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Macbook Pro mail search not working

S

sony007

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 3, 2010
53
1
I've been trying to search for historical email using 'mail' but even though I can see some of the emails which i'm search for they do not appear in the search - nothing does. I looked into this online and found some information relating to indexing and how to perform this task by adding the Macintosh HD in spotlight privacy tab and then to remove it and this will allow spotlight to start it's indexing over again. Unfortunately spotlight did not perform the indexing task and nothing has changed.

Has anyone had this issue before and solved if? if so how ?

Cheers
 
You need to use the index tool within Mail.

With Mail open, click on Mailbox in the menu bar and select Rebuild at the very bottom. Everything may disappear momentarily, which is normal. It can take a few minutes or many minutes depending in the size of the mail box, and probably the drive speed.

Mail, like many modern apps is essentially a database, so it has its own index repair/rebuild tool.

Spotlight should complete a rebuild eventually.
 
I've just tried that now and it still hasn't work unfortunately.
 
Hmmm, that is unusual. You might try another rebuild or two. I don't know specifically about Mail, but many rebuild tools can take more than one pass to sort everything out.

Several things could be possible:

  • The emails are no longer there; they have been deleted or otherwise removed
  • The emails are lurking in Junk or some other folder that you have not looked in
  • The machine has a damaged MBOX file, or worse, a damaged file system directory

If it were me, I would try using Disk Warrior to rebuild the file system directory, and then try the Mail rebuild again. I would also make sure the Spotlight index was working correctly, if only to rule that out (not sure it has any direct influence on Mail).

Another trick would be to import the Mail into another mail client, like Thunderbird, to see if any of the missing messages show up in the export/conversion. The export will not move or delete anything, only copy data, so no risk to Mail, and you can continue to use it after the export.
 
Is Disk Warrior a Mac utility tool or a 3 party app ? I'll check it out once I get back later.
 
BrianBaughn said:
It's a third-party $120 utility. Don't buy it for this!
Click to expand...


It really depends.

Yes, it is pricey; but it is arguably the best Mac utility to address directory related issues.

I would agree that there is a good chance it will not restore the missing messages; it would only help if there is a file system directory issue, which we have not established. I would try everything else first...and save DW as a last resort (since you don't own it), if nothing else can restore the missing messages.

Disk Warrior is well worth the price, if one needs it. Typically repair techs or folks that own or support multiple Macs depend on it.

Last thing: Disk Warrior was the preeminent tool for decades....repairing HFS+ Macs (and back before HFS+). With APFS, too soon to say how good, useful, or necessary Disk Warrior may be moving forward.
 
@bernuli, I'm not sure what you mean by what string I'm using. I was just typing in the name of the senders which I can see in my emails but no results appear even though it should. My mail version is 12.1 (3445.101.1)

I am just trying another rebuild now.
 
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