How to Search Keywords on a Page on Mac

The standard keyboard shortcut to look for keywords on a Mac is Command+F. This works in most macOS apps, including web browsers like Safari and Chrome, and word processors like Apple Pages and Microsoft Word. Usually, pressing these keys will bring up a search box, with which you can customize your search parameters and flick through all the matching search results.

How to search keywords within a page or document on macOS?

The main way to search for keywords on a Mac is to press Cmd+F on your keyboard. Enter your search term, then press Enter. Most apps will highlight all the matching results and let you jump straight to each one.

If you’re looking for particular data, rather than words on a page, read our guide on how to access files on Mac.

A note from our team: 

 

When you’re trying to find a word on a page on your MacBook or iMac, you don’t want ads popping up all the time. Thankfully, you don’t have to put up with irritating advertising, thanks to MacKeeper’s StopAd browser extension.

 

Here’s how it works:

1. Download, install, and run MacKeeper.
2. Select StopAd from the side menu.
3. If you’re using Safari, click Enable > Open Safari Preferences.
4. Tick all the MacKeeper StopAd boxes.
5. For Chrome, click Install, and install StopAd from the Chrome Web Store.

1. With keyboard shortcut (Command + F)

If there’s one thing you take from our article, make sure it’s this keyboard shortcut. We use this all the time to look up a word or phrase on our MacBooks and iMacs.

In Pages, for instance, Cmd+F  will bring up a floating search bar. With this, we can also customize your search, looking for whole words, matching case, or replacing words in the document.

You’ll get something similar in other web processors, such as Microsoft Word, OpenOffice, and LibreOffice. The Cmd+F shortcut even works in cloud apps like Google Docs and PDF apps like Adobe Acrobat.

Note, however, that some apps don’t have a floating search bar. In our version of Word, for example, we get a search bar in the top right of the app, but we can open up the Find and Replace menu too.

2. Using Edit → Find menu option

Although we prefer to use the keyboard shortcut, you can also search for keywords in pages using your menu bar, at the top of your screen. In most apps, the keyword search feature is located under Edit > Find. The menu bar method is useful if you prefer to use your mouse.

Here’s what the Edit > Find function looks like in Microsoft Word. Because it’s a word processor, the options include a Replace feature.

Some of the menu options look slightly different in Pages, but the main functionality is generally the same.

If you’re going to try a few different apps, check out our article on how to look at downloads on Mac.

3. Searching inside web pages in browsers (Safari, Chrome, Firefox)

Both the search methods we’ve shown here can be used in web browsers as well as text documents.

That means you can press Cmd+F or select Edit > Find in your menu bar to look up words on any webpage on your MacBook.

The key difference is you won’t see a replace option, because obviously you can’t replace the copy on someone else's website.

You’ll also notice some differences between browsers.

In Safari, a search bar will appear near the top of your browser window. Enter a word, and press Enter or click Done. The arrows let you jump to matching results on the webpage, and you can switch between Contains and Begins with.

Google Chrome lets you jump to search results, but it doesn’t have any other options.

For our money, the Firefox search function offers the best performance. Search for keywords on a page, and Firefox will let you toggle four different controls: Highlight All, Match Case, Match Diacritics, and Whole Words.

Common problems with keyword search on a page on Mac

We’ve shown you how to search on a Mac, and most of the time, it will work as you want. However, there are a few situations where you might not be able to look for words on your Mac. For example:

• The words you’re looking for are part of an image, rather than being in a text format.
• The app you’re searching through is using non-standard font formats.
• Bugs in macOS and third-party apps can cause performance issues.
• One of your apps or browser extensions is malfunctioning.
• You’ve mistyped your search term, including extra punctuation, spaces, or hidden formatting.
• Your Mac could be infected with malware, designed to stop you from searching for information.
• You’ve enabled case sensitivity or whole words in your search parameters.

Find words fast

Using Cmd+F or Edit > Find, you can track down words in documents and webpages in most macOS apps. You can also look for part of a word or a complete phrase, if you want to. Some apps offer more powerful search functions than others—this is especially true of word processors like Pages and Word.

Unfortunately, intrusive ads can really slow you down when you’re looking for words in webpages. But you can take back control with MacKeeper’s StopAd browser extensions, built for Safari and Chrome. As well as stopping ads, StopAd will block online trackers that follow you around and invade your privacy. Download MacKeeper today and give it a try.