PDF files are the standard format used to publish documents online. You will find documents such as annual reports, user manuals, research papers, academic papers and even forms are distributed in this format.
How to search for a phrase in a single PDF files at once? You can open each file individually with a PDF viewer, press the short cut Ctrl+F and search for the desired text. This method is of course inefficient and extremely time-consuming in the case of a large number of files.
All you need is a decent all-in-one PDF tool such as Adobe Acrobat Reader and SwifDoo PDF. Both applications have an advanced search function that allows you to efficiently find a phrase in the PDF files. Below we present a short instruction created on the example of both ones.
Search with Adobe Reader
Step 1. In the top bar, open the Edit menu and select the Advanced Search option. A search window will appear.
Step 2: In the window, select All PDF documents in and select the location with the PDF files to be searched from the drop-down menu.
Step 3: In the field ”What word or phrase would you like to search for?” enter the text you want to search for, e.g. name.
Optionally, change the other search parameters. Press Search.
After the search is complete, the result will be displayed in the search window in the Results section.
If you often find yourself with a large number of PDFs and can’t remember which one was about a particular topic, you’ll probably have to open each one and use the “find in” feature to find it. If you have one too many files to browse through, you’ll need a faster way, preferably one that doesn’t require you to open every single file.
Search multiple phrases with SwifDoo PDF
The solution lies in SwifDoo PDF. This is an extremely popular PDF editor that allows you to select a folder and scan each PDF in it for a specific word or phrase.
Even better is Install SwifDoo PDF and look for the search bar in the upper right corner.
- Next to the search bar is a small icon with a folder and a magnifying glass. Click on it to open the search side panel.
- Click in the second drop-down menu, which will likely have the search and replace features integrated.
Search for and select the folder of PDF files you want to search. Enter the search phrase and hit the Enter button on the keyboard.
Later, if the terms you just entered are actually present in the PDF, they will be highlighted inside it. In addition, if there are many words in the PDF that match the terms you are typing, you can easily navigate through them by clicking on the arrow buttons that you will find directly below the search box.
For anyone doing academic research or any kind of research, this is probably the best way to go through large PDF documents and find exactly what you need.
It makes everything from finding information and adding testimonials incredibly easy. Needless to say, the text in the document must be searchable. If it’s an image then SwifDoo PDF can convert it to a searchable PDF.
Expanding your search
As you can see, it’s not difficult to perform a basic text search across the PDFs – just a few clicks to get to the appropriate menu and set the search location (which is a bit more complicated with SwifDoo PDF’s advanced search options, but still perfectly manageable). But even though it’s a fairly simple process, it can save you a lot of time under the right circumstances.
Click on the selection item, and then enter the search string in the selection pop-up. As you type, the list will be filtered to show matching values.
Final words
How do you search for a word or phrase in a PDF? It depends on the program you are using and the operating system you are using. Of course, this is not a complicated operation, but the multitude of options available can also be a bit confusing for users looking for a word or phrase in a PDF file.
In the event that the SwifDoo PDF does not convince you in any particular way, you can also search the PDF using any other application to view the types of documents.