Once your doc grows beyond a page or two, you’ll likely find yourself needing to quickly search for content. Coda has a number of tools to help you search, find, and jump to the right spot in your doc.
The primary method of search is the in-doc search tool, found at the top of the page list in every doc. Here, you can type in keywords, and you’ll see matching results across your whole doc - including within tables. You can even use this search tool to search across docs. Continue reading to learn how.
Within this article, you’ll find...
Search across your doc (and beyond)
If you want to find something in your doc, the in-doc search at the top of your doc's page list is the best place to start. This is especially handy if you want to look across all pages, subpages, and tables in your doc. And if you can’t remember whether what you’re searching for is in this doc or another doc in your workspace - fear not! This in-doc search tool also allows you to search across other docs in your workspace.
💡 When you first click into this search tool, you’ll see some recent searches and recent visits. You can click any of these to quickly pick up where you left off.
To run a new search, locate the magnifying glass icon towards the top-left corner of your doc, at the top of the page list. If the page list is hidden, simply hover over the left edge of your doc to quickly reveal it. Once you click this icon, a search modal will open.
Before you even start typing, you’ll see some recent searches and recent visits. But if those aren't quite what you're looking for, just start typing your keywords.
By default, the search will start within the current doc. However, you can easily expand the search to all docs in your workspace by deselecting the In this doc tile just below the search bar. And you can add other search parameters as needed.
Add parameters to your search
Within this expanded view, you have several tools for tailoring your search:
All docs vs. This doc: Use the In this doc tile in the upper left to specify whether to search across all docs you have access to or just the current doc.
Docs, Pages, Tables: At the top of the search view, you’ll see tiles for Docs, Pages, or Tables. You can select any of these (or a combination) to limit your results to specific object types.
Docs will search for matching doc titles.
Pages will search for matching page names and page content.
Tables will search for matching table names and table row content.
Additional filters: Click on More filters to reveal some additional filter options.
In: Allows you to filter by particular workspaces or folders.
People: Filter results by who the doc is owned by or shared with.
Packs: This filter will match sync table titles or sync table row content from the selected Pack(s).
Date: Filter results by the date (or date range) last modified or created.
Exact match: Check this box if you only want to see exact matches of your search terms.
Previews: Hover over the results in the expanded search to see previews.
Finally, once you’ve found the desired result from your search, just select it from the list - or hit Enter on your keyboard - to access it. If the result is from a separate doc, a new tab will open. If the result is within your current doc, you’ll stay in the same tab. Pro tip: You can use ⌘ + click on a Mac - or Ctrl + click on a PC - to always open the result in a new tab.
Search in specific tables
Sometimes, you may not want or need to search across your entire doc. Maybe you are working out of a particular table and just need to find items in that table that match your particular search terms. That’s where table search comes in!
To search in a specific table, just hover over the table and look for the search bar in the upper right corner. Start typing, and any rows that don’t match your search will be filtered out. This search functionality scans across all visible columns, including text values from select lists, number columns, and users in the people column.
Note that only you will be able to see this filtering - the table will look the same as always to anyone else in the doc.
To end the search and return the table to its previous state, just click the small x to the right of your search terms.
FAQs
Does Coda's doc search have stemming ability?
Does Coda's doc search have stemming ability?
Yes - Coda's in-doc search does support "stemming," or the ability to discern the stems of words and return matching results. For instance, if you search for "ticketing," Coda will also return results for "ticket." This ensures that you don't miss any possible matches.
How do I search across all docs?
How do I search across all docs?
To search for content across all docs you have access to, first open the search modal by clicking the magnifying glass icon at the top of the doc's page list. In the expanded search, click on the In this doc to deselect it. You are now searching across all docs.
Can I search across multiple workspaces?
Can I search across multiple workspaces?
Yes - by default, in-doc search will search across all workspaces of which you’re a member. In other words, you can search across all docs in all your workspaces, right from within a doc.
If you prefer to limit your search to only one specific workspace, you can do this by clicking on More filters, hovering over the In parameter, then hovering over All workspaces. Here you will see a list of all your workspaces, where you can select one workspace at a time.
Will hidden pages appear in search?
Will hidden pages appear in search?
Hidden page titles and canvas content will not be visible in search results unless the searcher has already revealed the hidden pages in the doc (via the Show hidden pages option). Table content on hidden pages will always be visible in search results. As a reminder, hidden pages should not be considered a security feature.
Hidden page titles and canvas content will not be visible in editor/viewer search results*.
*Note: there are some caveats where this behavior won’t be applied consistently. One notable scenario is that search indexing is done in the background, so there may be some delay in between when a page is marked hidden v.s. when the search index is updated with this information.