How to use Control F on iPhone or iPad

If you do a lot of work on your computer, you’ve likely used the handy shortcut that allows you to search for words or phrases within a website or document. Control F on a Windows computer or Command F on a Mac is used to open up a search bar on your screen. This shortcut is great for scanning long documents or websites, but can you use it on an iPhone or iPad? 

The answer is complicated. There’s no Control or Command button on your iPhone, but there are ways to access the search function in different capacities. Here’s how to use ‘Control f’ on your iPhone or iPad. 

How to ctrl F on iPhone

The ‘Ctrl F’ feature on your iPhone is accessed differently depending on whether you want to search a document or website. For website searches, the сontrol F feature is different depending on the browser you use. That’s not to say that it’s difficult. Here are a few different scenarios where you may want to use the search function on your iPhone and how to go about it.

How to use Control F on a webpage using Safari

Here’s how to search for a text on iPhone if you use Safari as your browser of choice:

1. Open Safari and navigate to the webpage that you want to search.
2. Type the phrase you want to search for into the address bar.
3. Scroll down to ‘On This Page’ and tap ‘Find.’
4. The webpage will reopen with the phrase you searched for highlighted in yellow.
5. When you’ve found what you’re looking for, tap ‘Done.’

Use Control F on a webpage in Chrome

Here’s how to search for words on a page in iPhone Chrome app:

1. Open Chrome on your iPhone.
2. Navigate to a webpage that you want to search.
3. Tap the three dots in the bottom right corner of the screen.
4. Scroll down and tap ‘Find in Page…’ and tap ‘Search.’
5. Use the arrows next to the search bar to scroll through the different spots where the word or phrase is used. The search results will be highlighted in yellow.
6. Tap ‘Done’ when you’ve found what you’re looking for.

How to Command F on iPad or iPhone using Share

Using the Share option, you can search for a term on any webpage using Chrome or Safari. Follow these steps:

1. Open Safari or Chrome and navigate to the website you want to search.
2. Tap the share icon at the bottom of the screen.
3. Scroll down and tap ‘Find on Page’ in Safari or ‘Find in Page’ on Chrome.
4. Type in the term you want to search for in the search bar.
5. The terms will appear highlighted in yellow. You can use the up or down arrows to scroll through every instance where the term is used.
6. When you’ve found what you’re looking for, tap ‘Done.’

Can you use Control F in your Camera Roll?

The search feature in the Photos app will allow you to search for photos based on the date, location, or keyword, and while it’s not perfect, the search feature does narrow down the number of photos you have to look through to find your favorite.

To use the search function, simply tap the magnifying glass within Photos to open the search screen. Type in your keyword and scroll through the results until you find what you’re looking for. You can type in the name of a person, place, or date, or you can type a general term like ‘dog’ or ‘snow.’

Reduce clutter with CleanMy^®Phone

You know what makes searching for your favorite photos so much easier? Reducing the number of photos you have to scroll through! Having your iPhone with you at all times makes it incredibly easy to snap more photos than you’ll actually look at. Make a habit of reducing the clutter by using CleanMy®Phone. This handy app will sort your photos by duplicates, similar, and blurry images, so you can quickly get rid of the ones you don’t need. Use it often, and you’ll whittle down your photo gallery in no time.

How to find words or phrases in a Google Doc

Instead of using Control F in a Google Doc, you will have to use the Find and Replace feature to find words or phrases. Here’s how to do it:

1. Open a document in Google Docs.
2. Tap the three dots in the upper right corner.
3. Tap ‘Find and Replace.’
4. Tap the word you want to search for in the top search bar.
5. Use the arrows to scroll through all the instances where the word or phrase is used.
6. Tap the ‘X’ in the upper left corner when you’re done searching.

The Control F shortcut that is so common on computers doesn’t look the same on your iPhone, but the ability to search for words and phrases in websites and documents is available using different methods.