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GLOBAL SEARCH NOT WORKING

  • 6 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 21 views
  • Last reply by phil37

phil37
phil37
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Hi there.

I’m having some problems with the Thunderbird search facility and will appreciate any help in resolving it. I am using TB version 78 and Windows 10.

I have found on line an article called Global Search

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/global-search

which suggests that “Global search is enabled by default. (It can be disabled on the Advanced panel in the Thunderbird options.) The global search text box is located on the right side of the toolbar above the Quick Filter bar.”

However, this is not present on my screen and the only “advanced” selection I can find under “Options” are for setting the Fonts and Colours or how to display Plain Text Messages, so am a bit stuck.

The simple search box <Ctrl+K> works, but only on the folder that is open at the time, of course.

Any help and guidance will be much appreciated.

Regards

Phil

Hi there. I’m having some problems with the Thunderbird search facility and will appreciate any help in resolving it. I am using TB version 78 and Windows 10. I have found on line an article called Global Search https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/global-search which suggests that “Global search is enabled by default. (It can be disabled on the Advanced panel in the Thunderbird options.) The global search text box is located on the right side of the toolbar above the Quick Filter bar.” However, this is not present on my screen and the only “advanced” selection I can find under “Options” are for setting the Fonts and Colours or how to display Plain Text Messages, so am a bit stuck. The simple search box <Ctrl+K> works, but only on the folder that is open at the time, of course. Any help and guidance will be much appreciated. Regards Phil

All Replies (6)

christ1
christ1
  • Top 25 Contributor
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Ctrl+K *is* the Global Search box. Check your Options to make sure Global Search is turned on (Enable Global Search and Indexer).

To bring up the Quick Filter Toolbar: View (Alt-V) - Toolbars - Quick Filter Toolbar

phil37
phil37 Question owner
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Thanks christ1.

I've checked and the "Enable Global Search and Indexer" box is ticked but as I said, the <Ctrl+K> function only searches the currently selected folder, not all of the folders as the article suggests.

Any further help will be much appreciated.

Regards

Phil

Matt
Matt
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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ctrl+Shift+K search only the current folder. Sounds like you are holding shift and invoking the quick filter search.

phil37
phil37 Question owner
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Most definitely *NOT*. I *NEVER* use the <Ctrl+K> OR <Ctrl+Shift+K> combinations, merely click into the box at the top of the screen and type in the search string.

Any other suggestions please?

Regards

Phil

Matt
Matt
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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well try them.... explicitly to see if they work.

You might also need to rebuild the index. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/rebuilding-global-database

phil37
phil37 Question owner
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Thanks Matt

No, that didn't work either. However, the link you included gave me some help in rebuilding the database. I see that one of the possible reasons for my problem is "The database is too big and needs to be reduced in size" without actually saying how big "too big" is. Before the rebuild my database was 175,616 KB. Afterwards it was only 1,216 KB, so I'm hoping that you have found the solution.

Regards

Phil