As long as you have Windows Search service installed and running, your e-mail searches will be local and very fast.
It will never be Google fast, but still faster than what you've been experiencing.
Then going to Search Tools Indexing Status If you a message that says xxxx remain to index, that is a good sign.
If you just see a spinning circle without a message, then you do not have Windows Search installed, or there is a problem with your Office 2013 installation.
If you've used Microsoft Outlook for a while, you know that it can slow down... In fact, when not looked after, Outlook can become nearly useless.
Fortunately, there are several things you can do to make Outlook not only usable, but significantly improved.
And none of these techniques requires a single configuration change to your Exchange server (IMAP or POP3).
Of course, some of these suggestions might seem to have a bit more "'duh" factor than others.
But you never know what level of skills you're dealing with, so we'll cover all the bases.
In the end, you should have a much faster Outlook experience. There are times when Microsoft might update Exchange.
Many people don't realize that with Windows updates, the updates for Microsoft Office are also "hidden." But it's not just the Office updates that can help speed up Outlook. In some cases, those updates can either break or cause problems with the communication between Outlook and Exchange.
Or Microsoft might issue a patch to the application to resolve a speed issue or security hole.
When you connect Outlook with either IMAP or POP3, you should have Outlook set up to download the complete message (instead of just the header).