This is a just a quick tip that should make your search for information a lot quicker and easier.
You can use Ctrl+F (or Cmd+F on a Mac) to find any text in a webpage.
Holding down those two keys in a browser (and indeed many applications) will usually bring up some kind of find/search bar or dialogue.
This is especially handy when a Google search has brought you to a page, which you know has the information you want (because Google showed a snippet of it), but it is really long, and you want to quickly locate the relevant section. It’s also great when a tutorial raises a question in your mind: you can quickly search for a few key words to see if anyone had that question in the comments.
The find bar might be a bit different in different browsers, but as far as I know, this shortcut works in all of them.
Firefox find bar is located at the bottom of the window, and has a few more options than other browsers
Chrome find bar is at the top right of the browser, below the tabs.
Safari find bar, like Chrome, is at the top right of the browser, below the tabs, and it has a nice way of highlighting the found words
Apologies to those accustomed to more advanced tips on this site and are slapping their forehead because they’ve known this for years, but it’s become evident to me that a lot of users of this site don’t know about this and it’s just too useful to let them continue in darkness.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
The F3 button will do the same thing on a PC also. No idea if it works on a Mac.
Bradley — Thanks for the info. I don’t think it works on a Mac. Many of the Mac F keys have other primary functions (like opening controlling volume, brightness etc), but even holding the function key to get the F# it doesn’t seem to do anything.
What a great tool! Thanks for sharing. I do a lot of search on the web and always find myself on a website where it is impossible to find what got me to the page in the first place!
I believe it’s CTR-F for a PC if I remember back to my PC days … I prefer Macs myself. Another helpful tip along the line is pressing your Apple Key and TAB to cycle through your open programs. Pretty helpful for the ADD inclined folks :)
Anthony — Yep, Ctrl and CTR are the same in my book ;-)
Yeah, someone asked me about Cmd+Tab when they saw me do it in a screencast, apparently it changed their life. :-P
You guys should know bout Ctrl+T and Ctrl+Shft+T too.
Using the Fn + F3 on a Mac does work to find the Next instance of whatever you have searched for. (Still need Cmd + F for the initial search.)
90% Users Don’t Know That of USA? Surprisedd!!! I thought everyone knows that :)
Thanks anyway 4 the post.
Kevin — I believe Cmd+G goes to the next item as well.