Finding one line in a long article or reference page is slow when you scroll by hand. Chrome's Find Bar searches only the page in front of you and highlights every match it can see.
Open it from the Chrome menu, the Mac Edit menu, or with Ctrl+F (Command+F on Mac), type a word or phrase, then use the arrows or shortcuts to walk through the results. If the counter stays at 0/0, check that the text is not locked inside an image.
In this guide, I have covered:
Contents
See how Find in Page works in Chrome
Want to see the Find Bar before you use it? This short video shows how Chrome highlights each match and jumps between results on a computer.
Open Find from the Chrome menu on Windows, Linux, or ChromeOS
If a keyboard shortcut is not convenient, Chrome puts the same search tool in its menu. It opens the Find Bar without taking you away from the page.
- Open the webpage you want to search in Google Chrome.
- Click the More
menu in the top-right corner of the Chrome window. - Select Find….
You’ll know it worked when the Find Bar opens across the top of the page with the search field ready.
Open Find from the Edit menu on macOS
On a Mac, Chrome puts Find in the system menu bar above the browser window. You get the same Find Bar and the same page-only search.
- Open the webpage you want to search in Google Chrome.
- Click Edit in the macOS menu bar.
- Select Find….
The Find Bar is ready when the search field appears above the page.
Open the Find Bar with a keyboard shortcut
The fastest route is one key combination, and it works in every Chrome window. Google’s Chrome keyboard shortcuts for Computer page lists the current commands if you forget one.
- Press + on Windows, Linux, or ChromeOS, or press + on macOS.
TIP: On Windows and Linux, also opens the Find Bar. The search still applies only to the active tab.
Enter a word or phrase and review the matches
Once the bar is open, the search starts as soon as you type. Chrome highlights each visible match and shows how many it found.
- Click in the Find Bar’s search field.
- Type the word or phrase you want to locate.
You’ll know it worked when the matching text is highlighted and the counter shows at least one result.
Move to the next or previous match
A long page can have dozens of matches, so the arrows do most of the work. Use them to review each result without retyping the query.
- Move to the next match by selecting the down arrow in the Find Bar or pressing + on Windows and Linux, or + on macOS.
- Move to the previous match by selecting the up arrow or pressing + + on Windows and Linux, or + + on macOS.
- Press when you are finished to close the Find Bar.
The counter changes as you move through results, and the page stays at the selected match after you press .
Check the page if Chrome finds no text
A 0/0 result usually means Chrome cannot see the word as text, not that the word is missing. Wait for the page to finish loading, then check the page itself.
- Scroll to the part of the page where you expect to see the word.
- Confirm that the word is displayed as text rather than inside an image.
- Type one distinctive word from that section into the Find Bar.
If that word appears, use it to narrow down the location. If it still returns no matches, the text may not have loaded into the page yet.
Chrome’s Find Bar cannot read words inside images. If the page shows a scanned page or a screenshot, the text may be visible but impossible for Find to match.
Understand the scope of Chrome’s page search
Find in Page is deliberately local. It searches the loaded content of the current tab, and nothing else.
To search beyond the current page, type your words into Chrome’s address bar instead. That sends the query to your search engine, not to Chrome’s page search.
On a phone, Chrome uses a different control. See Search Text and Find in Page using Chrome on Android for the Android steps.
The iPhone and iPad route hides the same tool in a different menu.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I open Find on Page in Chrome on a computer?
Press + on Windows, Linux, or ChromeOS, or + on macOS. You can also open the More menu and choose Find… on Windows, Linux, or ChromeOS, or use Edit, then Find… in the macOS menu bar.
How do I move to the next search result in Chrome?
Select the down arrow in the Find Bar, or press + on Windows and Linux or + on macOS. Use the up arrow and + + (or + + on macOS) to move to the previous result.
Why is my search term not highlighted?
Confirm that the page has finished loading and that the term is displayed as text. Words embedded only in an image cannot be found by Chrome’s Find Bar. Try a shorter word from the same section to narrow the location.
Does Find on Page search the entire website?
No. It searches only the loaded content in the current tab. Use the address bar or the website’s own search function to look beyond that page.
Can I find an exact phrase in Chrome on Computer?
Yes. Type the full phrase into the Find Bar and Chrome will report matching occurrences on the current page. The result count updates as you change the query.
