How to Search Inside PDF Files
Can’t find that PDF? Stop scrolling through folders. Tamsaek lets you search the actual text inside PDF files—find any document by its content, not just the file name.
The Problem
Section titled “The Problem”Built-in file search on macOS, Windows, and Linux only searches file names by default. If you have a PDF called document.pdf but need to find it by the text inside (like “quarterly revenue” or “project proposal”), you’re stuck manually opening files one by one.
The Solution
Section titled “The Solution”Tamsaek indexes the full text content of your PDF files, making every word searchable instantly.
How It Works
Section titled “How It Works”- Automatic Extraction: When you add a folder, Tamsaek extracts text from all PDFs
- Full-Text Index: Every word is indexed for instant search
- Smart Ranking: Results are ranked by relevance, not just recency
Searching PDF Content
Section titled “Searching PDF Content”Simply type your search query:
quarterly revenue 2024Tamsaek will find PDFs containing these words, even if the file is named something generic like report.pdf or scan001.pdf.
Useful Search Patterns
Section titled “Useful Search Patterns”| Search | Finds |
|---|---|
type:pdf contract | PDFs containing “contract” |
type:pdf "exact phrase" | PDFs with exact phrase match |
type:pdf invoice date:last-month | Recent PDF invoices |
type:pdf in:Downloads receipt | PDF receipts in Downloads folder |
Supported PDF Types
Section titled “Supported PDF Types”Tamsaek can extract text from:
- ✅ Text-based PDFs: Documents created from Word, Google Docs, etc.
- ✅ Searchable scanned PDFs: Scans with OCR text layer
- ❌ Image-only scanned PDFs: Scans without OCR (text as image)
Tip for Scanned Documents
Section titled “Tip for Scanned Documents”If you have scanned PDFs without text layers, use a tool like Adobe Acrobat or OCRmyPDF to add searchable text before indexing.
AI-Powered PDF Search
Section titled “AI-Powered PDF Search”Enable AI mode for natural language queries:
find the NDA I signed with Acme Corpshow me all invoices from last quarterthe presentation about market analysisAI mode understands context and intent, making it easier to find PDFs when you only remember vague details.
Optimizing PDF Search
Section titled “Optimizing PDF Search”1. Index the Right Folders
Section titled “1. Index the Right Folders”Only index folders containing documents you need to search:
~/Documents- Project folders
- Downloads (if you keep important PDFs there)
Avoid indexing system folders or large media libraries.
2. Wait for Initial Indexing
Section titled “2. Wait for Initial Indexing”PDF text extraction takes time on first run. You’ll see progress in the status bar. Search becomes faster after initial indexing.
3. Re-index After Adding Files
Section titled “3. Re-index After Adding Files”Tamsaek watches for new files automatically, but you can force a re-index from Settings → Sources → Re-index.
Troubleshooting
Section titled “Troubleshooting””Can’t find text in a PDF I know exists”
Section titled “”Can’t find text in a PDF I know exists””- Check if the PDF is in an indexed folder
- Verify the PDF has extractable text (not image-only)
- Try searching for a unique word from the document
”Search is slow for PDFs”
Section titled “”Search is slow for PDFs””- Let initial indexing complete (check status bar)
- Reduce number of indexed folders
- Exclude large PDF collections you don’t need to search