What to do if Magento 2 search doesn’t work properly?

There are several reasons why Magento 2 search, autocomplete or Magento 2 full text search are not working as supposed. Let’s see how to solve the most common issues.

See how to extend your M2 search functionality

1. Clean the cache

Solving any problem you always start with the same action of cache flushing. For this, go to System > Cache management > Flush Magento Cache. If this doesn’t help, move to other points from our list.

→ Speed up your store by enabling Full Page Cache Warmer

2. Check search configurations

Another common solution of a not-working search in Magento 2 stores is just setting up the right configurations. For this, navigate to Stores > Configuration > Catalog > Catalog Search and set 1 in the Minimal Query Length line and 128 in the Maximum Query Length line.

Then enable search suggestions and set 2 in the Search Suggestions Count line. Don’t forget to save the changes and flush the cache.

3. Make data reindexing

Sometimes you may get issues with the search if your Magento doesn’t index properly. So reindexing can help you with the problem. To do this, open System > Index management, then select all points with the mass action and choose Update on save form the Actions dropdown.

4. Add or set search by synonyms

To make search results more relevant, you need to enable search by synonym functionality. For this, go to Marketing > SEO & Search > Search Synonyms. Next, click on the New Synonym Group button to create a new group of synonyms. In the opened page, specify the scope and enter the synonyms separating them by commas. Then save the changes and check the result on the frontend.

If the search by synonym is already on and your Magento 2 search still doesn’t work properly, double-check the configurations of synonym groups.

For more information about search by synonym, check the official Magento documentation.

Helpful hint

Magento search solution to extend the functionality of your store

You can use the custom Magento search solution to improve the search on your website - Elastic Search. Extension features:

• autocomplete search and spell corrections,
• partial search by SKU, name, attribute, category,
• attribute weight settings (make products you need to sell firstly more vivid,
• extend the synonyms and stop words search vocabulary,
• enable multilingual search,
• no customizations are required for mobiles as the mod is fully compatible.
  

Also, we offer Elasticsearch engine installation service for $99.