If there is no other way and with extreme caution . Most often , a plain text search will suffice when looking for something in HTML , and this is what you should think as the right tool . Here ' s an example of a search on HTML I had to do recently I suspected a bug was caused by multiple tags sharing the same id . I used a simple jquery search and it did the trick , much safer and efficient . Also keep in mind that the HTML you see in your editor will probably not be the one in your browser , so keep that in mind as well . Some are giving you a hard time in these comments , but props to you for putting this out there in the first place , and asking for constructive feedback , and pushing people to justify their criticism . Peer review can be brutal , but it ' s a great way to better yourself .