SharePoint Online Search API not returning Results for New SharePoint sites but SharePoint Out box search working.

[Kamalasekaran]

What type of issue is this?

Question

What SharePoint development model, framework, SDK or API is this about?

💥 SharePoint Framework

Target SharePoint environment

SharePoint Online

What browser(s) / client(s) have you tested

• 💥 Internet Explorer
• 💥 Microsoft Edge
• 💥 Google Chrome
• 💥 FireFox
• 💥 Safari
• mobile (iOS/iPadOS)
• mobile (Android)
• not applicable
• other (enter in the "Additional environment details" area below)

Additional environment details

• browser version
• SPFx version
• Node.js version
• etc

Issue description

I am using a SharePoint Framework Solution with the Search API. Whenever new SharePoint sites are created and a document is added, the Search API does not return any results for about a week. However, during that same time, SharePoint's out-of-the-box search is returning results. Can you explain why the Search API is not returning results for a week and then starts to work?

/_api/search/postquery
{
"TrimDuplicates": false,
"Querytext": "(outlook) AND Path:[https://tenant.sharepoint.com/sites/sitetest/Documents"],
"RowLimit": 1000,
"SelectProperties": [
"FileLeafRef"
],
"HitHighlightedProperties": [],
"Properties": [],
"RefinementFilters": [],
"ReorderingRules": [],
"SortList": []
}

[Ashlesha-MSFT]

Hello @Kamalasekaran,
Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention. We will look into it and get back to you shortly.

[Ashlesha-MSFT]

@Kamalasekaran,
The issue you're experiencing with the SharePoint Search API not returning results immediately for new sites or documents is by design. While SharePoint's UI-based search can show content quickly, the Search REST API depends on the enterprise search index, which can take several days (typically 3–7) to update—especially for new site collections. This delay is a known limitation of how indexing works in SharePoint Online and cannot be manually controlled.

You can refer to the following links for more details:

• https://www.sharepointnutsandbolts.com/2013/10/waiting-for-search-crawl-in-office-365.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com
• https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/overview-of-search#1-make-sure-the-content-can-be-found