Search Folders created in Outlook do not appear in Outlook Web Access

Original KB number:   831400

Symptoms

When you create Search Folders in Microsoft Office Outlook 2003, Microsoft Office Outlook 2007, or Microsoft Outlook 2010 using a Microsoft Exchange email account, the Search Folders do not appear in Exchange Server 2007 Outlook Web Access (OWA) or Exchange Server 2010 Outlook Web App (OWA).

Cause

This behavior occurs when you use Outlook in Cached Exchange Mode. The local copy of your mailbox maintains a Finder folder. This folder is not synchronized with the Finder folder that is in your Microsoft Exchange mailbox.

Note

The Finder folder is a Outlook system folder that is not visible in Outlook. This folder provides the list of folders that are in a mailbox.

Resolution

To make the Search Folders available in your OWA Search Folders list, you must connect to the same mailbox in Outlook with the Cached Exchange Mode option turned off. To turn off Cached Exchange Mode for the current or the new profile, follow these steps:

  1. Close Outlook.
  2. Select Start > Control Panel.
  3. Double-click the Mail icon.
  4. Select Show Profiles.
  5. Select your current profile, and then select Properties.
  6. Select E-mail Accounts.
  7. Select View or change existing e-mail accounts > Next.
  8. Select your Exchange account, and then select Change.
  9. Clear the Use Cached Exchange Mode check box, and then select Next.
  10. Select Finish > Close > OK.
  11. Start Outlook.
  12. In the Folder List, expand Search Folders. As soon as all the Search Folders have updated, they can be viewed from OWA.

More information

If you later change the settings in Outlook to use Cached Exchange Mode again, any new Search Folders that are added in Microsoft Outlook are not visible in OWA until you repeat the steps that are described in the Resolution section of this article.

For more information about Cached Exchange Mode, press the F1 key, type cached exchange mode in the Search box in the Help window, and then SELECT Search to view the topic.