How to Search for a Word in a PDF

Whether you want to find the desired content or page or want to replace certain information in your document, searching keywords in PDF is the most convenient method. However, how to search keywords in PDF is a big problem for many people, especially newbies. Nevertheless, it is not rocket science. With the right PDF tool, you can seamlessly search your PDF keywords and enjoy your experience.

In this article, we take you through a step-by-step guide on the best ways to find keywords in PDF.

How to Search for a Word in a PDF (Basic Search)

Searching for a specific keyword in a PDF is one of the most basic yet essential features of any PDF reader. Both Windows and Mac operating systems include built-in tools that make this process fast and accessible.

In the following section, we will cover how to use basic PDF search tools on both Windows and Mac to quickly find a word in a PDF.

Search a PDF for Keywords on Windows

On Windows, popular PDF editors such as Wondershare PDFelement, Adobe Acrobat Reader, and browser-based viewers offer a simple search function that lets you find keywords instantly.

Search a PDF for Keywords on PDFelement

Step 1: Launch PDFelement and open the desired file by tapping on the "Open PDF" button.

Step 2: Once the file is opened, press "Ctrl + F" and a "Find" message bar will appear. You can type any word or phrase in the search bar and find it in the PDF document.

Step 3: If you need to replace that specific word or phrase, you can click the "Replace with" option and then enter the new word in the box. After that, tap on the "Replace" button.

Search a PDF for Keywords on Chrome

If you don't have a PDF editor, Google Chrome is a great tool to read and search PDFs. Follow the steps below.

Step 1: Launch Google Chrome on your device. Once launched, you can drag and drop your PDF file into Chrome to open it.

Step 2: Once done, the user can consider working with the following shortcut keys to search for details. Use "CTRL + F" for Windows, or "Command + F" on Mac.

Step 3: Then you can type in the text and search for all the results. Locate all words that are necessary for editing.

Search a PDF for Keywords on Mac

Search Word in PDF using Preview

Preview is the default PDF viewer on macOS and allows you to search for keywords inside an open PDF document.

Step 1: Double-click the PDF file to open it in Preview.

Step 2: Press Command (⌘) + F, or click the search bar in the top-right corner of the Preview window to enter keywords.

Step 3: Type the word or phrase you want to find. All matches will be highlighted in the document.

Search Word in PDF using PDFelement for Mac

If you need search for keywords across multiple PDF files on your Mac without opening them individually, or advanced search features such as case senstitive, you should search keywords in PDF documents using a professional PDF editor such as PDFelement.

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Step 1: Launch PDFelement for Mac on your device. Once done, import the document through the "Open" button on the homepage. Or drag and drop the file into this window.

Step 2: To search text across the PDF document, the user can utilize the shortcut key of "Command + F." However, to manually locate it, tap on the icon on the extreme right of the first menu. Following this, select the "Search" icon to add text for searching across the document.

Type in the search across the provided space. Obtain the results and change the results according to your requirement.

Notes and limitations

Both methods work best with text-based PDFs. Scanned PDFs must be OCR-processed by PDF editor such as PDFelement to be searchable.

How to Look for Keywords on a PDF (Advanced Search)

Search Multiple Keywords in a PDF

You can search for multiple words in the same PDF using Adobe Acrobat (Acrobat Reader). It has an Advanced Search that allows you to enter multiple words and search them all at once.

Step 1: Open your PDF in Acrobat. Click the Search icon and press Ctrl + Shift + F to activate the Search window.

Step 2: Click the three-dot icon and select Advanced Search.

Step 3: In the Advanced Search window, click Show More Options (usually near the bottom).

Step 4: In the search field, type the words you want to find and set the match rule to find any of the words.

Step 5: Acrobat will return results for each instance of any word you entered.

Search Keywords across Multiple PDF Files

Advanced PDF editors such as PDFelement enable you to search keywords across multiple PDF files. Follow the steps below to search multiple PDF files simultaneously and save your time.

Step 1: Open PDF files in PDFelement and click the Search icon.

Step 2: Click Advanced Search.

Step 3: Select All Open Documents and enter your keyword to search it across all the open PDF documents in PDFelement. Or click Browser Folder, select a folder to search the keyword in all PDF documents in the selected folder.

Part 3: How to Search Keywords in a PDF Online

If you need to find PDF files online according to certain keywords. There is a simple search operator for you to easily find keywords in PDF files on the web by using Google Search.

Step 1: Open your browser and visit Google.

Step 2: Type the words or phrases you want to find in PDF documents online and use quotation marks for exact phrases, e.g.,"profit margin."

Step 3: Add filetype:pdf to your search query. For example: "profit margin" filetype:pdf.

Step 4: Google will return PDF documents where your keywords appear inside the content of the files. Open the PDF and use the browser’s built-in search (Ctrl/Cmd + F) to locate the keyword within the document.

FAQs about word search in PDF

Why Can't I Search for Words in PDF?

If PDF search is not working and can't find the words you need, the PDF file is probably a scanned version. To fix that, you need to use Wondershare PDFelement to turn PDF into searchable text. Let's find out below how to search a scanned PDF file for a specific word, phrase, or set of words.

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Step 1: To search for a word or phrase in the scanned PDF file, you need to convert it into editable text with OCR. To do so, open your scanned PDF document in PDFelement. When you open a scanned PDF file in PDFelement, it automatically detects the scanned document and offers to perform OCR. So, click the "Perform OCR" button to change it into an editable format.

Now, you have to choose one of the 2 options: 1) Searchable Text Image 2) Editable Text.

In the Scan option, you can just find and read the desired text while in the "Scan to editable text" option, you cannot only find the text but can also edit and replace it. You can also change the language and customize the pages if needed.

If you are looking for a specific word that is used more than one time in the PDF and is spread over several locations in the file, you can do it easily. Once the scanned PDF document is converted into editable text successfully, you can press the "Ctrl +F" keys to search for words.

To sum up, these were the three different tutorials to search for a word, keyword, or phrase in a PDF file using three different methods.

How to Search Case Sensitive in PDF?

To perform a case-sensitive search in a PDF, open the file in a PDF reader that supports advanced search options, such as PDFelement. Press Ctrl + F (or Cmd + F on Mac) to open the search box, then select More Options or Advanced Search. Enable Match Case before entering your keyword. The search results will then distinguish between uppercase and lowercase letters, which is useful for finding exact terms, acronyms, or codes.

Can I Search Keywords in a Scanned PDF?

Yes, but only after the scanned PDF has been processed with Optical Character Recognition (OCR). Scanned PDFs are image-based and do not contain searchable text by default. To search keywords, open the file in a PDF tool that supports OCR, such as PDFelement or similar software, and run the OCR feature. Once completed, the text becomes selectable and searchable like a normal PDF.

How to Search Word in PDF in Mobile Phone?

With a PDF reader on your mobile phone, you can easily search for words within PDF documents. For example, open a PDF file with PDFelement for Android, tap on the magnifying glass icon, and type the words you want to search. As you type the keywords, all search results will be listed.

What is the Fastest Way to Search in a PDF?

The fastest way to search in a PDF is by using the built-in search shortcut in your PDF reader. Press Ctrl + F on Windows or Cmd + F on Mac, then type your keyword. For larger documents, use Advanced Search (Ctrl + Shift + F) in a PDF editor to search across multiple pages or files. 

How to Search Word in PDF on Adobe Acrobat?

You can search text, layers, form fields, digital signatures, bookmarks, and comments in PDF with Acrobat.

• To access the Find toolbar, click Ctrl+F shortcut(Command + F for macOS)
• Type the word you want to search. You can improve the search with different search options: Whole words, Case sensitive, Include bookmarks, and Include comments.
• Select the word, and you'll see all the matching results highlighted in the PDF.
• If you want to search words among multiple PDF documents, you can use the Advanced search in Adobe Acrobat

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