I deleted and rebuilt the index, with no effect.

When I reached the Indexing Options window from Control Panel, Microsoft Outlook was not listed as a place to be indexed, and could not be added from any control in that window.

Outlook 2010 provides direct access to the Windows 7 Indexing Options dialog ( File / Options / Search).

I ran the built-in repair process for Office 2010 ( Control Panel / Programs / Uninstall a program / highlight Office 2010 / Change).

It was still on after I restarted, until I launched Outlook, at which point it immediately flipped back to “Disabled” (although it continued to show “Started,” which was strange).

The Windows Search service ( Control Panel / System and Security / Administrative Tools / Services) was disabled.

In the course of the next couple of hours, I did all of these things.

You should always be searching for things, not looking for them in long lists.

There’s an article today in Small City Law Firm Tech about the wondrous Search toolbar in Outlook 2010. I cannot use Outlook without being able to search. The search features in Windows 7 and specifically in Outlook are the center of my life. He didn’t have a clue, what with being me and all. Please contact your system administrator.” Outlook will not be able to provide fast search results using the Instant Search functionality unless this service is running.

When I put my cursor in the Search bar above the Inbox (shown above), a message immediately appeared: “The Windows Search Engine is currently disabled. After the first few rounds of updates, I installed Office 2010 Professional from disk and connected Outlook to my Exchange mailbox. I pulled a new laptop out of the box and started up Windows 7 Home Premium.

Note that there was a followup for a very specific additional issue with the Samsung Series 9 laptop. The COM addin mssphtb.dll (“Windows Search Email Indexer”) is not required by Outlook 2010 and is intentionally disabled. SUMMARY: If searches do not work in Outlook 2010 on Windows 7, make sure the Windows Search and Indexing Service features are turned on. This description may help someone who finds it in a Google search – and it will serve as yet another illustration of how our lives are getting more complicated, not less, as time goes on. I fixed a problem today with Outlook 2010 that has never come up before and won’t have any relevance to any of you.

Outlook search tools greyed out