How to search for text within a PDF document using Windows XP?
Published: July 14, 2004Send your feedback
Adobe IFilter Plugin
By default, "Search for Text" won't work for PDF documents as Windows does not provide the filter
for PDFs. Filter DLLs allow a client to extract text information from the persistent representation of the
contents and properties of a file. Adobe made available the IFilter plug-in and available for download from Adobe
download page
Once
you install this Filter, the PersistentHandler
for PDFs is set automatically set, powered by it's DLL file named PDFFilt.dll (C:\Program Files\Adobe\PDF IFilter 5.0). The
Adobe IFilter plug-in - ifilter50.exe is free and it's about 3.8MB and works flawlessly. You may need to register
before downloading.
If the plug-in is already installed and still not able to search for text in PDF documents, apply this registry file:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\.pdf\PersistentHandler]
@="{B7509D6F-85EE-11d0-AF7D-00C04FD8DC02}"
The PersistentHandler for PDF is {B7509D6F-85EE-11d0-AF7D-00C04FD8DC02}
More Information
Using the "A word or phrase in the file" search criterion may not work