Searching Multiple PDFs at Once: Tips and Best Methods

When I had dozens of PDFs to go through, it frustrated me because finding specific information felt like searching for a needle in a haystack. Most PDF readers only let me search one file at a time, which slowed down my workflow and wasted hours.

I began exploring PDF management tools that could help me in searching multiple PDFs at once to save my time. While exploring, I discovered UPDF, allowing me to search for specific information in multiple documents. Keep reading this guide to see how I manage my workflow and PDFs easily.

Part 1. Why You Might Need to Search Multiple PDFs at Once?

First off, let me share some reasons why searching multiple PDFs at once became an essential part of my daily workflow.

1. Slow Searches: Sometimes, I had to go through the PDFs individually to find a single phrase; hours were spent, slowing my progress.
2. Single-File Limitation: The vast majority of PDF readers enabled searching only on a single file, which means that I had to repeat the process with each document, which was inconvenient with a lot of documents.
3. Inefficiency: This was because the manual system of going through all the documents made it hard to remember which files I had already read.
4. Threat of Lost Information: Reading PDFs one by one led to the loss of information or keywords, which led to mistakes and time wastage.
5. Managing Large Volumes: A large set of PDFs without a batch search tool created chaos and made it hard to locate content across files.

Use Cases

After discussing the reasons, I’ll share some use cases for searching multiple PDFs:

1. Analysis of Legal Documents: To locate information on a particular clause in PDFs, legal professionals have to sift through a massive amount of case files to locate such information.
2. Academic Research: Researchers and students search through PDF journal articles to find literature reviews, citation collection, and locate all the literature available on a specific topic.​
3. Compliance and Auditing: Organizations performing compliance audits require the ability to search through financial records and policy documents to locate evidence of specific procedures being followed.

Part 2. How to Search Multiple PDFs at Once?

Once I realized the need for searching multiple PDFs at once, I started exploring tools to make my document search more organized. Below, I’ve shared some tools with a detailed guide on how to search multiple PDFs at once.

1. UPDF 

While exploring the tools, the best option was UPDF, which allowed me to search for a specific phrase from multiple PDF files. Its PC and mobile versions have the capabilities of merging multiple PDF files and performing a search. With this, I am also able to edit, annotate, and organize documents, along with staying productive without being concerned about the time spent switching between files.

Apart from all this, it can also perform OCR on scanned PDFs before merging them for accurate text searches. UPDF also offered a simple interface that made navigation quick, and its advanced search accuracy helped me locate the exact information I needed without errors or delays. Now, I’ll share how you can search multiple PDFs and scanned documents with this tool.

For PC

Follow the steps below to see how I search multiple PDFs with UPDF’s PC version:

Step 1. Access UPDF’s Batch Merge Tool

Once you enter the main interface, press the “Tools” button and hit the “Merge” tool to proceed further.

Step 2. Import PDF Files and Merge

On the screen, import PDF files, set a page orientation from the “Page Size Options” and “File Name”. Next, hit the “Apply” button to merge files.

Step 3. Search From Merged PDF File

After the files are merged, open the merged file in UPDF and hit the “Search” on the right menu bar. Then, type the text in the search bar to search for a specific term in PDF files.

For Mobile

Now, follow the steps below to see how I handled searching multiple PDFs using UPDF’s mobile version.

You can also download UPDF from App Store and Google Play.

Step 1. Import Multiple PDFs in UPDF

First off, tap on the “+” icon and hit the “Files” button to proceed further.

Step 2. Select and Merge PDF Files

Next, click “Tools > Combine” to select the files and hit the “Continue” button to merge all PDFs.

Step 3. Search in The Merged PDF File

In the end, open the merged PDF file and use the “Find” option to search for anything in the PDF.

Now that you know how searching multiple PDFs can be done through UPDF, let me share how I used to search multiple scanned PDFs.

For PC (Scanned Documents)

Adhere to the steps below to see how I merge multiple scanned documents on my PC:

Step 1. Batch OCR Scanned PDF Files

First off, press the “OCR” tool in the “Tools” section to proceed to the next screen.

Step 2. Import Scanned PDFs and Perform OCR

Now, import scanned PDF files and select the “Editable PDF” option. Next, hit the “Apply” button to initiate OCR.

Step 3. Merge The New Files

In the next step, access the “Merge” tool from the “Tools” section and import new PDFs. Next, press the “Apply” button after setting page orientation and file name.

Step 4. Search in Merged Scanned PDFs

Lastly, open the new file in UPDF and search in the new merged file.

For Mobile (Scanned Documents)

Go through the steps below to see how I manage searching multiple PDFs at once on my mobile device.

Step 1. Import Multiple PDFs in UPDF

First off, tap on the “+” icon and hit the “Files” button to proceed further.

Step 2. Select and Merge PDF Files

Next, click “Tools > Combine” to select the files and hit the “Continue” button to merge all PDFs.

Step 3. Perform OCR of Merged Files

Now, use the “OCR” tool and import the merged file into UPDF. Next, choose the desired “OCR Recognition Type” and “Language” and hit the “Continue” option to start OCR.

Step 4. Search in The New File

Lastly, hit the “Find” option to search for anything in the new file.

2. Adobe Acrobat

It is a PDF tool that is utilized to create and edit PDF documents and that offers features of electronic signatures and file conversion. Adobe Acrobat will enable users to locate particular words or metadata throughout a whole folder of PDFs to save time and enhance precision in research activities. To find out how to search several PDFs at once, do the following:

Step 1. Firstly, press the “Menu” tab to open the drop-down menu. Next, hover the mouse pointer over the “Search” option and press the Advanced Search option.

Step 2. Once a new window appears, select the “All PDF Documents in” option and choose the location where all PDFs are saved. Next, type the text, tick all options below, and hit the “Search” button to initiate the search process.

3. Foxit PDF Reader

It is a document management tool used to view and annotate PDF documents, available across major platforms. Foxit offers cloud integration and automated features to make document processing and sharing easy for users. Additionally, Foxit PDF Reader is also used for searching multiple PDFs in a folder. Go through the guide below to see how this platform can search multiple PDFs:

Step 1. On the main interface, click on the “Search Bar” and hit the “Advanced Search” option in the drop-down menu.

Step 2. Select the file location, type the text to search in the Search bar, and select all options below. Next, hit the “Search” button to find all PDFs.

4. Windows File Explorer

With multiple PDF files, it is not always easy to search for a particular content in many files. Luckily, Windows File Explorer gives one an easy option of doing a search of the text of multiple PDFs simultaneously. The users can find the information that is spread over many PDF files with just a few settings. Adhere to the steps below to search multiple PDFs using Windows File Explorer:

Step 1. Select the “Folder” that contains PDFs and hit the “Options” button from the “View” tab. A new folder section pop-up window will appear, click on the “Search” tab, and tick the “Always Search File Names and Contents” option before clicking on the “Apply” button.

Step 2. Lastly, open the PDF folder and type the keyword in the “Search” bar to look for multiple PDFs.

Part 3. Using UPDF to Analyze or Summarize the PDFs You Find

Once I successfully finished searching multiple PDFs at once with UPDF, my next task was to understand the identified PDF files without reading them thoroughly. This is where I got introduced to the UPDF Online, which allowed me to chat with PDF directly via browser. Its Chat Project feature helped me summarize multiple PDF files simultaneously. Follow the steps below to understand multiple PDF files at once:

Step 1. Create New Chat Project and Upload PDF Files

Once you enter the UPDF Online interface, click on the “New Project” and press the “Upload Multiple Files” option to upload PDFs. Next, hit the “Start Chat with Project” button to proceed further.

Step 2. Summarize The PDF File

Now, press the “Summarize” button in the chat to get a detailed summary of your PDF file.

Step 3. Translate The PDF Content

Next, press the “Translate PDF” button and choose the “Side-by-Side Translation” option to translate the entire PDF file into another language. Lastly, hit the “Download” button to download the translated PDF file.

Conclusion

In conclusion, searching multiple PDFs simultaneously transformed the way I manage large collections of documents. I explored multiple tools that supported batch searches, but most lacked speed and accuracy. Among all available options, UPDF helped me locate multiple PDFs and manage all my files in one place. If you want a smarter way to handle your documents, I recommend using UPDF for more organized work.