Metadata (RefinableString) Not Searchable

[PapaGeil]

Version used
4.13.1

Describe the bug

• The search bar does not return results based on metadata assigned via RefinableString fields.
• The search term is correctly finding content in the document body and default metadata fields (e.g., title, created by), but ignores the metadata added through RefinableString refiners.
• We have verified that the RefinableString fields are mapped to the appropriate crawled properties in the SharePoint Search Schema. PnP Modern Search settings have been reviewed to include the necessary properties in the search query. The respective metadata are showing up in Debug.

To Reproduce
Use search bar to search for value in RefinableString.

Expected behavior
When a user enters a search term into the search bar, it should return all content where the search term matches:

• The document body.
• Default metadata fields (e.g., title, created by).
• Custom metadata fields assigned via RefinableString.

Desktop (please complete the following information):

• Chrome, Edge

Additional context
Not sure if this is a bug or if it's meant to be like that, as I couldn't find anything in the documentation. We use both document libraries and lists to feed into our PnP Modern Search. When working with list items, it's very frustrating that those items are basically not findable through the search bar (apart from default metadata values).

Any help is greatly appreciated!

[kasperbolarsen]

This sounds like a well-known "feature" of Refinable properties.

I guess you will get a result if you enter "RefinableStringXXX:TheValue" ?

see this for more:
https://www.techmikael.com/2020/03/side-effect-of-mapping-crawled.html