How to Find Multiple Words on a Page in Chrome With an Extension

The standard Ctrl + F shortcut to find words in Google Chrome has helped many people look for a particular passage or sentence. However, on dense websites, you may not locate the specific section in mind. That’s why some developers created extensions that look for multiple words.

If you’re looking for reliable extensions that make searching for content more manageable, you’ve come to the right place. Below are some of the best options available now. Read on to find out more.

Default Ctrl + F

Ctrl + F doesn’t just work in Google Chrome, but it’s a shortcut in many popular programs like Microsoft Word and more. Simply press these two buttons, and you can type a word or passage in the text field. Sadly, when you enter multiple words, you can’t search for them individually like the extensions we’ll cover can.

As a result, these extensions are far more helpful than the default Ctrl + F command.

Use Extensions Instead

Chrome extensions are useful add-ons your browser can use. They’re effortless to download and install. The ones we cover are all free to add to Chrome.

Find Many Strings

Find Many String is a free extension you can download that uses Chrome’s built-in find function, namely the Ctrl + F shortcut. With Find Many Strings, you can enter multiple words, and each will be highlighted in a different color from the rest. That way, you won’t get confused about which word the extension found.

This is an open-source app that doesn’t store any of your data. It also only requires a few permissions for the highlighting.

Once you download this extension, set it up and start searching. That’s all you need to do.

Multiple Search and Highlight

The publisher of Multiple Search and Highlight designed this extension to work fast on large documents and web pages. It’s the perfect add-on to install if you’re looking for particular words in a hurry. With native highlighting, the process is sped up immensely.

Even with more than one query, Multiple Search and Highlight will search for each word rapidly. It supports several different word separators to let you pick according to your preference.

1. Download this extension.
   
2. Go to the Settings menu.
   
3. Head to the Extensions section.
   
4. Look for Multiple Search and Highlight.
   
5. Open the interface.
6. Assign a keyboard shortcut to the extension.
7. Once done, type your words.
   
8. Press Enter or Shift + Enter to look for the matches.
   
9. When you’re finished, press the Esc key to hide the panel.
   

You can also use Shift + Esc to hide the panel but keep the highlights on the webpage. The developer states that even when offline, you can use this extension to search for specific words on PDF files. Therefore, it has no server-side interaction at all.

Multi Search & Multi Jump

The publisher of Multi Search & Multi Jump designed this extension to search for multiple results, similar to Multiple Search and Highlight. However, there are still differences between the two, such as the following:

• You can use F1 to F12 in Multi Search & Multi Jump to find the first 12 words.
• It can only use single-byte spaces as word separators.

Other functions include single word search, RegExp search, and persistent highlighting even if you click on the page. The default search function on Chrome disappears when you do that, so Multi Search & Multi Jump helps make searching more convenient.

RegEXP searching is for advanced users. Those who want this function will enjoy Multi Search & Multi Jump.

efTwo (F2)

efTwo is a multi-word search extension that highlights multiple words in different colors. The shortcut key is the F key. Simply tap the key two times rapidly, and you can start searching. The best feature of efTwo is that it searches regardless of inflection or connection.

For example, if you’re looking for “cabbage” on the webpage, efTwo will include “cabbages” in the highlighted results. The F2 button is the “next result” button, but you can also use the arrows on the search bar interface.

The developers even allow setting custom shortcuts so users can switch to any keys they like instead of the default choices.

efTwo also has a setting to fill the search box with the latest Google Search keywords you just entered. That’s an optional setting that certain people will find helpful.

Looking for words can be challenging because not all extensions understand inflections and variants. With efTwo, you can eliminate this problem and search without worry.

Quick Find for Google Chrome

Quick Find is Peter Shin’s effort to bring Mozilla Firefox’s search functions to Google Chrome. If you’re a pro with Firefox’s Quick Find feature, you’ll feel right at home using this Chrome counterpart.

Quick Find even has a “Links Only” option that helps you look for links. If a word is part of another URL, the mode will immediately let you open that link in a new tab. It’s much faster than right-clicking a hyperlink after scouring the page manually.

Of course, there’s a multi-word search mode, as with the others on this list. One problem many of these extensions suffer from is the tendency to look messy. Having too many highlights can be distracting, but Peter Shin developed a new solution.

This extension separates itself from the rest by highlighting the words and displaying different ones in individual text boxes. Users only have to search in the text box to locate a specific result. This feature makes Quick Find incredibly convenient.

There are many other functions you can employ with Quick Find. Consult the instructions, and you’ll be overwhelmed with features you never knew you needed.

Highlighty

This unique extension doesn’t just function brilliantly but sports a colorful minimalist interface that isn’t excessively overwhelming. Highlighty will notify users if queries aren’t on the page, a powerful function surprisingly lacking on many older counterparts.

There are plenty of highlights once you enter a multi-word search. The best part is you can use a slider and change the color of any individual word you wish. The first color of every new query is randomly generated.

Highlighty works on every tab in your current instance of Google Chrome. This small change makes it incredibly convenient since Ctrl + F on Chrome must be pressed every time you switch tabs.

Depending on your needs, you can pick from a basic view and an advanced view that reveals the extra functions. The extension’s settings allow for in-depth customization and the perfect experience.

By default, Highlighty has a two-character minimum. This is because finding thousands of letters is taxing for the extension. However, you may choose to remove the limit if the situation requires it.

The up and down arrow keys let you jump from result to result on the page. The same also happens by clicking on the navigation bar’s arrows.

Extra functions include the following:

• Case sensitivity
• Diacritic sensitivity
• Split search
• Complete word search
• Saved words list
• Whitelisted websites

With a customizable UI and many other functions, it’s incredible that Highlighty is entirely free to download and use. It even works offline.

Using These Extensions

No matter which extension you pick, their operation methods are usually similar at the elementary level. You bring up a search bar, type several words, and start searching for them. Navigate the page as you need and look for the specific passages or sentences you want.

Happy Searching

Instead of being locked to Google Chrome’s default search tool, you can try any of these free-to-download extensions. They can perform multi-word searches and many other functions you might never have expected. Spend less time searching and more time writing instead.

Are there any other extensions you know of? What do you think was the best one on this list? Let us know in the comments section below.