Having the web at our fingertips has dramatically improved our access to information. I wrote previously (here) about how to search for information both on your device and across the web. However, once you find a web page it can be difficult to find the specific information you want on that page. While it’s not obvious, there is a simple way to search for text on a web page.

Find On Page

Maybe you’re reading a web site review of recent laptops and want to quickly find the section about Apple, or you’re reading a recipe and want to find where a specific ingredient is discussed. If so, Find on Page is the answer.

To start, use Safari to go to a web page. In this example, we are looking for outdoor speakers on amazon.com:

At the top of the page you can read about the top pick, but there are many results listed. If you want to find a specific speaker brand, say Yamaha, you could scroll and scroll looking for it. Instead, just tap the Share button at the bottom of the screen (the button is at the top on an iPad):

(If the toolbar is hidden, then tap the bottom of the screen on iPhone, or the top of the screen on iPad)

The Share Sheet appears. The bottom section contains actions you can perform on the current page. Scroll the bottom section to the left until you see Find on Page and tap it:

The search box will appear above the keyboard. Type the word or phrase you’d like to find and the page will automatically jump to the first instance of what you typed and highlight it:

Use the arrows to search for more instances either before for after the current location:

When you are finished searching, just tap Done:

Hidden, But Useful

Many web pages have a lot of information on them and this hidden feature makes it simple to find what you need. I hope this makes web browsing on your mobile device even better.

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