Search for a Word or Phrase in a PDF Document

PDF files are a great way to ship around media-rich documents, but document creators are not always good about building a Table of Contents, or indexing. We'll show you how to easily search for words or phrases inside a PDF document.

Steps

Adobe Reader

  1. Open the PDF in Adobe Reader.
  2. Perform a basic search. Press CTRL-F (PC) or Command (⌘)-F (Macintosh). A search box will be displayed in the upper right of the screen.
    • Enter your search criteria. Type the word or phrase you want to search for in the entry field.
    • Use the small left and right arrows in the blue search box to skip to the previous or next instance of the searched-for word.
  3. Perform an advanced search. For more comprehensive search criteria, press Shift-CTRL-F (PC) or Shift-Command (⌘)-F (Mac). A new window will open alongside your document with more options. Enter your search term there.
    • You can also select whether to search the current document or all PDF documents on your computer, as well as other options, as shown:
  4. Do a detailed search. At the bottom of the Advanced Search window is a link to display even more comprehensive options. This will let you search in specific locations for an instance of a search phrase, more search rules, and more additional criteria.
  5. Click on the Search button. Matching results will be listed in context, so that you can jump to any of them quickly simply by clicking on the desired line.
  6. Close out the search. Click the Close Window button to close the Search PDF pane, or click New Search to start a new search.

Apple's Preview

  1. Open the PDF in Preview.
  2. Press Command (⌘) + F. The search window will be displayed.
    • Enter your search criteria. Type the word or phrase you want to search for in the entry field.
  3. Refine your search. To search only for complete words select the Whole words check box. For example, if you are searching for the word "ox" and don't want the search to list results for the word "fox", select the Whole words check box before you perform your find.
    • For a case sensitive search select the Match case check box. For example, if you search for "Enter" with the Match case check box selected, the search will not list occurrences of the word "enter".
  4. Click Next. The next occurrence of the word or phrase is highlighted in the document.
  5. Close out the search. Click Done or click the Close Window button to close the Search PDF pane, or click New Search to start a new search.

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