# How do I search in a Google Docs document? — DocFind

Last reviewed: October 15, 2026. HTML version: https://docfindapp.com/answers/search-in-a-google-doc

**On a computer, press Ctrl+F (⌘+F on a Mac) to find a word, and Ctrl+G to jump to the next match. For find and replace, press Ctrl+H (⌘+Shift+H on a Mac) or choose Edit, then Find and replace. In the Google Docs app on a phone, tap More, then Find and replace.** Below: the shortcuts, what the options do in a document as opposed to a spreadsheet, and how to search the menus rather than the text.

## The keyboard route on a computer <p>Google's shortcut list for Docs gives a family of four, each in Google's own labels: Find is Ctrl + f, Find and replace is Ctrl + h, Find again is Ctrl + g, and Find previous is Ctrl + Shift + g. On a Mac the letters are the same with ⌘ in place of Ctrl, except Find and replace, which is ⌘ + Shift + h ([*Keyboard shortcuts for Google Docs* (Computer), Google Docs Editors Help](https://support.google.com/docs/answer/179738?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop), read 15 October 2026). Find again is the one worth learning: once a word is found, you can walk through every use without touching the mouse.</p>

## Find and replace, and its two options <p>From the Edit menu, Find and replace opens a box where you type the word next to "Find" and move with Next and Prev. Google lists two ways to narrow it in a document: "Match case: Matches only words with the same capitalization", and "Match using regular expressions" ([*Search and use find and replace* (Computer), Google Docs Editors Help](https://support.google.com/docs/answer/62754?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop), read 15 October 2026). Replace changes the highlighted match and Replace all changes every one.</p> <p>Regular expressions in Docs come with limits that the same page spells out, and they catch people who learned them in Sheets:</p> <ul> <li>The anchors `^` (start) and `$` (end) are each marked "This regular expression only works with Google Sheets."</li> <li>Replacing with a pattern does not work in a document: "In Google Docs, any regex formatting entered into the 'Replace with' field will be inserted as literal text." So a capture-group reference typed in the replace box lands in your text exactly as typed.</li> <li>Google says its products "use RE2 for regular expressions", and that to search for a character with a special meaning, such as $, you put a backslash in front of it.</li> </ul> <p>So in a document, a pattern is good for finding, for example every five-digit number with `[0-9]{5}`, but any replacing is plain text.</p>

## In the Docs app on Android or iPhone <p>Google's Android steps: open the document, "Tap More" and then Find and replace, type the word, tap Search, and use the arrows at the top right to step through each use. Replacing is a further trip into More, with Replace for one match and Replace all for every one, and Done takes you back to the document ([*Search and use find and replace* (Android), Google Docs Editors Help](https://support.google.com/docs/answer/62754?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid), read 15 October 2026). On iPhone, after Search you tap Replace with; the button that replaces every match is labelled All, and Close returns you to the document ([*Search and use find and replace* (iPhone version), Google Docs Editors Help](https://support.google.com/docs/answer/62754?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DiOS), read 15 October 2026). Neither phone version of the page mentions match case or regular expressions, so for those, open the document on a computer.</p>

## Searching the menus instead of the text <p>Sometimes the thing you are looking for is a command, such as word count or page numbers, not a word. Docs has a separate search for that, which Google now calls the Tool finder ("formerly search the menus"), opened with Alt + / on Windows and ChromeOS or Option + / on a Mac (the *Keyboard shortcuts for Google Docs* page above). It searches the menus, not your document, so it will not find a sentence.</p>

## Which document was it in? <p>Find works inside the document that is open. To look across all your documents, use the search bar in Google Drive, which Google says can work with "text within the file". Its advanced search lists `type:document` as an example, and quotes find "an exact word or phrase" ([*Search for files in Google Drive* (Computer), Google Drive Help](https://support.google.com/drive/answer/2375114?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop), read 15 October 2026). So `type:document "notice period"` asks Drive for documents containing that phrase; open the one it returns and press Ctrl+F to land on it. The same idea for spreadsheets is on [searching in Google Sheets](https://docfindapp.com/answers/search-in-google-sheets), and Word, Pages and Notes are on [finding a specific word in a document](https://docfindapp.com/answers/find-a-specific-word-in-a-document).</p>

Related: [Find a specific word in a document](https://docfindapp.com/answers/find-a-specific-word-in-a-document) · [Ctrl+F on a phone](https://docfindapp.com/answers/ctrl-f-on-a-phone) · [Search in Google Sheets](https://docfindapp.com/answers/search-in-google-sheets) · [Search in a Pages document](https://docfindapp.com/answers/search-in-a-pages-document)