If you try to search in Outlook and your receive the error “Something went wrong and your search couldn’t be completed”, then continue reading below to fix the problem.
The Outlook search problem “Something went wrong and your search couldn’t be completed” is usually caused by problems with the Windows search service. In other cases, the problem occurs in Microsoft Exchange Online environments when an Outlook client uses primary mailbox user’s credentials to run a search from a secondary mailbox.
How to FIX Outlook search error “Something went wrong and your search and your search couldn’t be completed” in Outlook 365, 2019, 2016.
Method 1. Check if Outlook if checked in Indexing options.
The first method to fix the Outlook “something went wrong” search error, is to check if the Windows search service includes “Microsoft Outlook” in the search locations. To do that:
1. In Outlook, go to File menu and choose Options.
2. In Search options, open the Indexing options.
3. In Indexing options, ensure that Microsoft Outlook is listed at Index these locations list. If not, click the Modify button and include it on the list. Then wait until Windows rebuild the index and try to search again.
Method 2. Disable Server Assisted Search in Registry.
If you’re using on Premise Exchange or Exchange Online* and Outlook search displays the error “Something went wrong and your search couldn’t be completed”, then proceed and set the “ServerAssistedSearch” reg key to 1, in order to prevent Outlook from requesting and using Search results from Exchange for cached and non-cached mailbox items. (For more information, see this Outlook Global Customer Service & Support Team Blog article)
* Note: If you are not using Exchange, skip to method-4.
1. Open Registry Editor: to do that:
1. Press Windows
+ R keys to open the run command box.
2. Type regedit and press Enter.
2. Navigate to the following registry location if you’re using Exchange Online (365): *
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice16.0OutlookSearch
* Note: If you’re using Exchange on Premise navigate to the below path in Group Policy Editor.
- HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwarePoliciesMicrosoftOffice16.0OutlookSearch
3. Right-click at Search key and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
4. Create new value with name: DisableServerAssistedSearch
5. Open the new created value and type 1 in Value Data. Click OK when done.
7. Close the registry editor, restart your PC and check if search is working.
Method 3. Increase Server Assisted Search Timeout in Registry.
Another method to solve the error “Something went wrong and your search couldn’t be completed” in Outlook with Exchange Online (or on Premise)*, is to increase the Timeout in milliseconds that Outlook should wait for Exchange to provide search results before falling back to use local search.
* Note: If you are not using Exchange, skip to method-4.
1. Open Registry Editor.
2. Navigate to the below path in Registry:
- HKEY_CURRENT_USERsoftwaremicrosoftoffice16.0outlooksearch
* Note: If you’re using Exchange on Premise navigate to the below path in Group Policy Editor:
- HKEY_CURRENT_USERsoftwarepoliciesmicrosoftoffice16.0outlooksearch
3. Right-click at search key and choose New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
4. Give at the new value the name: ServerAssistedSearchTimeout
5. Finally open the new value, choose Decimal and type 3000 in the Value Data Box (which represents 3 seconds)
6. Close the registry editor, restart your PC and check if search is working.
Method 4. Clear Windows Search temp files.
The next method to fix the “Something went wrong and your search couldn’t be completed” search error in Outlook is to delete all the temporary Windows Search service’s files.
Step 1. Start Windows in Safe Mode.
1. Press the Windows 
+ R keys to open the run command box.
2. Type msconfig and press Enter.
3. At Boot tab, check Safe boot, click OK and restart your PC when prompted.
Step 2. Enable hidden files and folders.
1. In safe mode, open Explorer and at View tab click Options > Change folder and search options.
2. At View tab, check Show hidden files, folders, and drives.
Step 3. Delete Windows Search files.
1. Navigate to the following two (2) locations and delete all files under Windows and Temp Folders. *
- C:ProgramDataMicrosoftSearchDataApplicationsWindows
- C:ProgramDataMicrosoftSearchDataTemp
* Important: Navigate to the above locations manually and do not copy their address to the Explorer ‘s address bar because it does not work.
Step 4. Start Windows normally.
1. Run msconfig again, select Normal startup at General tab, then select OK to restart Windows normally.
Step 5. Rebuild Search Index.
1. Open the Indexing Options in Control Panel, or search for “Indexing Options” and click Open.
2. At Indexing Options click Advanced.
3. At ‘Index settings’ tab, click the Rebuild button.
4. Press OK to rebuild the Index.
5. Wait the index rebuilding process to complete and then open Outlook and check if the search function is working.
Method 5. Repair Outlook Data Files.
The next step to fix the Outlook search error “Something went wrong”, is to repair Outlook data files (.PST or/and .OST) with the Inbox Repair Tool. The detailed instructions to do that can be found in this tutorial: How to Repair Outlook Data Files.
Method 6. Repair Windows System Files.
The final method to fix search problems in Outlook, is to repair Windows by system files by using the DISM and SFC commands.
1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator.
2. In command prompt give the following command and press Enter:
- DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth
3. When the DISM operation is completed, type the following command and hit Enter:
- sfc /scannow
4. Now wait until the System File Checker repairs the Windows System Files.
5. When this done, restart your computer.
6. After restarting, check if the Outlook search problem is resolved.
That’s all folks! Which method worked for you?
Please leave a comment in the comment section below or even better: like and share this blog post in the social networks to help spread the word about this.
