Keyword Search Guide
How to Search Keywords on Mac: on a page, in a file, or everywhere.
To search for a keyword on a Mac, press Command + F (⌘ F) and type the word. Matches are highlighted and ⌘ G jumps to the next one. To find a keyword inside every document on your Mac, press Command + Space and type it into Spotlight.
Keyword Search Shortcuts on Mac
The first five work inside any app. The last two search every file on your Mac.
| Shortcut | What It Does |
|---|---|
| ⌘ F | Open the find bar in the current page, document, or PDF |
| ⌘ G | Jump to the next match |
| ⇧ ⌘ G | Jump to the previous match |
| ⌘ E | Use the selected text as the search term (Safari, TextEdit, Pages) |
| ⎋ Escape | Close the find bar |
| ⌘ Space | Search for a keyword across every file with Spotlight |
| ⌥ ⌘ Space | Open a Finder search window to search file contents |
1. Search for a Word on a Page or in a Document (⌘ F)
Command + F is the Mac version of Ctrl + F. It opens a find bar in almost every app, and you can also reach it from the menu bar with Edit > Find > Find. Here is how it behaves in the apps people use most:
Safari & Chrome
Press ⌘ F, type the keyword, and the page scrolls to the first match with a count of all matches. Press Return or ⌘ G for the next one.
Preview (PDFs)
Press ⌘ F. The search field at the top right lists every page that contains the word in the sidebar. Click any line to jump there.
Word & Pages
Press ⌘ F. Word opens the search pane on the left with every match in context; Pages shows the find bar at the top with match count.
Notes, Mail & Messages
Press ⌘ F to search inside the open note or email, or click the search field in the sidebar to search across all notes or mail.
More detail for each app is in How to Control F on Mac and searching for words in documents.
2. Search for a Keyword in All Files on Your Mac
When you remember a word from a file but not where the file is, search the contents of every document at once:
Type the keyword. Spotlight matches text inside documents, PDFs, and emails as well as file names. Add kind:pdf to show only PDFs, or wrap a phrase in quotes for an exact match. See the Spotlight guide.
Type the keyword and pick This Mac or a folder. Click + to add filters like Kind is PDF or Last opened date, so a common word doesn't return hundreds of files.
# Spotlight's index: every file containing the phrase
mdfind "quarterly budget"
# Plain text files in Documents, ignoring case
grep -ril "quarterly budget" ~/Documents
3. Search by What You Remember
Keyword search needs the exact word. Often you only remember roughly what the file was about or when you had it open.
Questions About Keyword Search on Mac
How do I search for a keyword on a Mac?
Press Command + F (⌘ F) in the app you are using, type the keyword, and press Return. Matches are highlighted and ⌘ G moves to the next one. To search for a keyword inside all your files, press Command + Space and type the word in Spotlight.
How do I search for a word on a MacBook keyboard?
Hold the Command key (⌘), which sits on either side of the Spacebar, and press F. This is the MacBook version of Ctrl + F on Windows.
How do I search for a word in all documents on my Mac?
Open a Finder search window with Option + Command + Space, type the word, and make sure 'This Mac' is selected. Finder searches the text inside documents, PDFs, and emails, not just file names. Spotlight (⌘ Space) does the same from anywhere.
How do I search for an exact phrase on Mac?
In Spotlight or Finder, put the phrase in quotation marks, for example "quarterly budget". Without quotes, macOS returns files that contain both words anywhere.
Why can't my Mac find a word I know is in a file?
The file may be a scanned PDF or image with no text layer, it may be in a folder excluded from Spotlight, or the Spotlight index may be out of date. Check System Settings > Spotlight > Search Privacy, or rebuild the index with 'sudo mdutil -E /'.