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Search works best when you choose where Ubuntu should look. Finding an installed application, a file under Downloads, and a display setting are three different searches.
Search for an application
Press Super and start typing the application name. The Activities overview can show applications and other enabled search sources.
Choose this when you want to open a program but do not know where its icon is.
If Calculator appears, selecting it starts the application. If nothing appears, check spelling and browse Show Applications. Search cannot launch software that is not installed.
Search within a likely folder
Open Files and go to the folder most likely to contain the item. For a browser download, start in Downloads.
Press Ctrl + F, select the search control, or begin typing where the current Files interface supports it. Enter part of the filename.
Files searches in or below the location you started from. Beginning in Downloads is more focused than beginning in Home.
Filename and file contents are different
A filename search matches the item’s name. Searching for invoice can find invoice-august.pdf.
A full-text search, when available for that file type and location, searches words inside supported documents. Searching for a sentence may find a document whose filename does not contain those words.
Filters can narrow results by date or file type. Not every format is searchable by contents, and indexing can take time.
Use Recent and sorting as evidence
If you opened the item recently, check Recent. This view points to the actual file; inspect its location before moving or deleting it.
In Downloads, sort by modified date when you remember when the download finished but not the exact name. Browsers can also show a downloads list that reveals the saved filename.
Find a setting by the task
Press Super and type a settings task such as Displays, Wi-Fi, or Keyboard. A direct settings panel may appear.
You can also open Settings and use its available search or browse the related category. Current grouping can differ from an older screenshot, so searching the purpose is often more reliable than memorizing a sidebar position.
Understand search scope
Ask these questions before saying the item is missing:
- Am I searching for an application, file, or setting?
- Which folder did the Files search begin in?
- Do I know part of the filename, or only words inside it?
- Could the item be hidden, in Trash, or on an unmounted USB?
- Did a save dialog choose a different destination?
When results differ between computers
Desktop search sources can be enabled or disabled in Settings → Search. Privacy choices, indexing state, file type, and folder location can all affect results.
A result missing from the Activities overview may still appear in Files search. Open the likely folder and search there before assuming the file is gone.
Common mistakes
Searching Home for an application. Use the Activities overview; installed applications are not personal documents in Home.
Starting Files search in the wrong folder. Return to Home or the likely parent folder, then search again.
Searching contents when only filename matching is active. Try a word from the name or enable the relevant filter when offered.
Opening the wrong same-named file. Inspect location, date, type, and size.
Deleting a search result without checking its real location. Open its containing folder first.
Practice
Knowledge check
Choose the fastest search method.
Pick a starting point for each: an installed Calculator app, a PDF downloaded this morning, a display-scaling control, and a document whose filename is known only partly. Explain the search scope in each case.
What to learn next
The next chapter handles problems without reaching immediately for terminal commands. Continue to Ubuntu System Monitor and Frozen Applications.