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 bar, found at the top of every doc. Here, you can type in keywords, and you’ll see previews of matching results across your whole doc - including within tables. But there are other search features in a doc that can help with more targeted searching.

Search across your doc (and beyond)

If you want to find something in your doc, the in-doc search bar across the top of your doc 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 if what you’re searching for is in this doc or another doc in your workspace - fear not! This in-doc search bar also allows you to search across other docs in your workspace.

💡 When you first click into this search bar, 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, just start typing in the search bar. As you do, you’ll see a list of Top results for quick access. But if these results aren’t what you’re looking for, you can enter an expanded search by clicking Enter on your keyboard. This will open a more in-depth search tool.

A gif showing a user searching for a word and selecting an option from search results.

Add parameters to your search

Within this expanded view, you have several tools for tailoring your search:

All docs vs. This doc: Use this toggle 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.

A gif showing a user filtering their search results.

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.

A gif showing how to use table search at the top of a specific table.

To end the search and return the table to it’s previous state, just click the small x to the right of your search terms.

FAQs

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?

To search for content across all docs you have access to, you can simply type in the in-doc search bar (at the top of your doc), then hit Enter on your keyboard. In the expanded search bar, make sure the toggle is set to All docs.

A gif showing how to toggle between All docs and This doc in the search modal.

Alternatively, when you first type your keywords in the search bar, you’ll see two options at the top: one with an icon of a doc and magnifying glass (and the words “in: This doc”), the other with just a magnifying glass. Click on the former to search just within the current doc, or click on the latter to search across all docs.

An image showing a search for the word "test", with the search modal focused on results in this doc.

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.

An image of the search modal's filtering options, with a specific workspace highlighted.

Will hidden pages appear in search?

Hidden page titles and canvas content will not be visible in search results unless the searcher has toggled Show hidden pages on in the docs’ three-dot menu*. 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.

Does the “Top results” section show results from only the current doc or from all docs?

This depends on your last search. If you last searched just within the current doc, then your next search will default to showing only results from the current doc in the Top results section. Alternatively, if your previous search was across all docs, then your next search will show results from all docs in Top results.