I use MS outlook 16.79.1 on Mac Sonoma 14.0 via MS 365 package. About 3 weeks ago, Outlook was causing Mac to overheat, so firstly removed by gmail account from it, then reconnected and then switched back to legacy. The overheating problem went away. I then switched back to New Outlook. But obvious problems. I can no longer Pin emails to the top of my inbox, which sorted by Group Header and date. I can see the Pin in my toolbar but it's greyed out. Similarly when i hover over the emails i don't have the option to Pin. When i go to the Quick Settings under the 'reading' tab in Settings, i can see the Pin is meant to be there tho it doesn't appear in the menu of check box items, which is odd. See attached. The Search bar in Outlook has lost pretty much all its functionality. While before i could start typing in the name of a recipient i wish to search and an email address would pop up for me to search on, now that doesn't happen. In fact there is no advanced filtering or predictive search whatsover. So if i wanted to find all emails from Joe Bloggs, i can no longer do that. I type in Joe Bloggs and then all emails in which he is mentioned appear, which is not the filter i want. I can't see these problems raised anywhere else which makes me think there must be a solution I am missing! Thanks

I think this may help as I was running into the same issue after switching to a new Mac. In the new outlook, I removed the account, re-added but this time selected the big blue button below to synch with MS cloud. I don't recall if I did this the first time when the pin function wasn't working. But after doing this, the pin functionality is back. If this doesn't work, just try few times....I really didn't do anything special. settings on my old and new MBP were identical.

Unable to PIN emails in Mac Outlook 16.79 and search problems

Ted Jeory 10

I use MS outlook 16.79.1 on Mac Sonoma 14.0 via MS 365 package.

About 3 weeks ago, Outlook was causing Mac to overheat, so firstly removed by gmail account from it, then reconnected and then switched back to legacy. The overheating problem went away. I then switched back to New Outlook.

But obvious problems.

I can no longer Pin emails to the top of my inbox, which sorted by Group Header and date. I can see the Pin in my toolbar but it's greyed out. Similarly when i hover over the emails i don't have the option to Pin. When i go to the Quick Settings under the 'reading' tab in Settings, i can see the Pin is meant to be there tho it doesn't appear in the menu of check box items, which is odd. See attached.
The Search bar in Outlook has lost pretty much all its functionality. While before i could start typing in the name of a recipient i wish to search and an email address would pop up for me to search on, now that doesn't happen. In fact there is no advanced filtering or predictive search whatsover. So if i wanted to find all emails from Joe Bloggs, i can no longer do that. I type in Joe Bloggs and then all emails in which he is mentioned appear, which is not the filter i want.

I can't see these problems raised anywhere else which makes me think there must be a solution I am missing! Thanks

SokiGuo-MSFT 29,466 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2023-11-29T06:24:07.3933333+00:00

Hi @Ted Jeory

Welcome to our forum!

Can your Gmail account work through a browser?

Does the problem only happen in the new version?

Also, I'm afraid your attachment didn't upload, please re-provide the screenshot to better solve the problem.

Try switching back to the classic version to update to the latest version and then switch back to the new version to check if there are any differences.

As for the new version search, according to my tests, the new version currently shows everything that contains keywords.

Please kindly understand that many functions are not designed at present. To get this feature more quickly, I have found a post in feedback collection website, and you could vote for it. Many features of our current products are designed and upgraded based on customers’ feedback. You can also make suggestions on that website and hope Microsoft will notice this in the future. Thank you for your understanding and support.

Hope this helps!
Ted Jeory 10 Reputation points

2023-11-29T09:11:25.8033333+00:00
Thank you -- this is really helpful. It has reminded me that I had forgotten one important other bit of context. Before I had removed my gmail from 'New' Outlook I had been using it with no problems whatsoever. I had pinned a load of emails to the top of my inbox and the search function was working as expected, ie predictive and automatic advanced search (in the same way as it had been working in Legacy Outlook).

To address your points::

I have just tried using the gmail account through the Outlook/Live browser and Yes, it does work. Not only that but all those emails which i had pinned before these problems started were all there, pinned and at the top of my inbox. I could also Pin new emails. The search function also worked as expected. As a test for Point 2 below, i pinned my latest email using the Browser.

I then switched to Legacy Outlook in the app and waited for all mailboxes to update. The search function worked as expected. My understanding is that the Pin function is not available in Legacy Outlook. I then switched back to New Outlook (which had updated to 16.79.2). But nothing had changed: I could not pin emails (tho the Pin icon was in the Toolbar, but greyed out); the pinned emails (including the latest one i had pinned in the browser) were not showing at the top of my inbox (actually there was no way of seeing if they had been pinned). And the Search function was not working as it should. See this screen shot:

You can see i have typed in The Times, but there is no automatic filter or prediction as in your example (I would have expected something like: From: "The Times" .

Please see the screenshot i had tried to attach to the original post showing the Pin icon in my New Outlook advanced quick settings. It's there but there is no option to select or deselect it...and when i hover over an email there is no option to Pin it. See the second screenshot below
SokiGuo-MSFT 29,466 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2023-11-29T09:27:25.5766667+00:00

Hi @Ted Jeory

Thanks for your reply!

According to my research, there are limitations to the pinning options in the classic version. In the new version, it can be used normally. Can't you pin your emails in new outlook after updating to the latest version?

Also, I found on the feedback collection site that there are already users who have mentioned this feedback, and I have also added my poll there, I will leave the link below so that you or others can see this topic and also vote or comment there.

Feedback: https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/idea/50be7094-d85d-ee11-a81c-0022484e5453.
Ted Jeory 10 Reputation points

2023-11-29T15:13:14.3033333+00:00
Thank you again.

My points are these:

I used to be able to pin emails in the new version of Outlook until a few weeks ago (ie before i removed my gmail from it and then re-added back in). So something has happened in that process.

When i hover over an email in New Outlook and right click, this is what i see. Unlike yours, i don't have the option to Pin (or snooze or categorize actually, by the looks of it but i don't use those latter two functions anyway). See here:

Thank you for pointing me to that other known issue, but mine is different: That user says they can pin emails from their inbox but not the email. I can't at all.

Did you have any more thoughts about the lost Search functionality?

Your attention to this is appreciated.
SokiGuo-MSFT 29,466 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2023-12-01T08:51:57.27+00:00

Hi

Thanks for your reply!

Do other users in the organization have the same problem?

Can you select the pinned option via the custom toolbar?
Ted Jeory 10 Reputation points

2023-12-05T08:09:54.8933333+00:00

Thank you...I'm using this on a personal basis, we don't use outlook for my work. It's MS 365 personal licence.

When this started happening a few weeks ago, I did drag the Pin into the main toolbar via the Customize Toolbar option, but it just sits there grayed out. I can see it in the toolbar but I can't use it!. It feels like a glitch. You can see this in one of the screenshots I provided earlier in this thread.

I've given up on New Outlook until this gets fixed. The search function is not fit for purpose any longer.
Anonymous

2023-12-05T15:28:42.7833333+00:00

Yes. New Outlook for Mac still lacks many features, even fewer than Windows. Therefore, I think the classic version is a good choice.
Ted Jeory 10 Reputation points

2023-12-06T07:58:49.05+00:00

Thank you -- that may be so but what I do not understand is prior to this issue I was using the new Outlook for Mac without any concerns on either search function or the pinned emails. I repeat: I have lost this functionality ---I did have it when using New Outlook but not now. It feels very odd.
SokiGuo-MSFT 29,466 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2023-12-07T05:29:57.5966667+00:00

Hi

Thanks for your reply.

Considering the potential effects that a Mac can have if it overheats, please try replacing a device to check if there are any differences. Alternatively, you can try recreating a new profile to see if this fixes the issue.

Manage profiles or identities in Outlook for Mac - Microsoft Support.
Ted Jeory 10 Reputation points

2023-12-07T09:14:03.52+00:00

thanks....I downloaded the Outlook app to my iPhone and added the same gmail account to that. And that does allow me to Pin. Further, it has full search functionality as desired.

I created a new profile to the desktop version app as you suggested but that made no difference.

There seems to be a specific problem related to the app I have installed. How can I delete that specific app and reinstall...it's part of a MS 365 package.
SokiGuo-MSFT 29,466 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2023-12-11T01:59:10.88+00:00

Hi @Ted Jeory

The steps to uninstall Microsoft 365 depend on your installation type. For more details, please refer to:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/uninstall-office-from-a-pc-9dd49b83-264a-477a-8fcc-2fdf5dbf61d8.
SokiGuo-MSFT 29,466 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2023-12-15T07:13:40.5433333+00:00

Hi

I am writing to see how everything is going on with this thread. Should you need more help on this, you can feel free to post back.
Ted Jeory 10 Reputation points

2023-12-18T08:21:09.8033333+00:00

Hi -- thanks for asking and trying to help. But actually we haven't got anywhere.

I still cannot Pin emails in this version of New Outlook, nor can I do any kind of advanced search.

Is there some MS Support service?
GWIZ62 0 Reputation points

2023-12-18T21:54:41.68+00:00

Hello, Did you ever get anywhere with this? I have the same exact issue... and feels like we did the same things.
Ted Jeory 10 Reputation points

2023-12-19T09:17:11.42+00:00

Hi -- no, nowhere. Thank you for your comment. I was wondering if it was just me so your experience validates the issue. The frustrating thing is that the New Outlook was actually working as expected before I went back to legacy.
Ted Jeory 10 Reputation points

2024-01-02T08:07:07.81+00:00

Thank you very much indeed. This solved it!

I think it's important to add that before removing the account from Outlook, make sure you are in New Outlook and not legacy (I tried it at first while in legacy Outlook and it didn't work).

Thanks again.

1 answer

ap 10 Reputation points

2024-01-01T22:43:12.3066667+00:00

I think this may help as I was running into the same issue after switching to a new Mac.

In the new outlook, I removed the account, re-added but this time selected the big blue button below to synch with MS cloud. I don't recall if I did this the first time when the pin function wasn't working. But after doing this, the pin functionality is back. If this doesn't work, just try few times....I really didn't do anything special. settings on my old and new MBP were identical.
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3 people found this answer helpful.
Gediminas 0 Reputation points

2025-01-15T10:27:36.5+00:00

Thank you, that helped! And it helped even not with gmail account, but with other/local service (email) provider account.
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Unable to PIN emails in Mac Outlook 16.79 and search problems

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