6 PDF Word Searchers to Help You Find Texts Easily

Finding a specific word in a PDF manually is difficult, especially when you are in a hurry or handling a long PDF. Luckily, some tools can help search for the texts and phrases you are looking for.

Now, let’s check the best 6 PDF word finders in the market with their pros and cons.

PDFgear Desktop – Best PDF Word Searcher Powered by AI

PDFgear Desktop is a PDF editor with a word searching feature. It is extremely easy to find a word in PDF with this program. Click on the Find icon, input any keyword, and PDFgear Desktop will highlight the words you are looking for. Even if you are processing a PDF from a scanned document, this software’s AI OCR feature can make the PDF searchable.

You won’t just stop at finding words. PDFgear Desktop allows you to edit PDF texts, highlight words, add notes and annotations for free! Play with PDFgear Desktop and let it be a faithful partner for working with PDFs.

Pros

1. Free to download and use

2. Light software that processes PDFs fast

3. The OCR feature makes any PDF from a scanned document searchable

4. Other PDF editing features like editing texts, adding notes, and more

Cons

1. Can’t upload PDFs from cloud services

Adobe Acrobat – Advanced PDF Word Searcher

Adobe Acrobat provides you with two search options to better meet your requirements. The basic search option allows you to find the content that perfectly matches the text you entered. The advanced search option returns results that contain any of the text you input. However, not all PDFs are supported. Please make the PDF searchable in advance.

Try Adobe Acrobat for its rich features, like scanning, signing, commenting, and converting PDFs to other formats. Even though the subscription costs $14.99 per month, it is worthwhile.

Pros

1. Two options to search words

2. Other rich editing features

3. Customizable interface

Cons

1. Requires to pay to unlock other features

2. Not able to split scanned two-page spreads

Google Chrome – PDF Viewer & Word Searcher

This might not be known to all. Google Chrome can be used to open and view your PDFs. Press Ctrl or Command + F, you can find the text you are looking for, even if they are in annotations.

There are two obvious shortcomings in using Google Chrome to search words in a PDF. First, you don’t have access to extra searching modes like case sensitive. Secondly, you can’t use Google Chrome to edit PDFs. To be able to edit PDFs on Google Chrome, you might have to refer to some Google PDF editing extensions.

Pros

1. Free to use

2. No need to install anything

3. Extremely easy to use

Cons

1. Short of advanced word searching mode

2. No extra PDF editing features

Foxit Reader – PDF Word Searcher and Editor for Professionals

Foxit Reader is a professional word searcher. You can find and remove content either in a single PDF or multiple PDFs in a folder. If necessary, you can upload a Word document and let Foxit Reader find the exact same content on your PDF.

Foxit Reader makes it possible to search and redact words at the same time. Select Mark whole/partial word for redaction, the texts you just found will be redacted.

Pros

1. Search in multiple PDFs

2. Upload a text file and start searching

3. Able to search and redact at the same time

Cons

1. Heavy PDF editor that works slowly

2. Costs at least $9.17 per month

Microsoft Edge – Fast and Free PDF Word Searcher on Windows

Similar to Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge can be used to view and find text in a PDF. Click on the search icon, and input a word, Microsoft Edge will start searching immediately.

On Microsoft Edge, you have access to some basic PDF editing tools, like adding highlights, adding texts, and freehand drawing. In 2023, Microsoft Edge incorporated Bing Chat into the main page. You can get answers to any questions while you are reading a PDF without opening another window to search.

Pros

1. Easy to access

2. Make some basic video edits on Windows for free

3. Bing Chat that answers all your questions

Cons

1. Short of professional PDF editing tools

2. Only comes with the Match All search mode

Nitro PDF – The Right PDF Word Searcher for Mac Users

You can use Nitro PDF to search for any words in PDF on iOS and Mac devices. Bring up the search tool, and 3 options are displayed. They are Whole Words Only, Case Sensitive, and Include Comments.

Nitro PDF makes it possible to replace the text after searching. Double-click the texts you just found, insert or edit words. You can even use Nitro PDF to replace an image, add annotations, signatures, and so much more.

Pros

1. Allows you to search texts in comments

2. Able to help edit the text, images

3. Automatically sync edits across devices

Cons

1. Only comes with a lifetime plan

2. Only works on Mac and iOS devices

Conclusion

Searching for a word in a PDF is an easy task. The 6 PDF word searchers mentioned above are all easy to use. Some of them are all free. If you want more than just finding a word, PDFgear Desktop is always there to provide you with free PDF editing tools like editing texts, conversion, and compressing. Do remember to give it a try!