:Help:Introduction to navigating Wikipedia/3

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{{intro to|

The search box is at the top of every page. Start typing, and it will begin to suggest pages you might be looking for — you can click on one to go directly to that page. Alternatively, if you type in a complete page title and hit {{key press|Enter}}, you'll be taken straight to that page.

If you type a word or phrase that isn't an article title and hit {{key press|Enter}}, you will see a full search page, which lists articles where your search term occurs. You can also reach this page by clicking the magnifying glass, or by typing something into the search box, then clicking the "containing..." link at the bottom of the list of suggestions. For example, you might do this if you wanted to search for occurrences of the word "Fish" across Wikipedia, rather than be taken straight to the article Fish.

File:Search_namespaces_Jan_2023_en.png

The search page also allows you to select which namespaces to search in. You can choose a preset option (Default, Discussion, General Help, or All) or add/remove namespaces individually.

=Categories=

Another useful way to find pages is by browsing categories grouping related pages, which are listed at the bottom of a page. They form hierarchy trees from generalized topics to more specific ones, so pages should have only the most specific applicable categories. For instance, do not add Musicians}} to an article already categorized under Irish musicians}}.

{{Clickable button 2|class=mw-ui-progressive|Special:RandomInCategory/Articles needing additional categories from {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENT YEAR}}|Try it! Go to a random page needing more categories}}

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