---
title: "Search text in PDF with Android library | Nutrient SDK"
canonical_url: "https://www.nutrient.io/guides/android/features/text-search/"
md_url: "https://www.nutrient.io/guides/android/features/text-search.md"
last_updated: "2026-06-09T10:31:08.444Z"
description: "To search text inside a document, create an instance of TextSearch, passing in the loaded PdfDocument via its constructor."
---

# Search for text in PDFs on Android

To search text inside a document, create an instance of [`TextSearch`](https://www.nutrient.io/api/android/nutrient/com.pspdfkit.document.search/-text-search/index.html), passing in the loaded [`PdfDocument`](https://www.nutrient.io/api/android/nutrient/com.pspdfkit.document/-pdf-document/index.html) via its constructor. The simplest way to retrieve search results is by calling [`TextSearch#performSearch(String)`](https://www.nutrient.io/api/android/nutrient/com.pspdfkit.document.search/-text-search/perform-search.html), which will return a list of found [`SearchResult`](https://www.nutrient.io/api/android/nutrient/com.pspdfkit.document.search/-search-result/index.html) objects. If a search has no results, this method will return an empty list:

### KOTLIN

```kotlin

val textSearch = TextSearch(document, configuration)
val query = "Weather reports"
val searchResults : List<SearchResult> = textSearch.performSearch(query)

```

### JAVA

```java

final TextSearch textSearch = new TextSearch(document, configuration);
final String query = "Weather reports";
final List<SearchResult> searchResults = textSearch.performSearch(query);

```

[`#performSearch`](https://www.nutrient.io/api/android/nutrient/com.pspdfkit.document.search/-text-search/perform-search.html) is a blocking call and should only be used on a background thread.

### Asynchronous search

To keep the main thread operational and to avoid ANR dialogs while performing a search, you can use the non-blocking [`#performSearchAsync`](https://www.nutrient.io/api/android/nutrient/com.pspdfkit.document.search/-text-search/perform-search-async.html) method, which will return a [`Flowable<SearchResult>`](http://reactivex.io/RxJava/2.x/javadoc/io/reactivex/Flowable.html). The flowable emits search results as soon as they are available — you can already use them during the ongoing search, e.g. to populate your search UI:

### KOTLIN

```kotlin

// Perform an async search on a computation thread and update the UI on the main thread.
val searchSubscription = search.performSearchAsync(query).subscribeOn(Schedulers.computation()).observeOn(AndroidSchedulers.mainThread()).subscribe { nextResult ->
        // This will be called once for every `SearchResult` object.
        // Put your search result handling here.
    }

```

### JAVA

```java

// Perform an async search on a computation thread and update the UI on the main thread.
final Disposable searchSubscription = textSearch.performSearchAsync(query).subscribeOn(Schedulers.computation()).observeOn(AndroidSchedulers.mainThread()).subscribe(nextResult -> {
        // This will be called once for every `SearchResult` object.
        // Put your search result handling here.
    })

```

You can use [`Flowable#toList`](http://reactivex.io/RxJava/2.x/javadoc/io/reactivex/Flowable.html#toList()) to collect all search results if you want to handle them at once.

### Specify search options

Both methods — [`#performSearch`](https://www.nutrient.io/api/android/nutrient/com.pspdfkit.document.search/-text-search/perform-search.html) and [`#performSearchAsync`](https://www.nutrient.io/api/android/nutrient/com.pspdfkit.document.search/-text-search/perform-search-async.html) — offer overloaded versions that take [`SearchOptions`](https://www.nutrient.io/api/android/nutrient/com.pspdfkit.document.search/-search-options/index.html) for specifying search options. Use this to limit search results or search result snippet length:

### KOTLIN

```kotlin

val options = SearchOptions.Builder().maxSearchResults(100).snippetLength(40).build()

val results = textSearch.performSearch(query, options)

```

### JAVA

```java

final SearchOptions options = new SearchOptions.Builder().maxSearchResults(100).snippetLength(40).build();

final List<SearchResult> results = textSearch.performSearch(query, options);

```

Calling [`#performSearch(String)`](https://www.nutrient.io/api/android/nutrient/com.pspdfkit.document.search/-text-search/perform-search.html) without options will use default options.

#### Compare options

[`SearchOptions.Builder#compareOptions()`](https://www.nutrient.io/api/android/nutrient/com.pspdfkit.document.search/-search-options/-builder/compare-options.html) can be used to tweak how the text search matches its results. A combination of the following options is possible.

| Compare Option        | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| --------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| CASE_INSENSITIVE      | Text search ignores case when this option is used.                                                                                                                                                                                                |
| DIACRITIC_INSENSITIVE | Text search ignores diacritic when this option is used.                                                                                                                                                                                           |
| SMART_SEARCH          | Enables smart search. Smart search ignores white spaces and hyphens. It also resolves typographic quotes and apostrophes. For example, when searching for standard quotes or apostrophes, typographic variants such as `“”«»„“` are also matched. |
| REGULAR_EXPRESSION    | Enables regular expression search. When this option is used, the `SMART_SEARCH` option is ignored.                                                                                                                                                |

Nutrient uses a combination of `CASE_INSENSITIVE`, `DIACRITIC_INSENSITIVE`, and `SMART_SEARCH` compare options by default.

[`TextSearch`](https://www.nutrient.io/api/android/nutrient/com.pspdfkit.document.search/-text-search/index.html) uses regular expression capabilities available in Java. Refer to the [`Pattern` documentation](https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/java/util/regex/Pattern.html) for the supported regular expression syntax.

## Using search results

Every [`SearchResult`](https://www.nutrient.io/api/android/nutrient/com.pspdfkit.document.search/-search-result/index.html) consists of the `pageNumber`, a `textBlock` containing the PDF coordinates on the page, and an optional `snippet` containing a preview text usable for showing text around search matches in the user interface. For example, if you would like to zoom to a search result, you can do the following:

### KOTLIN

```kotlin

// The search result consists of at least one text rect. This will create a union of all of its rects.
val searchResultRect: RectF = PdfUtils.createPdfRectUnion(searchResult.textBlock.pageRects)
// This will also switch to the correct page if it is not active.
fragment.zoomTo(searchResultRect, searchResult.pageNumber, 200)

```

### JAVA

```java

// The search result consists of at least one text rect. This will create a union of all of its rects.
final RectF searchResultRect = PdfUtils.createPdfRectUnion(searchResult.textBlock.pageRects);
// This will also switch to the correct page if it is not active.
fragment.zoomTo(searchResultRect, searchResult.pageNumber, 200);

```

[`SearchResult#snippet`](https://www.nutrient.io/api/android/nutrient/com.pspdfkit.document.search/-search-result/index.html) can be used to present an upfront preview of the search result — for example, inside a search result list. The snippet consists of both the `text` and the `rangeInSnippet`, the latter of which gives the position of the actual result inside the snippet:

### MAINACTIVITY.KT

```kt

// Use the synthetic property for accessing a view from the layout.
import kotlinx.android.synthetic.main.activity_main.previewText

/**
 * Sets the search result snippet to a TextView highlighting the actual search term inside the result.
 */
private fun showSearchResultText(result: SearchResult) {
    // If you deactivated snippet extraction, it may be `null`.
    val snippet = result.snippet?: return

    // This is the location of the search term inside the snippet.
    val highlightStart = snippet.rangeInSnippet.startPosition
    val highlightEnd = snippet.rangeInSnippet.endPosition

    val previewText = SpannableString(snippet.text)
    val resultHighlight = BackgroundColorSpan(Color.YELLOW)
    previewText.setSpan(resultHighlight, highlightStart, highlightEnd, 0)
}

```

### MAINACTIVITY.JAVA

```java

// This has to be inflated from your layout before using it.
private TextView previewText;

/**
 * Sets the search result snippet to a TextView highlighting the actual search term inside the result.
 */
private void showSearchResultText(@NonNull final SearchResult result) {
    // If you deactivated snippet extraction, it may be `null`.
    if (result.snippet == null) return;

    // This is the location of the search term inside the snippet.
    final int highlightStart = result.snippet.rangeInSnippet.getStartPosition();
    final int highlightEnd = result.snippet.rangeInSnippet.getEndPosition();

    final SpannableString previewText = new SpannableString(result.snippet.text);
    final BackgroundColorSpan resultHighlight = new BackgroundColorSpan(Color.YELLOW);
    previewText.setSpan(resultHighlight, highlightStart, highlightEnd, 0);
}

```

The `SearchResult#snippet` may be `null` if you deactivated snippet extraction by setting the `SearchOptions.Builder#snippetLength` to `0`.

## Highlighting search results

To display search results on the [`PdfFragment`](https://www.nutrient.io/api/android/nutrient/com.pspdfkit.ui/-pdf-fragment/index.html), create a [`SearchResultHighlighter`](https://www.nutrient.io/api/android/nutrient/com.pspdfkit.ui.search/-search-result-highlighter/index.html) and register it with your fragment. Once you have a list of search results, you can start highlighting them by calling [`#setSearchResults`](https://www.nutrient.io/api/android/nutrient/com.pspdfkit.ui.search/-search-result-highlighter/set-search-results.html) on the highlighter:

### MAINACTIVITY.KT

```kt

lateinit var highlighter : SearchResultHighlighter

/** Holds your PdfFragment. You don't need to define this when using PdfActivity. */
val fragment: PdfFragment

override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)

    // The context is used to retrieve the highlighter color from the theme.
    highlighter = SearchResultHighlighter(context)
    fragment.addDrawableProvider(highlighter)
}

/**
 * Called by your application once a search is finished.
 * The highlighter will immediately start highlighting the given results.
 */
fun onSearchFinished(searchResults : List<SearchResult>) = highlighter.setSearchResults(searchResults)

```

### MAINACTIVITY.JAVA

```java

private SearchResultHighlighter highlighter;

@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

    // This is possible in all `PdfActivity` subclasses.
    // If you aren't using `PdfActivity`, replace this with your own code.
    final PdfFragment fragment = getPdfFragment();

    // The context is used to retrieve the highlighter color from the theme.
    highlighter = new SearchResultHighlighter(context);
    fragment.addDrawableProvider(highlighter);

    //...
}

/**
 * Called by your application once a search is finished.
 */
private void onSearchFinished(@NonNull final List<SearchResult> searchResults) {
    // The highlighter will immediately start highlighting the given results.
    highlighter.setSearchResults(searchResults);
}

```

### Emphasizing the selected result

You can emphasize a single, selected search result, which will reveal itself with a pop-out animation and receive an additional border. Note that you can only select a search result that was previously set on the highlighter using [`#setSearchResults(List<SearchResult>)`](https://www.nutrient.io/api/android/nutrient/com.pspdfkit.ui.search/-search-result-highlighter/set-search-results.html). Setting a search result that was not previously added will raise an exception:

### MAINACTIVITY.KT

```kt

/**
 * Called by your application, e.g. if the user taps a search result inside a list.
 */
fun onSearchResultSelected(selectedResult : SearchResult) =
    highlighter.setSelectedSearchResult(selectedResult)

```

### MAINACTIVITY.JAVA

```java

/**
 * Called by your application, e.g. if the user taps a search result inside a list.
 */
private void onSearchResultSelected(@NonNull final SearchResult selectedResult) {
    highlighter.setSelectedSearchResult(selectedResult);
}

```

[`SearchResultHighlighter#setSelectedSearchResult`](https://www.nutrient.io/api/android/nutrient/com.pspdfkit.ui.search/-search-result-highlighter/set-selected-search-result.html) also allows `null` as an argument, which will then clear any previously selected result.

### Highlighter customization

The [`SearchResultHighlighter`](https://www.nutrient.io/api/android/nutrient/com.pspdfkit.ui.search/-search-result-highlighter/index.html) uses predefined colors and styles. If you want to change the appearance, you can apply a custom style to the `pspdf__searchResultHighlighterStyle` attribute of your activity theme:

```xml

<!-- This is the theme you set to your activity inside AndroidManifest.xml -->

<style name="MyApp_Theme" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light.NoActionBar">
    <item name="pspdf__searchResultHighlighterStyle">@style/MyApp_Theme_SearchResultHighlighter</item>
</style>

<!-- This is a custom style for search result highlights. -->

<style name="MyApp_Theme_SearchResultHighlighter" parent="PSPDFKit.SearchResultHighlighter">
    <item name="pspdf__searchResultBackgroundColor">#FF009999</item>

    <item name="pspdf__searchResultBorderColor">#FF888888</item>

    <item name="pspdf__searchResultBorderWidth">2px</item>
    <item name="pspdf__searchResultPadding">2dp</item>
    <item name="pspdf__searchResultAnnotationPadding">3dp</item>
    <item name="pspdf__searchResultAnimationPadding">8dp</item>
    <item name="pspdf__searchResultCornerRadiusToHeightRatio">0.1</item>
    <item name="pspdf__searchResultCornerRadiusMin">2dp</item>
    <item name="pspdf__searchResultCornerRadiusMax">10dp</item>
</style>

```

Take a look at `DarkThemeExample`, which explains how to apply custom themes, including a custom search result highlighter style.

Below is a complete list of the style attributes you can define for the `pspdf__searchResultHighlighterStyle`.

| Attribute                                      | Description                                                                                                |
| ---------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `pspdf__searchResultBackgroundColor`           | Background color of the highlighted search result.                                                         |
| `pspdf__searchResultBorderColor`               | Border color of the highlighted search result.                                                             |
| `pspdf__searchResultBorderWidth`               | Border width of the highlighted search result.                                                             |
| `pspdf__searchResultPadding`                   | Padding of the highlighted search result used when highlighting document text.                             |
| `pspdf__searchResultAnnotationPadding`         | Padding of the highlighted search result used when highlighting annotations.                               |
| `pspdf__searchResultAnimationPadding`          | Padding of the highlighted search result used when pop-out animating the currently selected search result. |
| `pspdf__searchResultCornerRadiusToHeightRatio` | Ratio between corner radius of the search result rectangle and its height.                                 |
| `pspdf__searchResultCornerRadiusMin`           | Minimal corner radius of the highlighted search result.                                                    |
| `pspdf__searchResultCornerRadiusMax`           | Maximal corner radius of the highlighted search result.                                                    |
---

## Related pages

- [Search PDF annotations on Android](/guides/android/search/search-in-a-pdf/annotation-search.md)