Searching for emails

[olga]

I recently upgraded to Sierra on my 2013 MacBook Air. I hate most of the changes, especially to the Photo application, but that's beside the point

When I want to find an e-mail that I know is in my Inbox, I used to put the person's name or a key word in the search box in the upper right-hand corner, and all of the e-mails from that person would appear in a column. Now when I do that, all I get is a blank column. I tried searching on the Mac website, but can't find an answer. Any ideas what I should do? (I'm an old lady, so repy in simple words and a minimum of tech-talk. )
Thanks!

 

[honestone]

Are you using Apple's Mail program that came with Sierra?

Also, what version of Sierra are you using? To determine that, no matter which screen you are on, you should see a black Apple Icon/Symbol in the upper left hand corner. Click on it, and then a menu of options will appear. The first one says "About This Mac". Click on it, and a screen will appear that has some information. Near the center/top, you'll should see macOS Sierra, then under that it should say "Version 10.12.whatever". For example, on my late 2012 MacMini, when I do that, it says "Version 10.12.3", which is the latest one (the same thing appears on my 2013 13" MacBook Air).

 

[honestone]

Hmm, I wonder if this is an OS issue. I have the same problem with Outlook 2016. I place either a From or To name in that search box (in the upper right, just like you), and nothing comes up! Even if I see one that I received today, and can actually see it in my In Box, doing the search brings up nothing.

I wonder if it's true of other EMail programs, like Outlook 2011, Thunderbird, etc.

 

[honestone]

OK, from what I read via a Google search, this could be due to an indexing/re-indexing issue with Spotlight. I don't use Spotlight for my searches, and thus have never used it to index/re-index my internal drive (SSD in my case). That does take some time, and I don't know if I want to do that. Outlook 2016 has other ways of "listing" messages that are fine with me.

I actually have Spotlight disabled. For my searches, I use EasyFind. It, however, does not search EMails.

 

[olga]

Sorry to take so long to reply---I was out to dinner. My version of Sierra is 10.12.3. I am indeed using the Mail program that came with the Mac. I don't know what Spotlight is, so I don't think I'm using it.
It worked fine with the old operating system and I'm sorry now that I "upgraded" because it hasn't improved anything.
Don't know what Outlook is, sorry. Thanks for replying.

 

[honestone]

No problem. Spotlight is Apple's built-in Search function. Outlook 2016 is just another EMail program. The most popular EMail programs seem to be Apple's Mail, Outlook 2011, Outlook 2016, and Thunderbird.

 

[honestone]

Forgot to mention that the Search "facility" in those EMail programs is actually using Spotlight.

 

[olga]

I guess nobody knows why this is happening. I hate to pay 50 bucks for a call to Apple, but I may have to do that. I can't search through hundreds of emails manually for the one I need.

 

[honestone]

No, there is a solution. But it's not as simple as "pushing a button". I'll direct you to a web page or two so you can read about the solution:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7253164?tstart=0

https://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/os-x-solving-mail-searching-problems

http://www.computerworld.com/articl...by-rebuilding-and-reindexing-the-mailbox.html

That should keep you busy!

 

[olga]

I tried the first one and it didn't work. I've got to pack today and we're traveling tomorrow and the next day, so I guess it will have to wait until I'm home again and have time to do one of the lengthier solutions. Somewhat frustrating that a computer that costs so much can't search the freaking mail messages. sigh

Don't mean to sound ungrateful---thanks so much for your help!