Most programs that display documents such as PDFs, word-processing files or Web pages have a built-in "Find" tool that allows users to quickly search the document for instances of a specific word. This feature is more advanced in some programs than in others. The "Find" tool in Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat allows users to type a specific word and the program automatically displays the total number of times that word appears in the current document. Google Chrome and Internet Explorer offer the same information. However, Firefox requires users to manually count the number of highlighted instances.
Microsoft Word
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Step 1
Open the desired document in Microsoft Word.
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Step 2
Click the "Home" tab and click the "Find" icon in the "Editing" group.
Step 3
Type the desired word in the search field and click the "Reading Highlight" button.
Step 4
Select "Highlight All" and Word highlights all of the instances in the document and displays the total number of results in the dialog box.
Adobe Acrobat
Step 1
Open the desired PDF document in Adobe Acrobat.
Step 2
Press "Shift"+"CTRL"+"F" to open the full search panel.
Step 3
Type the desired word in the search field and click "Search" to display the total number of instances of the word found in the document.
Web Browsers
Step 1
Open your preferred Web browser and navigate to the desired Web page.
Step 2
Press "Ctrl"+"F" to open the search tool.
Step 3
Type the desired word in the search bar. Google Chrome and Internet Explorer users receive an automatic calculation of the number of instances of their target word. Firefox users continue to the next step.
Step 4
Press the "Highlight All" button to highlight all of the instances of your chosen word.
Step 5
Count each of the highlighted words to determine the total number of instances of the target word in the current document.