How to search for a word on computer

Looking for text in your document? The Find pane helps you find characters, words, and phrases. If you want, you can also replace it with different text.

If you’re in Reading View, switch to Editing View by clicking Edit Document > Edit in Word Web App.

To open the Find pane from the Edit View, press Ctrl+F, or click Home > Find.

Find button in edit view

Find text by typing it in the Search the document for… box. Word Web App starts searching as soon as you start typing. To further narrow the search results, click the magnifying glass and select one or both of the search options.

Find and replace options, expanded

Tip:  If you don’t see the magnifying glass, click the X at the end of the Search the document for… box. The magnifying glass reappears.

When you type in your document or make a change, Word Web App pauses the search and clears the Find pane. To see the results again, click the Next Search Result or Previous Search Result arrow.

previous search rsult and next search result buttons

When you’re done searching, click the X at the end of the Search the document for… box.

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Easy ways to search for a word on a website


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This wikiHow teaches you how to search for a word or phrase on a webpage. Nearly every web browser comes with a «Find» tool. This allows you to search a webpage for matching words or phrases. You can also use Google’s advanced search options to perform a search for a word or phrase on all of the pages of a specific site. You can use this in conjunction with the Find tool to locate a word anywhere on the internet.

  1. Image titled Search for a Word on a Webpage Step 14

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    Visit https://www.google.com/ in your browser. You can use Google to perform searches of all of the pages on a website. This can help you find matching words on large or complex websites.

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    Enter site: followed by the site address you want to search. For example, if you wanted to search for a word on wikiHow, you would type «site: www.wikihow.com» in the Google search bar. This tells Google to only search on the website you want to search.

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    Enter the word or phrase you want to search for after the site address. You can enter a single word or you can enter phrases. [1]

    • For example, to search wikiHow for any page that has the word «banana», you would type site:wikihow.com banana. To search wikiHow for any page that has the phrase «eat a banana», you would type site:wikihow.com eat a banana.
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    Open a page from the search results and use the Find command. Google will return any pages that match your search, but it won’t point you to the matching text once you open the page. You’ll need to use the Find tool to jump to where the word occurs on the page.

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  1. Image titled Search for a Word on a Webpage Step 7

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    Tap your web browser to open it. All popular web browsers have a «Find» function. This includes Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Samsung’s «Internet» app. Tap the icon for whichever web browser you use on your iPhone or Android device to open it.

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    Navigate to the webpage you want to search. Use the address bar at the top of the web browser to enter the web address for the website you want to search. You can also Google to search for the exact webpage you want to search.

  3. Image titled Search for a Word on a Webpage Step 9

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    Tap , , or

    iPhone Blue Share

    . This opens the menu. If you are using Google Chrome, tap the icon with three dots in the upper-right corner. If you are using Firefox, tap the icon with three dots in the lower-right corner. If you are using Safari on iPhone or iPad, tap the blue square icon with an arrow pointing up in the upper-right corner. If you are using Samsung Internet, tap the icon with three lines in the lower-right corner.

  4. Image titled Search for a Word on a Webpage Step 10

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    Tap Find on Page

    Android 7 Search

    . It’s in the menu. On most web browsers, it’s next to an icon that resembles a magnifying glass. This displays the «Find» search bar.

  5. Image titled Search for a Word on a Webpage Step 11

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    Enter the word or phrase you want to search for in the search bar. The search bar will appear either at the top of the page or above the keyboard depending on which web browser you are using. This searches the webpage for words or phrases that match your search and highlights them in the text.

    • Letter case is ignored when using the Find tool.
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    Tap the Next and Previous buttons

    Android 7 Expand More
    Android 7 Expand Less

    to cycle through the search results. They are the arrows pointing up and down next to the Find search bar. The web browser will jump to each highlighted search result in the webpage.

    • On Samsung Internet, the up and down arrows appear on the right side above the keyboard.
  7. Image titled Search for a Word on a Webpage Step 13

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    Tap X to close the Find search box. When you are finished using the Find function, you can close the web page by tapping the «X» icon next to the search box.

    • If you are using Safari on iPhone or iPad, tap Done in the lower-left corner to close the search bar
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  1. Image titled Search for a Word on a Webpage Step 1

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    Open your web browser. The «Find» function is part of most popular web browsers. This includes Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Microsoft Edge. Click the icon for which ever web browser you use to open the web browser.

  2. Image titled Search for a Word on a Webpage Step 2

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    Navigate to the webpage you want to search. Use the address bar at the top of the web browser to enter the web address for the website you want to search. You can also use Google to search for the exact webpage you want to search.

  3. Image titled Search for a Word on a Webpage Step 3

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    Press Ctrl+F on Windows or Command+F on Mac. This will open the «Find» search box in virtually any browser. Alternatively, you can click the icon with three dots or three lines in the upper-right corner to open the menu. Then click the «Find» option. It will either say Find, Find on this page or something similar..[2]

    • If you are using Safari for macOS, you can access the «Find» function by clicking Edit followed by the Find menu. Then click Find.[3]
  4. Image titled Search for a Word on a Webpage Step 4

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    Type the word or phrase that you want to find in the search box. The «Find» search box appears either at the top of the page or the bottom of the page depending on which web browser you are using. Your browser will find matches as you type and highlight them in the text.[4]

    • Letter case is ignored when using the Find tool.
  5. Image titled Search for a Word on a Webpage Step 5

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    Click the Next and Previous buttons

    Android 7 Expand More
    Android 7 Expand Less

    to cycle through the search results. They are the arrows pointing up and down next to the Find search bar. The web browser will jump to each highlighted search result in the webpage.[5]

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    Click X to close the Find search box. When you are finished using the Find function, you can close the web page by clicking the «X» icon next to the search box.

    • If you are using Safari on Mac, click Done to close the search bar.
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Add New Question

  • Question

    How can I search for a specific piece of text on a website?

    Luigi Oppido

    Luigi Oppido is the Owner and Operator of Pleasure Point Computers in Santa Cruz, California. Luigi has over 25 years of experience in general computer repair, data recovery, virus removal, and upgrades. He is also the host of the Computer Man Show! broadcasted on KSQD covering central California for over two years.

    Luigi Oppido

    Computer & Tech Specialist

    Expert Answer

  • Question

    What seven letter word can I make from «aelisir»?

    Community Answer

    No known 7 letter words can be made, but many six letter words can be made, such as serial and resail.

  • Question

    What tool allows you to search for information on a particular word or phrase? *

    Quify

    Just press Ctrl + F and you can search for a word and phrase.

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  • Make sure the entire web page is loaded before using the Ctrl+F function. Otherwise, it may not work properly.[6]

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About This Article

Article SummaryX

1. Open the website.
2. Press Command + F (Mac) or Control + F (PC).
3. Type the word you’re looking for.
4. Press Enter or Return.

Did this summary help you?

Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 885,921 times.

Is this article up to date?

Tip: You can also use the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl + f (Windows, Linux, and Chrome OS) or ⌘ + f (Mac) to quickly find a word or phrase.

Contents

  • 1 How do you do a word search?
  • 2 Is there an app to solve word searches?
  • 3 How do you search for a word on Google Chrome?
  • 4 How do I search for all words in a word?
  • 5 How do I find a word in the dictionary?
  • 6 What is the easiest way to solve a word search?
  • 7 Are word searches good for the brain?
  • 8 How do I search for a specific word on Google?
  • 9 How do you search for a word on a Google document?
  • 10 How do you use a dictionary correctly?
  • 11 Are word searches good for anxiety?
  • 12 How long does it take the average person to complete a word search?
  • 13 How does a word search work?
  • 14 How do I find a specific thing?
  • 15 How do you search for multiple Word documents?
  • 16 How do you search for a word on a Chromebook?
  • 17 How do you search on Google?

To open the Find pane from the Edit View, press Ctrl+F, or click Home > Find. Find text by typing it in the Search the document for… box. Word Web App starts searching as soon as you start typing.

Is there an app to solve word searches?

WordSearch Solver is an easy to use app which allows you to scan any nearby word searches to display hints and exact locations for any words you cannot find.Quickly solve and complete word search puzzles, and find tough words.

How do you search for a word on Google Chrome?

When on the page you would like to search, press the three dots on the top-right of the page (Android) or the ellipses button on the bottom-right (iOS). In the menu that appears, select “Find in page.” You may have to scroll down a bit, depending on your phone. Once selected, a text field will appear.

How do I search for all words in a word?

Either go into the base folder of your Word documents or have all word documents you want to search through in the same folder. In the address bar to the right is a ‘search box’. Just type in the word/phrase you’re looking for in there and Windows will list you the documents where the word/phrase appears.

How do I find a word in the dictionary?

Step-by-step guide to using a dictionary
STEP 1 – Find the word you want to look up. STEP 2 – Find the letter that the word begins with. STEP 3 – Open the dictionary to the page with the relevant letter, in this case the letter C. STEP 4 – Now look at the second letter in the word you are looking for.

What is the easiest way to solve a word search?

Tips for Scanning the Word Search

  1. Scan each row. By simply scanning each row from left to right you’ll find a fair amount of words.
  2. Seek out strange letters.
  3. Focus on letters that stand out to you.
  4. Search for letter pairs.
  5. Check surrounding letters.
  6. Scan with your finger.

Are word searches good for the brain?

Word Searches Keep the Mind Active
While word searches may not seem like the most stimulating activities, they can do some good for aging brains. Because the process for solving a word search is to look at the “clue” of a few letters to find a word, this activity can help seniors sharpen their reasoning skills.

How do I search for a specific word on Google?

Here’s an overview of some of the most useful Google search tricks, from basic tips to new features just recently released.

  1. Use quotes to search for an exact phrase.
  2. Use an asterisk within quotes to specify unknown or variable words.
  3. Compare foods using “vs”

How do you search for a word on a Google document?

You can find and replace words in a document, spreadsheet, or presentation with Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. You can also search within a file using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + f (⌘ + f on a Mac).

How do you use a dictionary correctly?

How to use a dictionary effectively

  1. look up the meaning of an English word you see or hear.
  2. find the English translation of a word in your language.
  3. check the spelling of a word.
  4. check the plural of a noun or past tense of a verb.
  5. find out other grammatical information about a word.
  6. find the synonym or antonym of a word.

Are word searches good for anxiety?

Solving puzzles such as word searches help to enhance problem-solving skills.Doing word searches helps beat anxiety and nervousness.

How long does it take the average person to complete a word search?

On average the seek time in the control was 30.5347 seconds and the experiment seek time was 16.675 seconds. This increased speed can be explained by the participants becoming familiar with word search environment[5].

How does a word search work?

A common strategy for finding all the words is to go through the puzzle left to right (or right to left) and look for the first letter of the word (if a word list is provided). After finding the letter, one should look at the eight surrounding letters to see whether the next letter of the word is there.

How do I find a specific thing?

1. Exact phrase. The simplest and most effective way to search for something specific is to use quote marks around a phrase or name to search for those exact words in that exact order. For instance, searching for Joe Bloggs will show results with both Joe and Bloggs but not necessarily placed sequentially.

How do you search for multiple Word documents?

Let’s look at the top 5 options for searching text in multiple Word documents.

  1. SeekFast. The easiest and most convenient tool for searching text in multiple Word files is SeekFast.
  2. File Explorer. File Explorer is the built-in Windows program for working with files.
  3. PowerGrep.
  4. Agent Ransack.
  5. DocFetcher.

How do you search for a word on a Chromebook?

Tip: You can also use the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl + f (Windows, Linux, and Chrome OS) or ⌘ + f (Mac) to quickly find a word or phrase.

How do you search on Google?

Actually searching Google is pretty easy. Just type what you’re interested in finding into the search box on the Google web site or into your toolbar! If you’re using a toolbar, as you type, you may see words begin to appear below the toolbar’s search box.

Usually, you can use Ctrl/Command + F

Updated on February 9, 2021

What to Know

  • Web page: press Ctrl+F (Windows and Linux) or Command+F (Mac). Enter search term and press Enter.
  • Use the Mac Menu Bar to search by selecting Edit > Find in This Page (or Find).
  • Type site followed by a colon, a website’s URL, and a search term in a browser address bar.

When you want to find something specific on a web page, you can search for it. This article explains how to search for a word using either the Find Word function found in most major web browsers or a search engine such as Google.

How to Search For a Word Using Command/Ctrl+F

The simplest way to find a word on a page is to use the Find Word function. It is available in the major web browsers, including Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Safari, and Opera.

Here’s the keyboard shortcut method:

  1. When you’re on the web page, press Ctrl+in Windows and Linux. Press Command+on a Mac.

  2. Type the word (or phrase) you want to find.

  3. Press Enter.

  4. The web page scrolls to the nearest occurrence of the word. If the word occurs more than once on the web page you’re searching, press Enter to go to the next occurrence. Or, select the arrows on the right (or left) side of the Find Word window.

How to Search for a Word With the Mac Menu Bar

Another way to search web pages is to use a relevant menu bar. On a Mac, use the following process, regardless of the browser you use. Use this process when using either Safari or Opera.

How to Search for a Word on Mac

  1. Go to the menu bar at the top of the page, then select Edit.

  2. Choose Find in This Page. Some browsers may have the option Find.

  3. Depending on the browser you use, you may have to take four steps rather than three. For example, with Google Chrome, hover the mouse cursor over Find, then select Find.

How to Search For a Word Using the Browser Controls

If you use a Windows PC or Linux, or if you want to use the web browser rather than the operating system, here’s what you do for each major browser (excluding Safari and Opera).

These instructions should work for the corresponding mobile browsers as well.

For Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge:

  1. Select the More icon (it’s located in the upper-right corner of the browser window).

  2. Choose Find or Find in This Page.

  3. Type your search term and press Enter.

How to Search for a Word Using Google

If you don’t know the specific page on which a desired word or phrase could be located, use Google to search for a certain word or phrase, and target the site you want to find it in. Google has special characters and features to narrow and control your search.

  1. Go to Google or use the browser’s search function if it’s configured to use Google as its search engine.

  2. Type site followed by a colon ( : ) and the name of the website you want to search. It should look like this:

    site:lifewire.com

  3. After that, leave a space and enter the search terms. Altogether, it should be something like this:

    site:lifewire.com Android apps

  4. Press Enter to display the search results.

  5. The search results come from the website that you entered.

  6. To narrow your search results further, enclose the search terms in quotation marks, which makes the search engine look for that exact phrase.

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  • You can search for a word on a page using keyboard shortcuts or web browser controls.
  • You can also use Google to search for a word on specific sites or web pages. 
  • Using the search function to find specific words or phrases can help you find information faster.

The internet is vast, but sometimes you need to cut to the chase to get things done. Searching for a word on a page can drastically reduce the amount of time it takes to get the information you need. 

There are several methods you can use to search for a word on a web page, program, or website, depending on the kind of computer you have. 

Try Command+F or Control+F keyboard shortcuts

On most web pages, word processors, and other programs, you can use the keyboard shortcut Command + F on a Mac, or Control + F on Windows to find what you need.

Close-up of a Mac keyboard with Command + F keys highlighted

On a Mac computer, the keyboard shortcut is Command + F.

MacFormat Magazine / Contributor/Getty Images


A text box will then appear toward the top of the screen where you can enter the desired search term. Then, simply hit Enter to find instances of that word or phrase on the page. You can use the up and down arrows on the search box to find each instance.

Screenshot of search pop-up on Chrome

When you search for a word, every instance of that word will be highlighted on the page.

Grace Eliza Goodwin/Insider


Find your web browser controls

Browsers also come with their own built-in search functions. Here’s how to access these tools whether you’re using Google Chrome, Firefox or Microsoft Edge.

1. Click the More button, which looks like three horizontal lines, located in the top-right corner of the web browser, next to the address bar.

2. Select Find or Find in This Page.

Screenshot of three-dot icon in Chrome and drop-down menu

Click the three-dot icon and select «Find» in the drop-down.

Grace Eliza Goodwin/Insider


3. In the pop-up, type in your search term or phrase and hit Enter.

Use Google to search sites 

1. Go to google.com.

2. Type site: and then the name of the website you want to search, followed by a space and then your search term or phrase.

Screenshot of Google search homepage with search query typed in

Type «site:» then the name of the website and the word you’re looking for.

Devon Delfino


3. Hit Enter. From here, you’ll be able to find all the pages on that site that include the search term or phrase you’ve specified.

Devon Delfino is a Brooklyn-based freelance journalist specializing in personal finance, culture, politics, and identity. Her work has been featured in publications such as The Los Angeles Times, Teen Vogue, Business Insider, and CNBC. Follow her on Twitter at @devondelfino.

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