GameObject.Find

Description

Finds a GameObject by name and returns it.

This function only returns active GameObjects. If no GameObject with name can be found, null is returned. If name contains a '/' character, it traverses the hierarchy like a path name.

For performance reasons, it is recommended to not use this function every frame. Instead, cache the result in a member variable at startup. or use GameObject.FindWithTag.

Note: If you wish to find a child GameObject, it is often easier to use Transform.Find.

var hand : GameObject;
// This returns the GameObject named Hand in the Scene.
hand = GameObject.Find("Hand");

// This returns the GameObject named Hand.
// Hand must not have a parent in the Hierarchy view.
hand = GameObject.Find("/Hand");

// This returns the GameObject named Hand,
// which is a child of Arm > Monster.
// Monster must not have a parent in the Hierarchy view.
hand = GameObject.Find("/Monster/Arm/Hand");

// This returns the GameObject named Hand,
// which is a child of Arm > Monster.
hand = GameObject.Find("Monster/Arm/Hand");

using UnityEngine;
using System.Collections;

public class ExampleClass : MonoBehaviour {
    public GameObject hand;
    void Example() {
        hand = GameObject.Find("Hand");
        hand = GameObject.Find("/Hand");
        hand = GameObject.Find("/Monster/Arm/Hand");
        hand = GameObject.Find("Monster/Arm/Hand");
    }
}

GameObject.Find is useful for automatically connecting references to other objects at load time; for example, inside MonoBehaviour.Awake or MonoBehaviour.Start.

For performance reasons, it is recommended to not use this function every frame.

A common pattern is to assign a GameObject to a variable inside MonoBehaviour.Start, and use the variable in MonoBehaviour.Update.

// Find the GameObject named Hand inside Start 
// and rotate it every frame
private var hand : GameObject;
function Start () {
    hand = GameObject.Find("/Monster/Arm/Hand");
}

function Update () {
    hand.transform.Rotate(0, 100 * Time.deltaTime, 0);
}

using UnityEngine;
using System.Collections;

public class ExampleClass : MonoBehaviour {
    private GameObject hand;
    void Start() {
        hand = GameObject.Find("/Monster/Arm/Hand");
    }
    void Update() {
        hand.transform.Rotate(0, 100 * Time.deltaTime, 0);
    }
}