Tool to search word documents

• When you learn how to search for a word in Microsoft Word, you will be learning how to use the Find tool. However, there is also an Advanced Find feature that lets you customize your search further, and there is a Find and Replace tool that lets you replace instances of words and phrases.
• Aside from the method below that we use to search for a word in a Word document, you can also use a keyboard shortcut to launch the Find tool. Simply press Ctrl + F on your keyboard to launch it.
• The Find tool lets you search for whole words, phrases, or even letters. You can use it to find what you are looking for in your document, regardless of how much or how little of the information you enter into the search field.

Microsoft Word’s search tools come in a couple of different varieties. The basic search lets you locate specific words or phrases in your document, while the Advanced Find tool lets you do things like match case, use wildcards, and generally find text in most of the ways that you might consider.

You can search for certain words in Microsoft Word by clicking the Home tab, selecting the Find button, then typing your search term into the “Search” field.

This will then highlight each instance of the word that appears in the document, and you can click each of the search results in the Navigation column to jump to the occurrence of that word in your document.

But if you are trying to figure out how to search for a word in Microsoft Word, then you might be struggling to locate the correct tool. Our guide below will show you how to use the search tool in your Word file.

How to Search a Word Document

1. Open the Word document.
2. Select the Home tab at the top of the window.
3. Click the Find button in the Editing group of the ribbon.
4. Enter your search term into the search box, then click a result to go to that point in the document.

Our guide continues below with additional information on how to find a word in a document, including pictures of these steps.

How to Search for a Word in a Microsoft Word Document (Guide with Pictures)

The steps in this article were performed in Microsoft Word for Office 365, but will also work in other versions of Word, such as Word 2016 or Word 2019.

As mentioned earlier, you can also open the search tool by pressing Ctrl+F on your keyboard.

Step 1: Open your document in Microsoft Word.

Step 2: Click the Home tab above the ribbon at the top of the window.

Step 3: Click the Find button in the Editing section of the ribbon.

Note that there are down arrows to the right of the Find button and the Select button in that section that you can use for other options. For example, there’s an Advanced Find option on the Find drop down menu that you can use for additional search options to locate a particular word or words in the document.

Step 4: Type your search term into the search box in the Navigation pane on the left side of the window.

Results containing your search term will appear in the column. You can then click a search result to be taken to its location in the document.

The up and down arrows under the search field will allow you to quickly move between the different results.

Additional Information on How to Search for a Word in a Microsoft Word Document

• Other applications, including Microsoft Excel, can also take advantage of the Ctrl + F keyboard shortcut for finding information.
• If you have used older versions of Microsoft Word, then you might be used to the dialog box that previously appeared when you tried to search for a word. The Navigation pane has replaced the basic search tool, but that dialog box will still appear if you select the Advanced Find option from the dropdown menu.

• The search function in MS Word also displays a magnifying glass at the right end of the search box. If you click that magnifying glass you will see a menu with additional ways to search for words or other items in the document.
• The Find and Replace dialog box also has a “Replace” tab at the top of the window. If you select that tab you will be able to enter the existing word that you want to replace, then enter the word that you want to use to replace it.
• Once the Find and Replace dialog box appears and you start using that to search through Word documents, it’s possible that you will find that to be a better way to search through an entire document and customize what Word replaces. Fortunately this is a similar search function that exists in other Microsoft office applications so you will be able to use it and its advanced options for searching while you look through spreadsheets and slideshows.

Find out how to remove page numbers in Microsoft Word if you have a document that contains page numbers that you either don’t want or don’t need.

Additional Sources

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.

Searching with the Word 2010 Navigation pane
You can also use the keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+F. Clicking the Find button or pressing Ctrl+F summons the Navigation pane. In the Find What text box, type the text you want to find. While you type, matching text is highlighted in the document.

How do I search all of my documents for a specific word?

How to Search for words within files on Windows 7

1. Open windows explorer.
2. Using the left hand file menu select the folder to search in.
3. Find the search box in the top right hand corner of the explorer window.
4. In the search box type content: followed by the word or phrase you are searching for.(eg content:yourword)

Where is the search box in word?

At the top of your Microsoft Office apps on Windows you’ll find the new Microsoft Search box. This powerful tool helps you quickly find what you’re looking for, from text to commands to help and more.

How do I insert a search button in word?

Click Customize the Quick Access Toolbar > More Commands. In the Choose commands from list, click Commands Not in the Ribbon. Find the command in the list, and then click Add.

How do I search for a Word in a document in Windows 10?

Click the Cortana or Search button or box on the Taskbar and type “indexing options.” Then, click on Indexing Options under Best match. On the Indexing Options dialog box, click Advanced. Click the File Types tab on the Advanced Options dialog box. By default, all the extensions are selected, and that’s what we want.

Can you search multiple Word documents at once?

The easiest and most convenient tool for searching text in multiple Word files is SeekFast. With this tool, you can quickly and efficiently search for a combination of words or phrases in your documents, and the results are sorted by relevance, similar to search on Google, Bing, and other search engines.

How do I find all Word documents in Windows 10?

Search File Explorer: Open File Explorer from the taskbar or right-click on the Start menu, and choose File Explorer, then select a location from the left pane to search or browse. For example, select This PC to look in all devices and drives on your computer, or select Documents to look only for files stored there.

How do I get a search box?

If your search bar is hidden and you want it to show on the taskbar, press and hold (or right-click) the taskbar and select Search > Show search box. If the above doesn’t work, try opening taskbar settings. Select Start > Settings > Personalization > Taskbar.

What we can search using find command?

You can use the find command to search for files and directories based on their permissions, type, date, ownership, size, and more. It can also be combined with other tools such as grep or sed .

What is the shortcut key for spell check in word?

F7
Open the document you want to check for spelling or grammar mistakes, and then press F7. You can also use the ribbon to start the check. Press Alt+R to open the Review tab, and then press C, 1 to select the Check Document option.

Why is find command used in MS word?

The Find command lets you enter a word. Each time you push the Enter/Return button on your keyboard or click the Find button, that word will be found and highlighted in the text on the Web page you are reading. This makes it very easy to find the keyword you are looking for without having to scan long passages.

How do I search for a text string in Windows 10?

If you’d like to always search within file contents for a specific folder, navigate to that folder in File Explorer and open the “Folder and Search Options.” On the “Search” tab, select the “Always search file names and contents” option.

How do I search for a specific file type in Windows 10?

Click Start and then go to File Explorer by expanding the Windows system folder. You can also simply type File Explorer in the Search bar. Click the View tab in File Explorer. Check File name extension box.

How do I search for text in command prompt?

How to Use the Find Command to Search in Windows

1. Open the Command Prompt Window with Administrative Privileges.
2. Switches and Parameters for the find Command.
3. Search a Single Document for a Text String.
4. Search Multiple Documents for the Same Text String.
5. Count the Number of Lines in a File.

How do I search multiple documents?

Search inside multiple PDFs at once

1. Open any PDF in Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat.
2. Press Shift+Ctrl+F to open the Search panel.
3. Select the All PDF Documents in option.
4. Click the dropdown list arrow to show all drives.
5. Type the word or phrase to search.

How do I search for a word document without opening it?

Open File Explorer (aka Windows Explorer). Navigate to the folder containing the documents. Click in the search box in the upper right corner, below the ribbon. Enter the word you want to search for, then press Enter.

What is the search box in Windows 10 called?

Cortana is getting separated from the Windows 10 search bar, with Microsoft’s assistant getting a separate spot in the taskbar. The new functionality was released today in Windows 10 Build 18317 (19H1), the latest version of Microsoft’s Insider Preview in the so-called Fast ring.

Why can’t I use the search bar in Windows 10?

One of the reasons why Windows 10 search isn’t working for you is because of a faulty Windows 10 update. If Microsoft hasn’t released a fix just yet, then one way of fixing search in Windows 10 is to uninstall the problematic update. To do this, return to the Settings app, then click ‘Update & Security’.

Why is my search bar not working?

Use the Windows Search and Indexing troubleshooter to try to fix any problems that may arise.In Windows Settings, select Update & Security > Troubleshoot. Under Find and fix other problems, select Search and Indexing. Run the troubleshooter, and select any problems that apply.

How do I search for a file?

Work

1. Introduction.
2. 1Choose Start→Computer.
3. 2Double-click an item to open it.
4. 3If the file or folder that you want is stored within another folder, double-click the folder or a series of folders until you locate it.
5. 4When you find the file you want, double-click it.

When a number of documents pile up on our computers, it is hard to find exactly what we are looking for. If we forget or are not sure about a specific document name, the only solution is to search inside the document’s content to find the exact information about what we need. This isn’t easy, since Windows doesn’t allow searching inside documents. However, there are multiple free tools that can help us with file searching. These computer programs allow searching for a specific text string inside all documents on a computer, regardless of their format. They can be in any Microsoft Office, Open Office, PDF, HTML, and many other formats.

We are going to present to you the most popular tools for searching your document’s content. All of these tools are free but some of them have paid versions as well.

1) AgentRansack

Agent Ransack has been popularly called Google for your computer, because it can search through basically anything.

It can search for file names, file content, size and much more. We suggest that you specify an exact folder where your files are located to make the search process quicker. Otherwise, it can be long, depending on the number of files you need to search through. Regular expressions are also there to help you search better.

2) DocFetcher

DocFetcher is an open-source software. It works with all types of document formats such as xls, doc, docx, txt, xlsx, odp, odt, rtf and many more.

You can select which format you want to search, which can save you time significantly. Using this freeware is a little different, because you need to create a search index first. Simply select the folder for search, index it, and proceed with searching for documents. The tool displays search results instantly, but always make sure your index is up to date. This tool is pretty handy for research and similar.

3) File Seek

What is interesting about this tool is that you can sync your search profile and settings on multiple computers. Search Profile is a personalized place for you. File Seek has an advanced query language that enables searching for specific information through the files. Additionally, you can predefine the actions and decide what you will do with the file you are searching for.

3) Listary

This lightweight program is not just a file finder, but an app launcher, web search, and website launcher as well. It automatically lists files as you type, and search files through all drives. The Launch App feature gives you an option to open the application you are searching for with just two clicks of Ctrl key. Listary can also keep track of your history of file search which can save you additional time when you want to search for the same file again.

4) Looken

It doesn’t matter if you cannot remember the name of the file. With Looken you can search for files easily and never again lose time to search for a file by yourself. You can even edit your text files with the preview window and use filter options to speed up file searches. 

5) Everything

If you look for a desktop application that has a very simple interface, Everything is the one. Not only does Everything have a simple interface, but it also doesn’t use much memory on your computer. It builds its own database of files by indexing files and folder names. Every time you make changes to a file, the app will update its database before it starts the file search.

6) MultiFind 

Unlike Everything, MultiFind doesn’t have such a simple user interface but it has a lot of features. MultiFind displays different tabs for separate categories of files: found files, skipped files, errors. To search for a file you can type the file name, a Unicode string, file size or date of creation, a text string, binary data or a regular expression. You can also select the file formats you want to exclude from the file search. 

Lastly, if you are dealing only with PDF documents, you can use PDF search functionality built inside Adobe Reader. We already wrote about it in our previous article, so make sure to check it out.