How To Search For A Word On A Web Page

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.

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.

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, Internet Explorer, Safari, and Opera.

Here’s the keyboard shortcut method:

• When you’re on the web page, press Ctrl+F in Windows and Linux. Press Command+F on a Mac.
• Type the word (or phrase) you want to find.
• Press Enter.
• 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.

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

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

Press Enter.

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.

• Go to the menu bar at the top of the page, then select Edit.
• Choose Find in This Page. Some browsers may have the option Find.
• 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).

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

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

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.

For Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge:

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

• Select the More icon (it’s located in the upper-right corner of the browser window).
• Choose Find or Find in This Page. (In Internet Explorer 11, select Tools, hover over File, then choose Find on this page.)
• Microsoft no longer supports Internet Explorer and recommends that you update to the newer Edge browser. Head to their site to download the newest version.
• 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.

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

Choose Find or Find in This Page. (In Internet Explorer 11, select Tools, hover over File, then choose Find on this page.)

Microsoft no longer supports Internet Explorer and recommends that you update to the newer Edge browser. Head to their site to download the newest version.

Type your search term and press Enter.

• Go to Google or use the browser’s search function if it’s configured to use Google as its search engine.
• Type site followed by a colon ( : ) and the name of the website you want to search. It should look like this:
• site:lifewire.com
• After that, leave a space and enter the search terms. Altogether, it should be something like this:
• site:lifewire.com Android apps
• Press Enter to display the search results.
• The search results come from the website that you entered.
• To narrow your search results further, enclose the search terms in quotation marks, which makes the search engine look for that exact phrase.

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

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

site:lifewire.com

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

site:lifewire.com Android apps

Press Enter to display the search results.

The search results come from the website that you entered.

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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