How to do Control + F on an iPhone?

If you are an iPhone user, you might have wondered how to search for a specific word or phrase on a web page or a document. Unlike most computers, where you can use the keyboard shortcut Control + F to find anything quickly, iPhones do not have a physical keyboard or a Control key.

However, there are still ways to do Control + F on an iPhone, depending on what app you are using. In this article, we will show you how to search for text in Safari, Chrome, and other apps on your iPhone.

Can you Control F on an iPhone?

While there is no way to physically do the Control + F function on an iPhone, since it requires a physical keyboard, you can still search for text within messages, web pages, notes apps, and other apps using different methods. For example, on the Safari app, you can directly use the search bar or the Share button to find a specific word or phrase on a webpage.

How to do Control F in the Safari app

There are a couple of ways you can search for a specific keyword or phrase in a webpage you are browsing on the internet. Follow the steps below to learn how to do the equivalent of a Control + F function on the Safari app:

1. Open the Safari app on your iPhone and go to the webpage you want to search through.
2. After the webpage loads, type the keyword or phrase you want to search in the address bar at the bottom of the screen.
3. Tap Find [word or phrase], and navigate through the instances of that keyword or phrase in the webpage by using the arrows beside the search bar. The instances will appear highlighted throughout the page.
4. Tap Done when you are finished.

You can also use the Share button to search for a keyword or phrase in Safari. The instructions below will show you how to do that:

1. After navigating to the webpage on the Safari app, tap the Share button below the address bar.
2. Tap Find on Page, and type the keyword or phrase in the search bar.
3. Use the arrows beside the search bar to navigate through all instances of the keyword or phrase on the webpage. The instances will appear highlighted throughout the page.
4. Tap Done when you are finished.

How to do Control F in Google Chrome

Google Chrome has a lot of hidden features and shortcuts. One of them is searching for keywords or phrases in webpages. Follow the steps below to find out how to do that on the Chrome app on iPhone:

1. Open the Google Chrome app on your iPhone and go to the webpage you want to search through.
2. After the webpage loads, tap the Menu icon (three dots in a row) on the bottom right corner of the screen.
3. Tap Find in Page, type the keyword or phrase in the search bar, and navigate through the instances of that keyword or phrase in the webpage by using the arrows. The instances will appear highlighted throughout the page.
4. Tap Done when you are finished.

The process is quite similar for most web browsers on iPhone, so you can use the steps above for the browser of your choice.

How to Control F a PDF file

You can also search through a PDF for specific keywords or phrases in an instant instead of reading through the whole document. Almost all the best PDF reader apps have a search function that lets you do that. Below, we’ve outlined the steps on how to do it in Adobe Acrobat Reader on iPhone:

1. Open the Adobe Acrobat Reader app on your iPhone, and then open the required PDF you want to search through.
2. Tap the Magnifying glass icon on the top of the screen.
3. Type the keyword or phrase in the search bar, and navigate through the instances of that keyword or phrase in the document by using the arrows. The instances will appear highlighted throughout the PDF.

The process is quite similar for the iBooks app on iPhone too, so you can use the steps above if you use that app as well.

How to do Control F in the Messages app?

Searching for a keyword or phrase through your messages can be a daunting task if you have a lot of them. But thankfully, the Messages app on iPhone allows you to sift through them automatically. Follow the instructions below to learn how to do so:

1. Open the Messages app on your iPhone. Swipe down to reveal the search bar, and then type the keyword or phrase in the bar.
2. All the chats with that keyword or phrase will be listed down.

You can then tap on each chat and open it to read the entire text or conversation.