To find a word in a document or webpage on a Mac, activate it, press Command + F, and type the word or phrase. In apps that support the standard navigation shortcuts, press Command + G for the next match or Shift + Command + G for the previous one. Search controls vary by app, so use the app’s menu options when you need a more precise match.
The short version
- Start here: Activate your document or webpage, press Command + F, and enter your search text.
- Move through matches: Use the search arrows or, in supported apps, Command + G.
- Refine results: Use your app’s case or whole-word matching controls to narrow your search.
- Search scanned text: You can make an image-only PDF searchable with Acrobat’s text recognition tool when you have access to it.
| Where to search | How to start | Useful option or limitation |
|---|---|---|
| Apps supporting Mac Find shortcuts | Command + F | Finder searches files instead |
| Safari | Command + F or Page menu > Find | Return advances through matches |
| Chrome | Command + F | Also available through Find and edit |
| Firefox | Command + F | Highlight All |
| Microsoft Edge | Command + F or Find on page | Previous result and Next result |
| Word for Mac | Command + F | Search in Document |
| Pages for Mac | View > Show Find & Replace | Includes headers, tables, footnotes, and comments |
| Google Docs and Slides | Command + F | Find and replace offers additional controls |
| Word for the web | Home > Find | Use Editing view |
| Pages for iCloud | View > Show Find & Replace | Choose Find for a View Only shared document |
| Preview PDFs | Toolbar search field | Any Match searches a phrase’s individual words |
| Adobe Acrobat PDFs | Command + F | Options include bookmarks and comments |
| Scanned PDFs in Acrobat | All tools > Scan & OCR | Requires access to the text recognition tool |
| Images in Preview | Select recognized text and choose Copy Text | Requires Live Text support; search the extracted text |
| One Apple Notes note | Click its body, then press Command + F | Searches inside the open note |
| TextEdit | Edit > Find > Find | Use Selection for Find searches selected text |
| Finder | Enter text in the search field | Find a file, then search inside it |
| Spotlight with Browse Modes | Command + Space, then choose Files | Narrow results with kind:pdf |
Start with the Mac Find shortcut
Activate the document or webpage you want to search, press Command + F, and enter your word or phrase. In apps that implement this shortcut, it searches the active document or page. If Finder is active instead, the shortcut searches for files.
Press Command + G to move forward through occurrences and Shift + Command + G to move backward where the app supports them. Apps such as Safari, Firefox, and Pages also provide result arrows beside their search controls.
Find text on a webpage
In Safari, press Command + F, enter your text, and press Return to advance through matches. To use the menu instead, click the Page menu button in the Smart Search field and select Find. Enter the text, move between matches with the back and forward arrows, and click Done to close the search.
In Chrome, press Command + F to open the page search field. You can also select More > Find and edit > Find..., enter a word or phrase, and press Enter.
In Firefox, press Command + F, choose Edit > Find in Page…, or open the application menu and choose Find in page…. Enter your term and use the navigation arrows to move between results. Select Highlight All to highlight every match, and press Esc to close the Find bar.
In Microsoft Edge, press Command + F or open Settings and more > Find on page. Type the term, then use Previous result and Next result. You can also press Command + G to move forward and Command + Shift + G to move backward.
Search Word and Pages documents
In Word for Microsoft 365 for Mac or Word 2024 for Mac, press Command + F to focus Search in Document. Enter your word or phrase to search the document.
In Pages for Mac, press Command + F or click the toolbar’s View menu and choose Show Find & Replace. Enter your term and move through results with the arrows. Your search includes other document content, such as headers, tables, footnotes, and comments.
Search documents you edit in a browser
In Google Docs or Google Slides, open your file and press Command + F for a simple search. For additional controls, choose Edit > Find and replace and enter your term beside Find. Click Next or Prev to move through occurrences; you can search without replacing anything.
In Word for the web, use the document search in the Navigation pane. In Editing view, select Home > Find and enter your term in Search in document. Select a result to locate it, and click the X to clear your query.
In Pages for iCloud, choose View > Show Find & Replace or press Command + F. In a View Only shared document, click Find in the toolbar instead. Enter text in Find, navigate with the arrows, and click Done when finished.
Find a word in a PDF
Open a PDF containing searchable text in Preview and enter your text in the toolbar search field. Enlarge the window if necessary to see that field. Use the result arrows to move through matches, and choose Search Rank or Page Order to change their ordering.
When you enter a phrase, Preview matches it exactly. To search for its individual words instead, click the magnifying glass and select Any Match.
In Adobe Acrobat, open a PDF containing searchable text, press Command + F, and enter your term. Click the ellipsis beside it to adjust the search, including Include bookmarks and Include comments. Enable the options you need for the content you want to find.
Fix missing or overly broad matches
If your search needs a more precise match, use the matching controls in your app. In Pages for Mac, open the search options pop-up and choose Whole Words or Match Case. In Firefox, select Whole Words, Match case, or Match Diacritics as needed. In Safari’s search pop-up, choose whether to match text anywhere within words or at their beginnings.
In Acrobat, click the ellipsis beside the search term to select Whole words or Case sensitive. In Google Docs and Slides, select Match case in Find and replace. In Word for the web, use the filter icon for case or whole-word matching. In Pages for iCloud, open Settings in the search controls and choose Match Case or Whole Words.
For an image-only scanned PDF, use Acrobat’s text recognition workflow if you have access to Scan & OCR. Open the PDF, select All tools > Scan & OCR > In this file, and set the page range and language. Open Settings if you need to adjust the recognition options, then select Recognize Text. Review the recognition accuracy before searching the resulting text layer.
For an image containing recognizable text, you can extract it in Preview on a Mac supporting Live Text, with a supported image and language. Open the image, choose Tools > Text Selection if necessary, select the recognized text, then Control-click it and choose Copy Text. Paste it into a text document and use that document’s Find command. You are searching the extracted text rather than locating every occurrence directly in the image.
Search a note or a TextEdit document
To search one Apple Notes note, open it and click its body. Press Command + F, then enter your term in the field that appears.
In TextEdit, choose Edit > Find > Find and enter your term. Alternatively, select text already in the document and choose Edit > Find > Use Selection for Find. Use the result arrows to move through matches.
For a case-sensitive search in TextEdit, open Search Options and uncheck Ignore Case. To search with a pattern, choose Insert Pattern and select an available pattern. Click Done when you finish searching.
Find the file before searching inside it
If you need to locate the document first, open Finder, enter your term in its search field, and press Return. Click Add (+) below the search field to add criteria such as Kind. Finder searches indexed searchable file content and metadata; open a matching document and use its Find command to locate individual occurrences.
On macOS with Spotlight Browse Modes, press Command + Space, choose Files or press Command + 2, then enter your search term. You can also narrow a query with a kind keyword such as kind:pdf. Open the relevant result, then search within the document.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Firefox search as soon as you start typing?
Yes, open Firefox > Settings and check Search for text when you start typing. Mozilla’s guide lists this option under Tabs and browsing > Page navigation and also under General > Browsing, so look in whichever of those sections your Settings page shows. Close Settings, then type while viewing a page with focus outside an input field.
How do you search only the links on a page?
In Firefox, move focus outside any text-entry field, press the apostrophe key ('), and enter your term. Firefox selects the first matching link.
Can you search several PDFs at once on a Mac?
In Acrobat, press Command + F, click the ellipsis, and select Advanced Search. Enter your query in What word or phrase would you like to search for?, select All PDF Documents in, then use Browse for Location to choose a folder and select OK. Select Show More Options if needed, then select Search. Encrypted documents generally need to be opened and searched individually.
How do you search for text using VoiceOver?
With VoiceOver enabled, press Control + Option + F, substituting your configured VoiceOver modifier if it differs. Type or paste your query and press Return; the search runs from the VoiceOver cursor toward the end of the text area. Press Control + Option + G for the next occurrence or Control + Option + Shift + G for the previous one, again substituting your configured modifier if needed.