How do I search for text inside a PDF?

In OneNote, why can't I search for text in embedded documents (e.g., PDF or MS Word)?

• OneNote allows a user to embed documents by selecting Insert > File Attachment. When you choose this option, you see in OneNote an icon for the file similar to what you see on the Windows Desktop. You can open it by double clicking. The problem is that once you insert a file, like an MS Word or PDF document that's been OCR'd, the text in that document can no longer be found by running a search in the OneNote search box or in Windows search. See Microsoft Answers: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office_2010-onenote/ms-onenote-2010-search-attachments/2b3a4691-b564-4d97-aeb9-ce26c0c6c086?rtAction=1394616054513. Note that this problem can be avoided by choosing Insert > File Printout, in which case you see in OneNote a printout of the document instead of just an icon. But embedding has advantages over printing out documents. For example, I like to embed multiple documents on a single OneNote page and then organize the icons into a table and add metadata, such as author, date, key facts, and other data. This makes OneNote into a fully customizable Windows Explorer. Anyway, it's a shame that embedded documents are invisible to search. Is there an add-on, powertoy, or workaround that can help? How about a separate desktop search program (e.g., dtSearch, Copernic or X1?) (I run OneNote 2013 on a Windows 7 PC). Also, why does OneNote have this glaring problem? Does Microsoft want "serious" users (who require search) to pay for a more expensive product? What product?

• Answer:

  It is a pain, I know. Onenote indexes its own content, but not word files. The print out option is not a solution for everyone. I assume that they never intended OneNote for that use case. The document management platform for Microsoft is the Sharepoint server. The problem is similar on a mac btw. Spotlight, the search tool for Mac, parses word files for example but not OneNote. I can only hope you use  https://onenote.uservoice.com/ to raise the awareness