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To find a PDF on your Samsung phone, search for its filename in My Files. To find a word on its pages, open the PDF in a viewer and use that app’s in-document search; Samsung Notes may offer this control, but availability can vary. These are separate searches, so choose the method that matches what you need.

Find a PDF by its filename in My Files

  1. Open My Files. If you cannot see the app, search for “My Files” from the apps screen.

  2. Tap Downloads if you got the PDF from a browser or downloaded it from a message. Samsung’s guide describes Downloads as the location for downloaded content, but a file may be stored elsewhere.

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  3. Tap the Search icon and enter all or part of the PDF’s name. Open the matching result.

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  4. If it is not listed, check other My Files categories and storage locations, such as Documents or internal storage. Some downloaded content may only be accessible from the app that downloaded it, so check that app as well.

Samsung also describes filtering files by type or time if you need to narrow down results. Samsung’s Galaxy file-search guide gives the filename-search sequence; its UK file-management guide explains the filters and app-specific downloads.

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Search for a word inside an open PDF

Searching My Files finds documents by name; it does not search their pages. For a word or phrase in the document, use a search control in the PDF viewer. Samsung supports opening or importing PDFs in Samsung Notes, but its official PDF instructions do not specify the exact in-document search controls.

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  1. Open the PDF in Samsung Notes. If needed, import it into Notes first.

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  2. Look for a magnifier or search control, enter the word or phrase, and navigate through any matches the app presents. A Samsung Members community answer from 2022 describes this method in Notes; it is community guidance, not an official compatibility guarantee.

  3. If you do not see a search control or it finds no matches, try another PDF reader with in-document search. The available controls depend on the app and its version.

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Samsung’s PDF instructions for Notes explain importing, annotating, and exporting PDFs. Samsung cautions that screens and settings can differ by model and software.

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Why search may not find words in a scanned PDF

A scanned PDF may consist of page images rather than selectable text. In that case, a text-search control may have no words to match. The Samsung Members answer notes this limitation for the Notes search method it describes. You may need a PDF app or OCR process that can recognize text in the scan; the supported OCR steps vary, and Samsung’s cited instructions do not establish one universal workflow.

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Samsung separately explains that camera scans can be saved in Gallery, opened for editing in Samsung Notes, and imported or exported as PDFs. Its scan guidance also names Samsung Cloud, Google Drive, and Microsoft OneDrive as storage or sharing options. See Samsung’s Galaxy scan and PDF guide.

Choose which app opens the PDF

Starting with One UI 8.5, Samsung says PDFs opened from My Files use the My Files viewer by default. To choose Samsung Notes instead, use Edit or More options > Open with, where the option is available. Device screens and available choices may vary. Samsung’s PDF-opening instructions cover this version-specific behavior.

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