Computers, Laptops & Tablets > Apple How to Control F on iPad Find what you need with or without a keyboard By Sandy Writtenhouse Sandy Writtenhouse Facebook Twitter Writer Kaplan University Sandy has been writing about technology since 2012. Her work has appeared on How-To Geek, MakeUseOf, iDownloadBlog, groovyPost, and many other websites. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on September 12, 2022 Reviewed by Jon Fisher Reviewed by Jon Fisher Wichita Technical Institute Jonathan Fisher is a CompTIA certified technologist with more than 6 years' experience writing for publications like TechNorms and Help Desk Geek. lifewire's editorial guidelines Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email In This Article Expand Jump to a Section Rather Than Control F, Use Command F Search In a Document Search In a PDF Search On a Web Page Frequently Asked Questions What to Know With a connected keyboard, press Command+F.Without a keyboard, access the Find tool in the app.Open a PDF document in Files or Books and use the Search box. This article explains how to use the equivalent of the Windows shortcut Control F keyboard command on an iPad. With a keyboard shortcut, you can open the Find tool to search for a word or phrase in a document or on a web page. We'll also show you how to accomplish this even if you don't have a keyboard connected. Control F Is Command F With a Keyboard If you have any external keyboard connected to your iPad, simply open the document or web page and press Command+F to display the Find tool. Then enter a word or phrase in the search box and press Return to search. You’ll see your results highlighted. Search In a Document If you have a document in a word processing app like Pages, Microsoft Word, or Google Docs, you can use the app’s search feature. Search In Pages Open your document in the Pages app. Tap the three dots on the top right and select Find. Enter your word or phrase in the search box and tap Search. Use the arrows to view all instances of the search term and tap any spot in the document to close the Find tool. Search In Word Open your document in the Microsoft Word app. Tap the Find icon (magnifying glass) on the top right. Enter your word or phrase in the search box and tap Search. Use the arrows to review all instances of the search term and tap any location in the document to close the Find tool. Search In Google Docs Open your document in the Google Docs app. Tap the three dots on the top right and select Find and replace. Enter your word or phrase in the search box and tap Search. Use the arrows to see each instance of the search term and tap the X on the left to close the Find tool. Search In a PDF If you have a PDF file, you can open it in either the Files or Books app and search for what you need. Search In Files Open your PDF document in the Files app. Tap the Find icon (magnifying glass) on the top right. Enter your word or phrase in the search box above the keyboard and tap Search. Use the arrows to see all instances of the search term and tap Cancel to close the Find tool. Search In Books Open your PDF document in the Books app. Tap anywhere in the document to display the menu bar at the top. Select the Find icon (magnifying glass) on the top right. Enter your word or phrase in the search box. When you see the results below the search box, tap to highlight the word or phrase in the document. The Find tool closes automatically after it highlights your search term. Search On a Web Page Finding a word or phrase on a web page is easy to do with your web browser’s built-in search tool. Here, we’ll look at Safari and Chrome. Search In Safari With the web page open, tap inside the address bar at the top of Safari and enter your search word or phrase. In the list of results that appears, go to the bottom and you’ll see the On This Page section. Select the Find option for the word or phrase you entered. You’ll then see your search term highlighted. Use the arrows to see each instance of the search term and tap Done when you finish. Search In Chrome With the web page open in the Chrome app, tap the three dots on the top right. Scroll down and select Find in Page. Enter your word or phrase in the search box. You’ll then see the search term highlighted on the page. Use the arrows to view each instance and tap Done to close the Find tool. iPad Keyboard Tips and Smart Keyboard Shortcuts FAQ How do I Control F on a Mac? To use Control F on Mac, press Command+F on your keyboard. In Apple apps, select Edit > Find in the menu bar or use the search bar in the application. Should I buy an iPad keyboard? The on-screen keyboard may be better than a wired keyboard for some tasks. However, you should consider getting a keyboard for your iPad if you do a lot of typing on the go or you want to use your iPad like a computer. How do I make the keyboard bigger on my iPad? To get your keyboard back to normal size, put two fingers on the keyboard and spread them apart. You can use the Zoom feature to get a closer look or use a third-party app to have a larger keyboard. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit