How to search a PDF on PC
You are interested in understanding how to search a PDF on PC? Then follow the instructions, for Windows and macOS, which you find right below. As anticipated at the beginning of the guide, it is not difficult, do not worry.
Microsoft Edge (Windows 10)
Stai using Windows 10, you will most likely be interested in understanding how to search in a PDF using Microsoft Edge, which in addition to being the "standard" browser of the latest operating system from Microsoft is also the default PDF file viewer of the OS.
That said, to succeed in your intent, first of all open the PDF file of your interest, simply by double clicking on his icon. If in doing this does not open Microsoft Edge but another program, to remedy it right click on the PDF icon, select the item Open with from the context menu and choose the option Microsoft Edge.
Once the Edge window appears with the PDF document inside, to search for one or more terms in it, click the button (...) located at the top right and select the option Find on page from the menu that appears. Alternatively, you can invoke the above functionality using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + F.
After following the steps above, you will see one appear text box at the top of the browser: type le passwords you want to find in the PDF and press the button Submit on the keyboard.
If the words you typed just now are actually present in the document, they will come highlighted within it. If this can help you, I also point out that if there are multiple occurrences of the terms typed in the PDF, you can easily move between them by clicking on the buttons in the shape of arrow appeared in the search box.
Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (Windows / macOS)
If you have the need to find keywords in a PDF, I inform you that you can also do it using Adobe Acrobat Reader, the free program distributed by Adobe (the company that developed the PDF format) that allows you to view and interact with PDFs in various ways, for example by inserting highlights and searching for terms within them.
The software is compatible with both Windows and macOS. A more advanced version is also available, Acrobat Pro, which requires the subscription of a paid subscription (at the base cost of 15,85 euros / month) and you can try it for free for 7 days. The latter also allows you to create and edit PDFs.
If you have already installed Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer, start the program by selecting the relevant one collegamento that you find in Windows Start menu or by clicking on the appropriate icon present in MacOS Launchpad. Instead, if you have not yet installed the program on your PC, you can remedy this by following the instructions I gave you in my guide on the subject.
Now that you see the Adobe Acrobat Reader DC window on your desktop, click on the menu Fillet located at the top left, choose the item apri from the latter and select the PDF file to open on your computer. Alternatively, simply double-click the PDF to open or, if Adobe Reader is not the default PDF reader on your system, right-click on the file and choose items Apri with> Adobe Acrobat Reader give the menu that you come purpose.
Once the document is open, click on the icon magnifying glass that you find on the toolbar, at the top, type the passwords to look for in the Campo di Ricerca that has appeared at the top of the screen and press the button Submit on the keyboard. Alternatively, you can call up the search function faster by using the key combination Ctrl + F on Windows or that cmd + f your macOS.
After completing the above steps, the matches eventually found within the document will come highlighted. If this is useful for you, I inform you that if there are more matches in the document, you can quickly move between them by pressing the buttons Previous e NEXT that you find under the search field.
Preview (macOS)
Stai using MacOS, know that you can also search a PDF using Preview, the pre-installed application on all Macs that allows you to view and edit images and documents in PDF format.
To use it for your purpose, first open the PDF file on which to go to act, by double clicking on its icon. If in doing this Preview does not open but another application, to remedy it, right-click on the PDF file of your interest, select the item Open with from the context menu and choose the item Preview from the additional menu displayed.
Now that you see the Preview window with your document, type the passwords you intend to find in the field Search present at the top right and then press the button Submit on the keyboard. Alternatively, you can call up the search box “on the fly” using the key combination cmd + f.
Subsequently, if the terms you typed earlier are actually present in the PDF, they will be highlighted within it. Also, if there are multiple matches of the terms you typed in the PDF, you can move between them by clicking the buttons in the shape of arrow that you find immediately below the search box.
How to search a PDF on Android
Let's see now how to do it from smartphones and tablets, more precisely how to search a PDF on android. This is feasible using all the most common apps to view PDF files, such as the Google PDF viewer.
If the Google PDF viewer is already present on your device, to use it to open the document on which to act, all you have to do is select the PDF file of your interest through the file manager in use on your device (eg Google files). If asked which app you want to use, choose the Google PDF viewer. If, however, you have not yet installed the application, download it first, by connecting to the relevant section of the Play Store and pressing the button Install (on devices without Play Store you can use other apps to read PDFs by downloading them from alternative stores).
Once the PDF document of your interest is open, tap on the icon with the sheet and the magnifying glass located at the top right, type le passwords to search in the field Find appeared at the top of the screen and tap the button Search present on the virtual keyboard.
Subsequently, all the words present in the PDF and corresponding to the terms searched will be highlighted. If multiple matches are found, you can easily move between them by pressing the buttons with the arrows that you find under the search field at the top of the screen.
In case the Google PDF viewer does not convince you in a particular way, you can, as I told you, search in a PDF using any other application used to display the type of documents in question, such as those I reported to you in my guides on apps to read PDFs and apps to open PDFs.
How to search a PDF on iPhone and iPad
If you have an iOS / iPadOS device and are wondering, then, how to search a PDF on iPhone and iPad, I inform you that you can easily succeed in your intent using Safari, the default browser for Apple-branded mobile devices, and Books, the “standard” app of the Cupertino company's devices to read eBooks, view PDFs and manage audiobooks.
As for Safari, it may be useful to know how to use it if you have opened a PDF file within which you have to search for specific words. In this case, in fact, just touch the icon of sharing (Quella with the square and the arrow) at the bottom, select the wording Find on page present in the menu that appears, type the words to search for in the testo field at the bottom of the screen and press the button Search placed on the virtual keyboard.
If there are several words in the document that match the search terms used, you can easily move between them by tapping the buttons with the arrows you see appear next to the search box.
Alternatively, you can also get the same result by typing the terms to search for in the address bar Safari, at the top of the screen, and selecting the list of matches at the bottom of the screen that is proposed to you.
To search a PDF using the app Booksinstead, proceed as follows: open the document of your interest, by going to the section library of the app in question (by selecting the item Collections and then that PDF). If the PDF you are interested in is not yet in the Books app, import it first into the latter, opening it with the File app or any other file manager, then selecting the sharing and finally that of the app Books.
Once the PDF is open, tap the icon with the magnifying glass which is at the top right, type le passwords to be found in the document in Campo di Ricerca appeared at the top, tap the button Search on the keyboard and select any relevant results found.
If this may interest you, I inform you that in addition to the tools for iPhone and iPad that I have reported to you earlier, you can search the texts contained in the PDFs also using other apps to view the aforementioned type of documents, such as those I told you about in my guides on how to open PDF files on iPhone and how to open PDF files with iPad.
How to search for a PDF on Google
For completeness of information, it seems only right to indicate you too how to search for a PDF on google. You probably weren't aware of it, but you should know that the famous search engine can be used not only to find websites and web pages, but also to find specific documents, such as those in PDF format.
To use it in this way, all you have to do is go to the Google home page, type in the search field in the center the name of the PDF document that you intend to find on the Net followed by the initials filetype: pdf (Eg. Lorem ipsum filetype: pdf) and press the button Submit on the keyboard, so that any corresponding results are displayed. If you want to limit the search to only documents that contain the exact words in the same order in which you typed them, first write everything in quotation marks (eg. "Lorem ipsum filetype: pdf").
In addition, you can find specific PDF files through Google by accessing the page for advanced search, typing the passwords to search in the appropriate fields that you find in correspondence with the section Find web pages that contain, choosing the option Adobe Acrobat PDF (.pdf) give menu to tendin file type that you find in the section Then limit the results to, refining the search with the other available options and pressing the button Advanced Search site at the bottom right.
How to search in a PDF