Outlook 2016 error – Instant search encountered a problem while trying to display results

Symptom

Everytime I try to do a quick search in my contacts I get the following error message:

Instant search encountered a problem while trying to display results.  Modifying your query may resolve the problem.

Resolution

Repair the Outlook pst file.

1. Close Outlook.

2. Navigate to the C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office16 folder and run SCANPST.EXE

3. Browse to the location of your PST file which is usually in the following folder:

C:\Users\[your username]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook

4. If it finds any problems let it repair them.

5. Reopen Outlook and try searching again!