Use the Search block to place a search widget on your page or post.
![The search block](https://wordpress.org/documentation/files/2023/08/search-block-1024x502.jpg)
Click Block inserter (+) icon to open the block inserter pop-up window and search for the Search block.
You can also use the keyboard shortcut /search to quickly insert a Search block.
Detailed instructions on adding blocks can be found here.
Block toolbar
To view the block toolbar, click on the block, and the toolbar will be displayed.
![Search block toolbar](https://wordpress.org/documentation/files/2023/02/toolbar.png)
Every block comes with unique toolbar icons and blocks specific user controls that allow you to manipulate the block right in the editor.
The Search block shows standard eight buttons:
- Transform to
- Drag icon
- Move handles
- Change text alignment
- Toggle search label
- Change button position
- Use button with Icon
- More options
Adding placeholder text
When you add a Search block, you have an option to add placeholder text inside the search field. The placeholder text is displayed until the user starts typing in a search term in the search field.
![Search block placeholder text](https://wordpress.org/documentation/files/2023/02/placeholder-text-3-1024x241.png)
Transform to
![Transform to option](https://wordpress.org/documentation/files/2023/02/transform-1.png)
When you click on the Transform button you can convert the Search block into another block type while keeping the existing content.
Click on the Transform button to convert the Search block into a Columns or Group block. Group block gives you the ability to change the background color around the Search block.
Drag icon
![Drag icon on the search block toolbar](https://wordpress.org/documentation/files/2023/02/drag-icon.png)
To drag and drop the block to a new location on the page template, click and hold the drag icon, then drag it to the new location. The blue separator line indicates where the block will be placed. Release the left mouse button when you find the new location to place the block.
Move arrows
![Move arrows on the search block toolbar](https://wordpress.org/documentation/files/2023/02/move-block-arrows.png)
The up and down arrow icons can be used to shift a block up and down on the page.
Detailed instructions on moving a block within the editor can be found here
Change text alignment
![Alignment tool on the search block toolbar](https://wordpress.org/documentation/files/2023/02/alignment.png)
Use the change alignment tool to align the Search block. The following is a list of the block align options:
- None
- Align left – Make the block left-aligned.
- Align center – Make the block alignment centered.
- Align right – Make the block right aligned.
Toggle search label
![Toggle search button on the search block toolbar](https://wordpress.org/documentation/files/2023/02/toggle-search-label.png)
This button can be used to hide the search field label.
Change button position
![Change button position](https://wordpress.org/documentation/files/2023/08/image4-1024x531.jpg)
This button can be used to change the position of the search button. There are three options to choose from:
- Button outside – the default setting.
- Button inside – the search button is part of the search text field.
- No button – removes the Search button and only displays the Search text field on the page.
- Button only – displays only the Search button and hides the Search input text field
![Search block with button inside setting](https://wordpress.org/documentation/files/2023/02/searchblock.png)
![Search block with no button setting](https://wordpress.org/documentation/files/2023/02/search-placeholder-1.png)
![Button only setting](https://wordpress.org/documentation/files/2023/08/image5.jpg)
Use button with icon
The search button can be either text or icon.
![Search button with icon](https://wordpress.org/documentation/files/2023/02/search-button-text.png)
![Search button with icon](https://wordpress.org/documentation/files/2023/02/search-button-with-icon.png)
Clicking on the Search button or the Search title in the search block will display three more buttons in the Block Toolbar – Bold, Italic and More Rich Text controls.
![Text formatting options on the search block toolbar](https://wordpress.org/documentation/files/2023/02/text-formatting.png)
Bold
You can select the text in the Search title or the Search button and use the Bold option or Ctrl+B / Cmd+B on your keyboard to bold it, which is usually heavier than the surrounding text.
Italic
You can select the text in the Search title or the Search button and use the Italic option or Ctrl+I / Cmd+I on your keyboard to italicize it, which usually appears slanted to the right.
More rich text options
The drop-down menu to the left of the More options menu contains a range of additional rich text editing options such as highlighting, inline code, strikethrough, and more.
Read about more rich text editing options.
More options
The Options menu represented by three vertical dots on the far right of the toolbar gives you more features such as the ability to duplicate or remove the block.
Read about these and other settings.
Block settings
The block settings panel contains customization options specific to the block. To open it, select the block and click the Settings icon next to the Publish button.
![How to open the block settings sidebar](https://wordpress.org/documentation/files/2023/08/image6-1-300x71.jpg)
Display settings
It’s possible to adjust the Search block width with the help of the Display Settings:
![Search block display settings](https://wordpress.org/documentation/files/2023/02/display-settings.png)
Alternatively, you can drag the block itself with your mouse:
![Search block drag tool](https://wordpress.org/documentation/files/2023/02/button-drag.png)
Color
The Search block provides Color settings options to change the text and background colors.
For details, refer to this support article: Color settings overview
Typography
The Search block provides typography settings to change the font family, size, appearance, line height, letter case, letter spacing, and decoration.
For details, refer to this support article: Typography settings overview
Border
The Search block provides border settings options to change border and radius size.
![Search block border settings](https://wordpress.org/documentation/files/2023/02/border.png)
For details, refer to this support article: Border settings overview
Advanced
The Advanced tab lets you add CSS class(es) to your block. This will allow you to write custom CSS and styles for the block.
![Advanced tab setting](https://wordpress.org/documentation/files/2023/08/Screenshot-2023-08-24-at-8.21.24-AM-300x182.png)
Changelog
- Updated 2023-08-24
- Updated screennshots and videos for 6.3
- Updated 2023-06-20
- Updated rich text options section
- Updated 2023-02-07
- Updated screenshots
- Fixed formatting
- Updated 2022-11-26
- Removed redundant content
- Updated 2022-06-16
- Updated screenshots, added video for 6.0
- Updated content for 6.0
- Added ALT tags for images
- Updated 2022-06-06
- Update settings screenshot for 6.0
- Add “Use button with icon” section
- Updated 2022-02-04
- Updated screenshots to 5.9
- Created 2020-12-03
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