SharePoint Search Not Working – A Troubleshooting Guide

In today’s technological era, organizations heavily rely on SharePoint to streamline their workflow. As it is used to create sites for sharing information with the employees, it uses document libraries and lists to store the data. All the necessary data can be extracted from SharePoint using its search option. But what happens when the SharePoint search not working and doesn’t show any results? Suddenly, it frustrates the user and consumes their valuable time.

This issue can disrupt productivity, and it is difficult for users to fetch what they need.

Latest Update: Microsoft 365 Advisory – SharePoint Online Search Issue (SP1063758)
Date: April 29, 2025 – 12:12 AM GMT+5:30

Microsoft has issued an advisory (ID: SP1063758) stating that SharePoint Online search results appear empty for users. This unexpected error directly impact information across document libraries, lists, and other SharePoint resources. Microsoft engineers are continously working on this issue. It is suggested to visit support.microsoft.com or SharePoint Community Hub for real time updates.

Don’t fret, this guide is designed to walk you through the common reasons behind the SharePoint search problems and, more importantly, how to fix them.

Why is SharePoint Search Not Working?

Here’s a look at the top reasons why your SharePoint search is not working:

1. Indexing Problems
   SharePoint search heavily relies on the search index. It stores the information about the content of the sites. If in any case, the search index becomes outdated or corrupted, it won’t reflect the updated changes to your data.
2. Access Permissions
   Another reason behind the SharePoint search’s incorrect working issues is restricted permissions. If a user does not have the appropriate level of permissions to access the data. Then, certain lists and libraries will be missing from the SharePoint search results.
3. Configuration Issues
   Improper configurations in SharePoint can also hinder your search experience. If the Search and Offline Availability option is disabled, then SharePoint search will not respond as it should.
4. Database Corruption
   SharePoint search is not working, which might be because of the database corruption issues. If the main storage system of the SharePoint data database is corrupted or not working properly. The SharePoint search will stop working and generating relevant results.
5. Search Result Source
   If the search result source is not set to the Local SharePoint results, then it might affect the SharePoint search results, and sometimes the search box generates an empty result or a Sorry, something went wrong error.
6. Missing Data from Managed Property
   SharePoint crawlers store the important data in the managed property from all the data in SharePoint sites. It helps the search index store the relevant data only. These are mandatory even in migration, where it is essential to copy document library to another SharePoint site. If some data is not in the managed property, then it will be missing from the search results.

How to Troubleshoot the SharePoint Search Not Working Issue?

Execute the below troubleshooting steps to get rid of SharePoint search issues instantly.

1. Rebuild Search Index

To resolve the SharePoint search index corrupted or outdated issue, rebuild the search index. It will start fresh and crawl the whole content from the SharePoint sites. To achieve this,

1. Open the SharePoint Central Administration.
2. Click on the Search Service Application.
3. Reset the SharePoint search Index and then start a full crawl.

[Note: It will take time depending upon your site content; meanwhile, you also have to face the downtime.]

Use PowerShell to rebuild the search index.

Add-PSSnapin Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell
Stop-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceInstance -Identity Search Service Instance Name
$searchapp = Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplication Search Service Application Name
$searchapp.RebuildIndex()
Start-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceInstance -Identity Search Service Instance Name

2. Set up Permissions

Verify whether the user has the required permissions or not. For that, open the document library and list. The SharePoint access permissions also vary for external users. If the SharePoint search is not working for external users, it might be because of the restrictive permissions.

1. Choose the Manage Access option or the Permissions settings.
2. Go through the list of users and their permission levels.
3. Make sure users have the needed permission to view the content.

3. Configure Search Result Source

If the SharePoint search is not working as expected, then take a look at the source of the search results.

1. Open the SharePoint Online site > Settings.
2. Then, Site settings and choose the search result sources option under the Site Collection Administration.
3. Make the Local SharePoint Results as Default.

4. Configure Search Settings

Disabling the Search and Offline Availability options is also a reason behind the SharePoint search not working for some users. So, make sure it is enabled. So,

1. Open the Site Settings and choose the Search and Offline Availability option.
2. Enable it so that the content is indexed.
3. Then, review the “Crawl Settings” and save the changes.

5. Re-indexing Document Library

For updating the managed property or search index, re-index the document library for which results are missing in the SharePoint search results. Also, make sure to remove empty folders in SharePoint Online for efficient indexing.

1. Move to the Document library that has indexing issues.
2. Go to the Library Settings.
3. Choose the Advanced Settings option and locate the option for “Re-index Document Library.”
4. Initiate the re-indexing process and wait till the process gets completed.

Bottom Lines

Going through the SharePoint search not working issue is very frustrating, but knowing the root causes and impactful solutions can help resolve this issue. So, in the above write-up, we have discussed all the possible reasons and their solutions in a detailed manner. Now, you can go through them and get rid of this issue efficiently.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What causes SharePoint issues?
A – The SharePoint search issues might be because of several reasons. For instance, incorrect access permissions, database issues, misconfigured search settings, and an outdated search index.

Q2. How do I fix search indexing issues with the lists and libraries?
A – You need to re-index them to get the search index updated with the latest information. To do so, open the Advanced settings of that particular list or library and re-index it.

Q3. How do I check the document library permissions?
A – To check user permissions, open the specific library. Click on Manage access and look after the permissions. Assign the necessary permissions to the user for resolving SharePoint search results not showing issues.

Q4. What is the Search and Offline Availability in SharePoint?
A – This setting determines whether the site’s content is indexed and can appear in the SharePoint search results.