TrialPad reads every document you import, so you can search your entire case without any setup.
Searching Your Case
Use the Search bar to find words anywhere in your case.
How to Search Across Documents
Tap the Search bar at the top of the sidebar.
Type your search term. As you type, TrialPad shows documents with matching file names.
Press Search or Return to search the text inside your documents.
Each matching document shows a number with how many times your words appear.
Tap a document to see which pages match.
- Tap a page to open it. Your search words are highlighted.
Key Docs are searched the same way. A Key Doc only shows matches from its own pages. Tap a result to jump to that page.
What to Know About Searching
- Search finds all your words, in any order. Searching “recipe trade” finds pages that contain both words, even if they aren’t next to each other.
- Search finds longer forms of a word. Searching “brew” also finds brewery, brewing, and brewed.
- File names and document text match differently. File names match text anywhere in the name, so “rewer” finds a file named “Brewer.” Document text matches only the start of a word, so “rewer” won’t find “Brewer” on a page.
- Capitalization and punctuation don’t matter.
- Search covers the folder you’re in. To search your entire case, search from the top level.
- Exhibit stickers aren’t searched. If an exhibit number is printed on the page itself, search finds it there.
- Audio and video files are found by name only.
Understanding Your Search Results
TrialPad lets you know what happened with your search:
- No Names Match… No file names match. Tap Search Inside Documents or press Return to search document text.
- Searching… TrialPad is searching your documents.
- No Results for… Nothing matched. Check your spelling and try again.
- No Results Yet for… TrialPad is still preparing your case for search. Try again in a moment.
Searching Scanned Documents
TrialPad reads scanned exhibits automatically, so they’re searchable like any other document.
Some documents, such as emails saved as PDFs, may contain text that search can’t find, like the Subject, From, and To lines. Re-OCR Document reads the pages again as images, which can pick up that missing text.
How to Re-OCR a Document
Use Re-OCR Document when you can see a word on the page but search doesn’t find it.
Touch and hold the document in the Documents list or in the preview panel, then choose Re-OCR Document. You can also choose Document > Re-OCR Document in the menu bar.
- Review the message, then confirm.
TrialPad lets you know what it found.
Note: Re-OCR can occasionally misread words, so use it only when search is missing text. To undo it, choose Use Document’s Own Text from the same menu.
How to Rebuild the Search Index
Rebuild the search index to have TrialPad read every document in your Case File again.
With your Case File open, choose Document > Rebuild Search Index in the menu bar.
Confirm. Search results may be incomplete until the progress bar finishes.
Preparing Your Case for Search
When you import documents, TrialPad prepares them for search in the background. A progress bar appears at the bottom of the Documents list until it finishes.
- You can keep working and searching while this happens. Results may be incomplete until the progress bar finishes.
- On iPad, it pauses when you leave the app and picks up where it left off when you return. On Mac, it continues in the background.
- Your original documents are never changed.
- If a document can’t be read, such as a damaged PDF, you’ll see a notice. Tap it to see which documents were affected. Import a good copy, then delete the damaged one.
Tips for Best Results
- To search part of your case, open a folder before searching.
- Sorting by Admitted or Exhibit # also hides some documents, so you may not see every match. Sort by Name or Custom to see them all.