Search looks across every note, in titles and content and in the PDFs inside them, and results appear as you type.
Opening search
On desktop, press Cmd K on Mac or Ctrl K on Windows and Linux, or click the magnifier in the note list header. On mobile, tap the magnifier in the bottom bar and the search screen slides up. On iPhone and iPad your notes are in Spotlight as well, so a search from the Home Screen finds them without opening Grape.
How results work
With an empty field you see recent notes, which covers the I just had it open case. As you type, matches appear instantly, each with a line from the note under its title. Open a result and you land in the note. A locked note never appears in results, even while it is unlocked.
Words inside PDFs
Search also looks inside the PDFs in your notes, so a word that only appears in the contract or the lecture slides still finds the note that holds it. A result found that way shows a line under it with the PDF's name, the page and the words around the match. Grape reads each PDF once on your device for this, see How Grape reads the PDFs in your notes.
Moving or deleting a note from the results
On mobile, swipe a result to the left for the same Move and Delete a folder's list has. Move opens the folder tree to file the note somewhere else, and Delete sends it to Recently Deleted, which takes it out of the results. A note in a folder someone shared with you to view only, or a note shared with you on its own, has neither.
Exact things deserve exact search
Keyword search is the right tool when you know a term, a name or a code. For the times you only remember what a note was about, switch to search by meaning.
Narrowing down
If a term is common across your library, add a second word from the same note. Searching inside one long note is a different tool, see Find text inside a note.