---
title: "iOS PDF search library: Search across 1000s of PDFs | Nutrient"
canonical_url: "https://www.nutrient.io/guides/ios/search/"
md_url: "https://www.nutrient.io/guides/ios/search.md"
last_updated: "2026-06-19T00:00:00.000Z"
description: "Unlock hidden iOS search secrets! Learn how to optimize searching in your app with our expert guide. Master iOS search now."
---

# PDF search library for iOS

Search across PDF documents, pages, and annotations for matching text. Nutrient iOS SDK offers developers an API for programmatic full-text search, as well as a customizable UI for searching and highlighting relevant matches. Scanned documents have no searchable text until you [make them searchable with OCR](https://www.nutrient.io/guides/ios/ocr/overview.md).

## Key capabilities

- **Full-text search** — Programmatically or by using the UI

- **Indexed search** — Search inside multiple PDFs at once

- **Annotation search** — Find specific PDF annotations

- **Customizable UI** — Adjust the search form to match your look and feel

- **Extendable** — Add annotation, extraction, redaction, and more

## Guides for search

**[Search for text in a PDF](https://www.nutrient.io/guides/ios/features/text-search.md)**\
How to search for text within a single PDF document

**[Search for annotations in a PDF](https://www.nutrient.io/guides/ios/search/search-in-a-pdf/annotation-search.md)**\
How to search for text contained in annotations

**[Index multiple documents](https://www.nutrient.io/guides/ios/features/indexed-full-text-search.md)**\
How to index multiple PDF documents for use in indexed full-text search

**[Indexed search matching options](https://www.nutrient.io/guides/ios/search/indexed-full-text-search/matching-options.md)**\
How to configure matching options for indexed full-text search

**[Generate indexed search previews](https://www.nutrient.io/guides/ios/search/indexed-full-text-search/customize-results.md)**\
How to generate a preview containing ambient text surrounding a match

**[Encrypt the search index database](https://www.nutrient.io/guides/ios/security/encryption-in-pdflibrary.md)**\
How to encrypt the SQLite database created by Nutrient

**[Custom tokenizer for search index](https://www.nutrient.io/guides/ios/memory-and-storage/using-custom-tokenizers.md)**\
Learn about the default tokenizer and how to use a custom one

**[Custom SQLite library](https://www.nutrient.io/guides/ios/miscellaneous/custom-sqlite-library.md)**\
How to link your app to a custom build of SQLite

**[Spotlight indexing](https://www.nutrient.io/guides/ios/search/indexed-full-text-search/spotlight-indexing.md)**\
How to index documents with Spotlight for native device searching

**Call to Action**

Start your free trial for unlimited access and expert support.

[Learn More](https://www.nutrient.io/sdk/ios/getting-started.md)
---

## Related pages

- [Indexing PDF documents on iOS](/guides/ios/features/indexed-full-text-search.md)
- [Custom tokenizers for PDF search on iOS](/guides/ios/memory-and-storage/using-custom-tokenizers.md)
- [Adding a custom SQLite library for PDF search on iOS](/guides/ios/miscellaneous/custom-sqlite-library.md)
- [Generate PDF search previews on iOS](/guides/ios/search/indexed-full-text-search/customize-results.md)
- [PDF search matching options on iOS](/guides/ios/search/indexed-full-text-search/matching-options.md)
- [Index and search PDFs using iOS Spotlight](/guides/ios/search/indexed-full-text-search/spotlight-indexing.md)
- [Encrypt the PDF search database on iOS](/guides/ios/security/encryption-in-pdflibrary.md)
- [Search for text in PDFs on iOS](/guides/ios/features/text-search.md)
- [Search PDF annotations on iOS](/guides/ios/search/search-in-a-pdf/annotation-search.md)