SEC EDGAR Full-Text Search
sec.gov
The SEC's own free search engine for the full text of every electronic EDGAR filing since 2001, including exhibits, with no account or subscription needed.
What it is
EDGAR Full-Text Search is the regulator's own tool for searching inside company filings rather than just by company name. It covers the full text of every electronically submitted EDGAR filing since 2001, including exhibits and other attachments, so you can find every 8-K that mentions a supplier, every 10-K that discusses a specific risk, or every filing that names a particular executive.
Results can be narrowed by form type, by date (the last 30 days, one, five or ten years, all since 2001, or a custom range), by company name, ticker, CIK or individual, and by the location of a company's head office or its state of incorporation. Search syntax is keyword based: phrases in quotation marks, AND, OR and NOT, a NEAR operator for words close together, exclusions with a minus sign and trailing wildcards. It does not understand natural-language questions.
Everything is free and needs no login. What it does not do is summarise or score anything: there are no insider-buying screens, ownership charts or alerts, which is what third-party insider and 13F trackers add on top of this same data. Developers should note that full-text search is a web tool; the SEC's free APIs at data.sec.gov cover filing histories and XBRL financial data, not full-text queries.
Key features
- Full-text coverage since 2001
- Searches the complete text of electronic filings and their attachments, such as exhibits, not just titles or metadata.
- Form type filter
- Limit results to specific forms such as 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K, Form 4, 13D/G or S-1.
- Date ranges
- Presets for 30 days, 1, 5 and 10 years or all filings, plus custom date ranges.
- Company and location filters
- Filter by company name, ticker, CIK or person, and by principal office location or state of incorporation.
- Boolean search syntax
- Exact phrases, AND, OR, NOT, NEAR with adjustable proximity, minus-sign exclusions and suffix wildcards.
- Free SEC APIs
- Separate, key-free APIs at data.sec.gov return each company's filing history and XBRL financial data as JSON.
Pricing
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | No account, no subscription and no usage fee |
Automated access to SEC.gov must follow the SEC's fair access and privacy policies.
Free option: Everything is free: full-text search of all electronic filings since 2001, filters and filing documents, with no sign-up.
Checked September 25, 2026 on sec.gov. Prices change; confirm on the provider's site before you subscribe.
Strengths
- Primary source: the filings themselves, straight from the regulator
- Searches inside exhibits and attachments, not only the main document
- Boolean and proximity operators for precise searches
- Free, with no account, paywall or advertising
Limitations
- Coverage starts in 2001; older paper-era filings are not included
- No natural-language search; queries must use keywords and operators
- No summaries, insider-trade screens, charts or alerts
- Full-text search is not offered as an API
Good fit for
- Investors who want to read the original filing rather than a summary
- Researchers tracking a theme, supplier or person across many companies
- Anyone checking what a third-party insider or 13F tracker reports
Look elsewhere if
- Traders who want insider buying screened and ranked automatically
- Anyone who needs real-time alerts when a filing appears
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SEC EDGAR Full-Text Search questions
Is SEC EDGAR full-text search free?
Yes. It is run by the SEC, costs nothing and does not require an account.
How far back does EDGAR full-text search go?
It covers electronic filings submitted since 2001. Older filings are not included in full-text search.
Does EDGAR full-text search include exhibits?
Yes. The SEC says it searches the full text of filings and all their attachments, such as exhibits.
Can I use boolean operators in EDGAR search?
Yes. It supports exact phrases in quotes, AND, OR, NOT, NEAR, minus-sign exclusions and wildcards at the end of a word.
Is there an API for EDGAR full-text search?
Not officially. The SEC's free APIs at data.sec.gov provide filing histories and XBRL financial data, while full-text search is a web interface.
Written from SEC EDGAR Full-Text Search's own website and documentation. All Trading Tools lists and compares tools; it does not recommend trades or give financial advice. Sources: sec.gov/edgar/search, sec.gov/edgar/search/efts-faq.html, sec.gov/search-filings/edgar-application-programming-interfaces.