unable to search excel attachments within a pdf

Question

I have several pdf files, each pdf file has excel format file as attachments, I would like to search the content of those excel attachments within pdf files. I tried to use advanced search function in adobe reader, but it didn't work: even though those excel files contain the content I search, it showed me no results were found.

Thanks in advance.

Amal. · Answer

Hi there

Hope you are doing well and sorry for the trouble. As described you want to search content in the attachments of the PDF file.

Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is a freeware application with limited functions. The option to search in attachments is available in Adobe Acrobat 2017, Adobe Acrobat 2020 and Adobe Acrobat DC (Paid subscription)

When searching for specific words or phrases, you can include attached PDFs as well as several other file types in the search. Windows users can search Microsoft Office documents (such as .doc, .xls, and .ppt), AutoCAD drawing file formats (.dwg and .dwf), HTML files, and Rich Text Format (.rtf) files. Mac OS users can search Microsoft Word (.doc), HTML, and .rtf files. Search results from attachments appear in the Results list beneath the attachment filename and icon. Attachments in other formats are ignored by the search engine.

To know how, please check the steps shared in the help page https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/links-attachments-pdfs.html#search_in_attachments

Regards

Amal

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