How to Search a PDF Document
If you are looking for a specific topic in a long PDF document, there are two utilities which can be very helpful.
Quick “Find”
Step 1: Open the document in your PDF reader. In most cases, this can be done by clicking on the file or link.
Step 2: For a quick search, do one of the following:
- Select Edit > Find in the main menu, or
- Press “Ctrl-f” (“Command-f” or “Apple-f” on a Mac).
Tip: “Ctrl-f” opens the Find function in most applications, including browsers and Microsoft Office applications.
Step 3: Enter the word or phrase you are looking for in the form field provided and press “Enter” or “Return”.
In most applications, the first instance of the word or phrase in the document will be highlighted.
You jump to the next instance by clicking on the right arrow found next to the search box or pressing “Ctrl-g”. Likewise you can return to an earlier instance using the left arrow or pressing “Shift-Ctrl-g”.
Advanced Search
Step 1: Open the document in your PDF reader. In most cases, this can be done by clicking on the file or link.
Step 2: Do one of the following:
- Click on the binoculars icon in the tool bar, or
- Select Edit > Search in the main menu, or
- Press “Shift-Ctrl-f” (“Shift-Command-f” or “Shift-Apple-f” on a Mac).
Step 3: You will see a window similar to the one below. Enter the word or phrase you are searching for and press “Search”.
Note that you can use the options on this window to search more than one PDF, specify whether to match whole words or partial words and whether or not capitalization is important.
Step 4: A window similar to the one below indicates how many matches were found.
You can jump to any of the results by clicking on them in the list, or you can manuever using “Ctrl-g”and “Shift-Ctrl-g” as before.
For more information on how to choose effective search terms, Google has some good advice.