messages if they’re in HTML format, whereas on my old laptop, the search function worked correctly.

All other settings (Windows Search, COM add-ins, etc.) are, however, exactly the same..

I have been having the exact same issue with a 1Mb pst file. Plain text emails are searcheable, not the body of HTML emails. Safe mode works fine.

Like this for at least a week.

Office 2024 LTSC.

Here are the results of the troubleshooting steps:

Here are the results of the troubleshooting steps: Safe Mode: Body search works properly, though it occasionally fails when searching across multiple PST files. Disabling Windows Search Indexing: Unchecking "Microsoft Outlook" under Indexed Locations fixed the search issue, and searching across PST files works as well. However, the search process is extremely slow. Once I re-checked "Microsoft Outlook" and let it rebuild the index, the search failed to work again. Any further suggestions on how to resolve this indexing issue?

I did a complete uninstall of Office 2024 and reinstalled it, still HTML emails are not indexed. Slow search works. Must need a complete windows reinstall, mine is 11mo old so this is wasted time. MS has been messing with Search with Semantic AI and other stuff. I dont know why this happened.

and they have been phasing out native apps in favor of web apps and Webview. Who knows what they did to search.

All,

I think we've pretty well established that:

• The problem is Windows Search
• Windows Search Troubleshooter doesn't fix it
• Rebuilding the Windows Search Index doesn't fix it
• Office Outlook Repair doesn't fix it
• May be related to the PC hardware. Fails on newer models.
• Only workaround is disable Windows Search and use slow Outlook native Search

Any corrections or additions?

Anyone heard back from Microsoft Support? Even if only "Yes it's a bug. We're working on it"

Marek, If it is hardware-related, then a complete windows and office reinstall will likely not fix it. I have an old SSD i can swap with an older version of windows, im tempted to swap SSDs, if the problem persists clearly it is not a settings or a corrupted process, but rather hardware (weird that hardware controls search results) or a new bug in a new windows/office version.

I'll add one surprising detail. Even if the email is in HTML format, the search still highlights a searched-for word in yellow within the body of the email—provided that word also appears in the email's subject line or in an attachment. If the word appears only in the body of the text, the email does not appear in the search results.

I'll add one surprising detail. Even if the email is in HTML format, the search still highlights a searched-for word in yellow within the body of the email—provided that word also appears in the email's subject line or in an attachment. If the word appears only in the body of the text, the email does not appear in the search results.

This is close

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/support/known-issues/classic-outlook-issues-with-service-assisted-search-for-shared-mailboxes

@PBer said

This is close [issues with service assisted search]

Just for grins, did you try the workaround?

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/support/known-issues/classic-outlook-issues-with-service-assisted-search-for-shared-mailboxes

Temporarily disable Server Assisted Search, which will fall back to the legacy Windows Desktop Search, with the following registry key:

• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\policies\Microsoft\office\16.0\outlook\search
• DWORD: DisableServerAssistedSearch
• Value: 1

Thanks Gabe.I have already tested an Office rollback on one of the affected machines.

The issue was reproduced with:

• Microsoft 365 Version 2608, build 16.0.20326.20132
• Microsoft 365 Version 2508, build 16.0.19127.20264 after rollback
• Office 2024

The behavior was identical in all cases.

In addition, another user in this thread tested Office 2019 on his new PC and the HTML body search issue still remained, while it worked correctly on his older PC.

This seems to make a regression in a specific Outlook build less likely and points more towards the Windows Search / MAPI16 indexing path.

In my tests, the affected HTML message is present in the Windows Search index as a mapi16:// item and subject/sender are indexed correctly. PR_HTML and PR_BODY_W are both present, and PR_BODY_W contains the complete readable body text. However, a direct query against System.Search.Contents for a unique word existing only in the HTML body returns Rows.Count = 0.

The same message saved as a .msg file in a normally indexed Windows folder is indexed correctly, including its HTML body.

As I still hadn’t found a solution to my problem, I decided to reinstall Windows 11 from an installation USB stick, to remove all HP software from my EliteBook 8 G1i. I then reinstalled Office 2024 Home and Small Business Edition, using a licence purchased directly from the Microsoft website (I had some doubts about the origin of my old licence).

I did not copy over any old PST files. I created a new profile and a new email account with a new address. I sent myself two emails from my smartphone using my private address. I checked in ‘Indexing Options’ that the indexing was complete, and did the same via the ‘Indexing Status’ button in Outlook. The indexing was indeed complete.

Despite all this, a search for a word within the body of an HTML message yielded no results!

I switched this email to ‘plain text’ in my inbox, and then the search found the word I was looking for. I switched the email back to HTML, still in my inbox… and ran the same search again. And this time it worked, which means that Windows Search had included this search term in its index.

I added a Gmail POP account to my Outlook profile that already had an Outlook.com account. So far, I can search the HTML emails only looking for words that exist in the body. Maybe the issue takes some time to manifest so I will monitor.

I am using Outlook as part of Office Family subscription Version 2609 Build 20430.20146. Windows is 25H2 OS Build 26200.9457 (per running Winver command at the Windows Run prompt)

@bernard Andri there is a registry key you can set that will tell classic Outlook to use the built-in legacy search. This search works by greping the emails at search time so there is no index and it is slower, but this could workaround the issue for you. I tested to make sure it still works and it does for POP/IMAP but not for Outlook.com/M365 accounts. The registry key PreventIndexingOutlook is documented here, https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/support/known-issues/outlook-search-might-not-display-recent-emails-on-windows-11.

You will know if the legacy search is working when you see this message above the message list:

@Marek Majewski what are you using for antivirus? I have only Microsoft Defender. If you check the Event Viewer Application log for Outlook events, do you see any with search errors? In your config do you have the PST in OneDrive? I have it setup that way but the PST has not synced to OneDrive yet. If you have in OneDrive test having it outside of OneDrive if that makes any difference.

Thanks @Gabe Bratton

The affected Outlook data file is not located in OneDrive. It is stored locally under:

C:\Users\mmajewski\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook...

I also reproduced exactly the same HTML body indexing problem using a completely different email account hosted on another mail server. I tested both IMAP and POP, and the behavior was the same, so this does not appear to be specific to Gmail or to a particular mail provider.

On my main system I use ESET, but I have also reproduced the issue on a clean Windows installation without any third-party antivirus or additional software, so ESET does not appear to be the cause.

I also tested different Office versions/builds, new Outlook profiles, PST rebuilds and Windows Search index rebuilds, with no change.

There is also a very clear hardware/platform pattern in my testing.

The problem does not occur on:

• Dell Latitude 7420 2-in-1
• Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 7

Both are running current Windows versions and the same Office versions used in my other tests.

The problem does occur on both of my newer systems:

• Dell Pro 14 Premium (PA14250)
• Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 14 (21V70078PB)

So far, the behavior seems consistently tied to the newer hardware/platform rather than to the mail provider, Outlook profile, PST/OST file, Office version, antivirus, or Windows installation itself.

What still seems most significant is that the affected messages are present in the Windows Search index as mapi16:// items, subject/sender are indexed correctly, and PR_BODY_W contains the full readable body text, but words that exist only in the HTML body are missing from System.Search.Contents.

Also, when Windows Search indexing for Outlook is disabled, the legacy/native Outlook search finds those same HTML body terms correctly, although much more slowly.

This still seems to point specifically to the MAPI16 / Windows Search indexing path for HTML message bodies.

@Gabe Bratton I know that you can disable the Windows Search function with the index and use Outlook’s native search instead. You can also do this simply by starting Outlook in safe mode. However, in my case, this is of no use as I have 20 PST archive files, each 15GB in size. The search would be far too slow. In the meantime, I’m using Filelocator.

I tried all possible solutions from AI. Nothing helped. Still no solution on body search. Just occcured on may new laptop. It is possibly related with new Copilot PCs.

Turgay

On a Dell XPS DA14260 running Windows 11 25H2 and Microsoft Office LTSC Professional Plus 2024 (Outlook version 2408, build 16.0.17932.20884, 64-bit), Windows Search does not find words that appear only in HTML-formatted email bodies. Subject and sender searches work.

The issue persists across multiple clean Windows installations, Outlook profile/OST recreation, Office repair, and Windows Search index rebuilds. Disabling all COM add-ins does not resolve it.

Key diagnostic results:

• Outlook Safe Mode finds HTML body text.
• Saving the affected email as an MSG file allows Windows Search to find the same body text.
• Excluding Microsoft Outlook from Windows Search indexing restores body searches in normal Outlook, but searches become slower.
• Re-enabling Outlook indexing causes the issue to return.

@Hornblower409

Dell Latitude 7420 (11th Gen Intel Core i7-1185G7):

9.60502.60502.{0000001D-57EE-1E5C-00B4-D0000BB1E11E} - OK.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 14 (Intel Core Ultra 7 355, Copilot+ PC):

10.60502.60502.{0000001D-57EE-1E5C-00B4-D0000BB1E11E} – HTML body search does not work

I have exactly the same issues like Marek Majewski already perfectly has described and analyzed!
I am spending already many days on this Outlook 2024 classis HTML-Email search issue and AI is not able to help me further. At least I now know that the search only fails with HTML - emails. Search in plain-text emails works like expected. Also the Windows file explorer search with an exported HTML email to a MSG file works like expected.

Most important, I am also using a new Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 14!

Deactivating indexed search via registry entry "Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search", then DWord "PreventIndexingOutlooks" set to 1 works but is incredibly slow and not usable for me (can take up to 30minutes for one search and completely kills productivity).

It is a shame that Microsoft does not react better and faster on this issue - this completely kills any productivity in daily business"

Currently I am doing email search on my old computer which is very, very time consuming.

I also tried third party software like Kernel Outlook PST Viewer, but they also don´t search in HTML - email bodies.

I hope that there will be a fix / solution soon.
Thanks for your hard work in here - at least I now know that I am not the only person with such an unbelievable issue.

Please keep posting as soon as there are any news on this issue. Thanks a lot.

@Markus Schlegel said

I have exactly the same issues

If you would please:

• Run this PowerShell query on your PC.
• Reply with the IndeexrCatalogVersion value
• (Leave a comment here is you are not sure how to run a PowerShell query)

Get-ItemProperty "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Search" | Select-Object IndexerCatalogVersion

Thanks for your speedy reply, @Hornblower409 - much appreciated :-)
Attached you will find the information requested:

Hope this will help to identify this massive issue... Currently I am indexing my Outlook system again - strangely this took about 5 hours yesterday, but today the complete new indexing already took more than 15 hours and there are still many items left for indexing, most probably it will take some more 5 hours...