You're staring at a massive PDF or a 4,000-word Wikipedia entry on your iPad. Your eyes are crossing. You just need to find that one specific mention of "tax exempt" or "chloroplasts." On a Mac or a PC, your fingers instinctively twitch toward the Command and F keys. But here? You’re holding a glass slab. No physical keyboard. No obvious "Find" button staring you in the face.
It’s frustrating.
Actually, it's more than frustrating; it feels like Apple is hiding basic functionality behind a curtain of gestures. But learning how to do control f on ipad isn't just about finding a hidden menu. It’s about realizing that the "Find" feature is baked into almost every app, it just looks different depending on whether you’re in Safari, Chrome, or Notes. Apple’s philosophy has always been about "contextual UI," which is a fancy way of saying they hide buttons until they think you need them.
Let's get into how this actually works in the real world.
The Safari Shortcut: It’s Not Where You Think
Safari is usually where people get stuck. Most users try to tap the address bar, thinking a search box will magically appear. It won't. If you want to find text on a webpage in Safari, you have to use the Share button. Yeah, the one that looks like a square with an arrow pointing up. It feels counterintuitive to "share" something just to search within it, but that's where the "Find on Page" tool lives.
Once you tap that Share icon, you have to scroll down past all your suggested contacts and the apps like Messages or Mail. Look for the line that says Find on Page. Tapping that opens a small search bar right above your virtual keyboard. Type your word, and Safari highlights every instance in yellow. You use the little up and down arrows to jump through the document.
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There is a second way, though.
Some people prefer the "URL bar method." You tap the address bar at the top, type the word you’re looking for, and then ignore all the Google search suggestions. Scroll all the way to the bottom of that results list. There’s a section called "On This Page." It’ll say something like "Find 'Project Alpha'." Tap that, and it kicks you into the same search interface. Honestly, this way feels a bit clunky because you have to fight through Siri's suggestions first.
Mastering How to Do Control F on iPad in Google Chrome
If you’re a Chrome devotee, things are a bit more straightforward, though still hidden. Google doesn't use the Apple Share sheet for its internal functions. Instead, look for the three horizontal dots (...) in the bottom right (or top right, depending on your version/layout) of the screen.
Tap those dots. A menu pops up. You’ll see "Find in Page" right there.
It works exactly like the desktop version. A bar appears at the top. You type. It highlights. The interface in Chrome feels a bit snappier than Safari for long documents, mostly because the search bar stays pinned at the top while you scroll, whereas Safari’s can sometimes get in the way of the bottom navigation.
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The Files App and PDFs
Checking a 50-page contract? The Files app is where most of us store our PDFs. Searching here is actually easier than in the web browsers. When you open a PDF in the native Files app, look at the top right corner. You should see a Magnifying Glass icon.
Tap it.
That is your "Control F."
If you don't see the icon, tap the middle of the screen once to bring up the UI overlays. Sometimes the iPad hides the toolbars to give you a "full-screen experience," which is great for reading but terrible for productivity. In the Files app, the search is incredibly fast because it indexes the text locally rather than relying on a web engine.
What if You Actually Have a Keyboard?
If you've spent the money on a Magic Keyboard or a Bluetooth Folio, congratulations. You have regained your power. On an iPad with a physical keyboard attached, Command + F works exactly like it does on a Mac.
Try it now.
Hold down the Command key (the one with the ⌘ symbol). In most apps, if you hold Command for a second or two, a popup overlay will appear showing you all the available shortcuts for that specific app. This is a pro tip that most people overlook. If you’re in an app like Microsoft Word or Google Docs on the iPad, Command + F will instantly pull up the search or "Find and Replace" dialogue.
But here is the catch: Not every app developer follows Apple's rules. Some third-party apps might use a different shortcut, or worse, they might not support keyboard shortcuts at all. In those cases, you’re back to hunting for that Share icon or the three-dot menu.
Why the Search Feature Sometimes Fails
You’ve followed the steps. You’ve tapped "Find on Page." You typed the word. Zero results.
Why?
It usually comes down to how the content is rendered. If you are looking at an image that has text in it—like a scan of an old document—standard "Find" tools won't see it. The iPad's Live Text feature can sometimes help here. If you long-press on text within an image, the iPad might recognize it as text and let you copy it, but you can’t always "Control F" through a photo.
Another culprit is dynamic content. Some modern websites use "lazy loading," where the text doesn't actually exist on the page until you scroll down to it. If you try to find a word that is at the very bottom of a long, infinite-scroll page, the "Find on Page" tool might say it doesn't exist. The fix? Scroll all the way to the bottom to make sure the whole page is loaded, then try your search again.
The Notes App: A Special Case
Notes is the hub for many iPad users. If you’re trying to find a specific word in a long note, the "Find" tool is buried under the More button (the three dots inside a circle at the top right). Tap that, then tap Find in Note.
Interestingly, if you’re searching across all your notes, you just use the main search bar at the top of the folder list. But for searching within a single note, you have to use that internal menu. It’s these slight variations between apps that make the iPad feel "harder" to use than a PC, even though the power is all there.
Pro-Tip: Using Universal Search (Spotlight)
Sometimes you don't even need to open the app. If you're on your Home Screen, swipe down from the middle of the screen. This opens Spotlight. If you type a specific phrase here, the iPad will search inside your apps. It will look through your emails, your notes, and even some of your Files. If you're looking for a specific receipt or a name, this is often faster than opening Safari or Files and doing a manual search.
Actionable Next Steps
- Test the Share Sheet: Open Safari right now, go to any article, and tap the Share icon. Find the "Find on Page" option and move it to your "Favorites" so it stays at the top of the list.
- Try the Keyboard Shortcut: If you have a keyboard, hold down the Command key in different apps to see which ones support the ⌘+F shortcut. It’s more common than you think.
- Check for Updates: If "Find on Page" feels buggy or missing, ensure your iPad is on the latest version of iPadOS. Apple frequently tweaks these UI elements in point releases (like 17.4 or 18.1).
- Use Spotlight for Deep Searches: Instead of digging through folders, use the "Swipe Down" search on the home screen to find text inside documents without even opening them.
Knowing how to do control f on ipad is basically about training your brain to stop looking for a keyboard and start looking for the Share or Menu icons. Once you memorize those three locations—the Share sheet in Safari, the three dots in Chrome, and the Magnifying Glass in Files—you'll never feel lost in a long document again.