Click the Incremental button on the Search toolbar or select the Incremental item in the Search menu to toggle incremental search mode on or off. When off, entering a search term has no immediate effect. When on, editing the search term makes EditPad Pro look for the next search match immediately, starting from the current position of the text cursor.
While you enter the search term in instant incremental search mode, EditPad Pro remembers previous search matches as you type. If you type “Test”, EditPad Pro searches for “T” starting from the position of the text cursor. As you type, it searches for “Te” beginning at the start of the match for “T”, then for “Tes” at the start of the match for “Te”, and finally for “Test”. If there is no search match, nothing happens.
When you press Backspace, EditPad Pro goes back to the previously highlighted match for “Tes”. If you continue pressing Backspace, it goes back to the match for “Te”, “T”, and finally goes back to where the search started. So while entering the search term, you can easily change your mind about the search term you’re looking for by backing up with the Backspace key, and typing in the new search term. Backing up does not cause EditPad Pro to forget match positions. If you type in “Joe” after erasing “Test”, EditPad Pro searches for “J” until “Joe” beginning from the original starting position. If you then back up again and retype “Test”, the match previously found for “Test” is highlighted.
What does cause EditPad Pro to forget previous incremental search matches is taking any action in the main editor, including something as trivial as moving the text cursor or switching to another file. EditPad Pro then moves the starting position for the next incremental search to the new position of the text cursor.
The incremental search mode respects all search options, including “all files“, “selection only“, “loop automatically“, etc.
Search menu
Search|Prepare to Search
Search|Search Options
Instant Incremental Search