How can I search for expressions like 'foo|bar' on webpages using browsers like Google Chrome or Firefox?
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See also these similar (but not identical!) questions: How do I search a page using a regular expression in Firefox? and How can I search for regular expressions within webpages using Google Chrome or IE? – iconoclast Nov 06 '22 at 18:21
6 Answers
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For Google Chrome, you could install one of the following extensions:
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To open the extension, press /.
To start searching, press Enter.
To jump to the next match, press N.
To jump to the previous match, press Shift + N.
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To open the extension, press Alt + Shift + F.
To start searching, press Enter.
To jump to the next match, click Next.
To jump to the previous match, click Prev.
After installing the extension, restart your browser. When testing the extension, note that extension are disabled by default on Chrome's "special" pages, such as New Tab or the Chrome Webstore.
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Regular Expression Search works better for me, Regular Expression Searcher breaking the html code (specially in
text)
– kenorb Mar 13 '13 at 11:57 -
2Another extension in the Chrome Web Store is Regex Search. It is more highly rated than the other two, and it works for me. – mernst Oct 25 '14 at 16:56
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@mernst: I've replaced my second suggestion (which is horribly broken in the latest Chrome) with yours. If you could jump to the next match without using the mouse, it would be perfect. – Dennis Oct 25 '14 at 17:15
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1Regex Search is open source which I feel important in any extension that gets full access to all pages I browse. Can now jump by Enter/Shift+Enter. – Beni Cherniavsky-Paskin Nov 05 '15 at 10:59
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Another option is VIMIUM.
The point of this Chrome plugin is to get Vim navigation on your Chrome pages, so you can use keys like J and K to scroll down the page.
However, since it is Vi-based, Vimium supports regular expressions.
Much like Vim, while looking at the page, type "/<regexp>, and it will start searching the page. I don't use it often (I use Ctrl + F much more), but when I need it, it is there and works.
To work with regexp while searching you need to turn it on in the plugin advanced options.
Thor
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Frank Merrow
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12Oh, looks you have to enable an option in the Vimium Advanced Options to turn on regex searching. Quite useful! Will upvote if you edit your answer to include mention of the fact that you have to enable it in the Vimium options. – mgalgs May 16 '13 at 00:25
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2The option in Vimium required for this to work is: 'Treat find queries as JavaScript regular expressions' – Rasmus Larsen Jul 29 '21 at 11:24
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Firefox
I recently went looking for this very feature as I got tired of searching for a word and having to go through all the instances where the word I'm looking for is a sub-string of a larger word.
Regex Find is a nice lightweight extension which enhances the standard Firefox Find Bar by adding an option to treat the search term as a regular expression. It seems to be Open Source as it source code is available on GitHub.
I also like it because it works well with VimFx.
Anthony Geoghegan
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Here's a bookmarklet that'll highlight regular expression searches. It doesn't have incremental search like the native find box, but it does the job. Each new search is highlighted in a different color.
user
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Fastest Search is the best text search on a page and in all tabs:
Count, regular expressions, visualize & list result/find-as-you-type.
There is an optional instant web and history search in the URL bar. It has the best custom search, multi-tab preview for selected text, dnd image/lnk, and autocopy.
Peter Mortensen
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diimdeep
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