Searching PDF's on 64-bit Windows
To search PDF’s on a 64-bit machine you need a separate download.
The Adobe PDF Reader software isn’t enough on 64-bit Windows computers.
If you’re running a 64-bit version of Windows (any release) you’ll probably find that Windows Search doesn’t find text inside PDF’s. Only file names are searched but not the contents.
That’s seems strange because the free Adobe Reader is supposed to include the iFilter plug-in needed to index inside documents and let them be searched.
Unfortunately, the free download is entirely 32-bit software. A PDF iFilter is installed but it’s the 32-bit one which won’t work on a 64-bit computer.
You need to install a separate 64-bit iFilter from here – the v9 release is the most recent at the time of writing.
To see the status of the PDF iFilter go to Control Panel | Indexing Options | Advanced Options | File Types. Scroll down to the PDF extension. Ideally the PDF extension has ‘PDF Filter’ as the Filter Description and the option ‘Index Properties and File Contents’ is selected.
After installing any new iFilter, remember to Rebuild the index (Control Panel | Indexing Options | Advanced Options | Index Settings) otherwise it will only index new or modified PDF’s not the ones already on your computer.
Not sure if you’re running 64-bit Windows? There was a time when 64-bit software was a specialty item for computer nerds but now 64-bit Windows 7 and soon Windows 8 is supplied with computers and low-cost laptops.
Go to Control Panel | System and look under System for System Type:
This works for Windows 7 and, as you can see, Windows 8.
See Also
- PDF editing in Word 2013
- Office 2010 – the real startup guide – Second Edition out now
- Converting a PDF to Word
- After the iFilter pack – re-index or not?
- PDF isn’t a panacea