Editing Help:Searching (section)

== Search box ==
[[File:Screenshot of Vector 2022 search bar.png|thumb|Screenshot of search box as in Vector 2022 default skin (as of 7 January 2025)]]
[[File:Search box vector.PNG|thumb|right|Vector (2010) legacy skin, search box.]]
[[File:Search box monobook.PNG|thumb|right|Monobook places this search-box in the left toolbox.]]

The search box is an input box with the placeholder text "Search Wikipedia" in it. In Wikipedia's default [[Wikipedia:Vector 2022|Vector 2022]] skin, it is located in the header of the page at the top of the screen.

To use the search box, click in it, or jump to it by pressing {{Keypress|Shift|Alt|F}}, and type in your [[#Search string|search string]]. Then, either click {{Key press|Enter}}, or the {{Button|Search}} button.

If your search matches a [[Wikipedia:Page name|page name]] exactly, search will {{em|navigate}} to the page directly instead of showing search results. To get {{em|search results}} instead, prepend the first word of the search string (i.e., the page name) with a tilde ("<code>~</code>"). (Or choose "{{int:Searchsuggest-containing}}" from the suggestions that drop down as you type.)

In the former default skin [[Wikipedia:Vector|Vector]], the search box is located in the top right hand corner, and instead of a search button, there is an icon of a magnifying glass on the right-hand end of the search box. Pressing {{Keypress|Enter}} or clicking on the magnifying glass when the box is empty takes you directly to Wikipedia's [[#Search page|search page]]. Prior to that, in [[mw:Skin:MonoBook|Monobook]] it was in the middle of the sidebar on the left of the screen.

[[JavaScript]], and thus possibly [[Wikipedia:User scripts|user scripts]], and [[WP:skin|skin]]s have an effect on the search/navigate default behavior. Monobook's default is to navigate, and Vector's default is search; however, when JavaScript is on, the Vector skin will navigate. Monobook's {{button|Go}} will navigate, and is the default, but Monobook has a {{button|Search}} button.