Adobe Reader 8

Find text in multiple PDFs

The Search window enables you to look for search terms in multiple PDFs. For example, you can search across all open PDF documents, all PDFs in a specific location, or an open PDF package.

Note: If documents are encrypted (have security applied to them), you cannot search them as part of a multiple-document search. You must open those documents first and search them one at a time. However, documents encrypted as Adobe Digital Editions are an exception and can be searched as part of a multiple-document search.

Find text in PDFs in a specific folder

  1. Open Reader on your desktop (not in a web browser).
  2. Do one of the following.

    • In the Find toolbar, type the text you want to search for, and then choose Open Full Acrobat Search from the pop-up menu.

    • In the Search window, type the text you want to search for in the text box.

  3. In the Search window, select All PDF Documents In. From the pop-up menu directly below this option, choose Browse For Location.
  4. Select the location you want to search, either on your computer or on a network, and click OK.
  5. If you want to specify additional search criteria, click Use Advanced Search Options, and select the options you want.
  6. Click Search.
    During a search, you can click a result or use keyboard shortcuts to navigate the results without interrupting the search. Clicking the Stop button under the search-progress bar cancels further searching and limits the results to the occurrences already found. It doesn’t close the Search window or delete the Results list. To see more results, you must run a new search.

Search a PDF package

  1. Open the PDF in Reader on your desktop (not in a web browser).
  2. Do one of the following.

    • In the Find toolbar, type the text you want to search for in the text box and then choose Open Full Acrobat Search from the pop-up menu.

    • In the Search window, type the text you want to search for in the text box.

  3. In the Search window, choose a location to look in:

    • To search all PDFs in the package, choose In The Entire PDF Package.

    • To search only some PDFs in the package, choose In Selected PDF Documents. Then select the PDFs you want to search in the PDF package navigation area.

  4. If you want to specify additional search criteria, click Use Advanced Search Options, and select the options you want.
  5. Click Search.