Change all words in microsoft word

Many of the applications that you use every day will have a way for you to search through the text that appears on the screen or in the file that is currently open. Often this will be accessible by choosing a “Find” option from a menu or using the Ctrl + F keyboard shortcut.

Sometimes you will make a mistake when you are typing a document, but you won’t realize your mistake until long after it has already happened.

Going back and manually fixing that mistake can be time-consuming if it has happened a lot, and you may inadvertently miss something.

Fortunately, Word 2013 has a function that allows you to automatically replace every occurrence of a word in your document with a different word. So if you incorrectly used a term multiple times throughout a document, it is a simple matter to replace that word with a different one.

1. Click the Home tab.
2. Click the Replace button in the Editing section of the ribbon.
3. Type the word to replace into the Find what field.
4. Type the replacement word to use into the Replace with field, then click the Replace All button.

Our guide continues below with more information on replacing all occurrences of a word in Microsoft Word, including pictures of these steps.

How to Replace a Word with a Different Word in Word 2013 (Guide with Pictures)

We are going to cover the very basics of this feature first, then we are going to show you how to customize it a little bit to prevent Word from accidentally replacing parts of a Word that match your criteria.

Step 1: Open your document in Word 2013.

Step 2: Click the Home tab at the top of the window.

Step 3: Click the Replace button in the Editing section on the right side of the ribbon.

Step 4: Type the word that you want to replace into the Find what field, then type the word that you want to use to replace it into the Replace with field. Click the Replace All button at the bottom of the window when you are finished.

The problem you may run into with the feature is that it is replacing that text string, not just occurrences of the word. So if you are replacing “xxx” with “yyy”, but you have the word “xxxa” in your document, then it will also be changed to “yyya”. Fortunately, there is a way to prevent this.

How to Use Find and Replace in Word 2013 to Only Replace Whole Words

The steps in this section are going to modify the previous section slightly to prevent Word from replacing text strings that appear within other words.

Step 1: Click the More button at the bottom of the Find and Replace window.

Step 2: Click the box to the left of Find whole words only.

You will notice that there are many other options on this menu that you can also use to customize the replace function. For example, using the Match case option would only replace words that were in the same case. This option allows you to replace instances of “John” while ignoring “JOHN”.

This tool becomes even more powerful when you include the Format and Special options at the bottom of the window, which allows you to find and replace information based on the type of formatting that has been applied to it. This is a very powerful, customizable tool that will let you find and replace in almost any way that you might need.

How Can I Get to the Find and Replace Dialog Box in Microsoft Word 2013?

As we have discussed in earlier sections of this document you will find Word’s find and replace feature if you select the Home tab at the top of the window, then click Replace in the Editing group in the window.

But you can also find and replace text by using the Ctrl + H keyboard shortcut to open the Find and Replace box. When you use this shortcut rather than the Ctrl + F option to find a specific word in your document then the window will open with the Replace tab as the active tab.

This can be a little faster as it cuts out the part of the process where you need to choose Replace if you had selected the Advanced Find option from the menu.

More Information on How to Replace All Occurrences of a Word in Word 2013

The steps in the article above provide you with the means to quickly find and replace a word that appears multiple times within your Microsoft Word document. That assumes that the word is spelled the same way each time, otherwise, Word is going to miss those misspellings.

You may wish to use the spell checker before you do this so that Word can catch spelling mistakes so it doesn’t overlook a misspelled version of the word.

All of the advanced find and replace options that appear on the Find and Replace window after you click More are:

• Match case
• Find whole words only
• Use wildcards
• Sounds like (English)
• Find all word forms (English)
• Match prefix
• Match suffix
• Ignore punctuation characters
• Ignore white-space characters

As you can see, this tool has a lot of different variables that you can apply which will enable you to find and replace almost any string of text or word that you might want to change within your document.

MS Word has been updating both the find and replace option for years to the point where it has become an incredibly powerful and useful way to find text or find words and quickly search through your document content. In newer versions of Word when you click the Find button or press Ctrl + F on your keyboard it will open a Navigation pane at the left side of the window. If you just need to find individual instances of a word or phrase ion long documents then this can be a life saver.

You always have the open to press Ctrl + H to open the Find and Replace window in newer versions of Word, however, if you prefer the replace or find box over the new Navigation pane.

Did you know that there is a freehand drawing tool in Word 2013? Find out how to draw in Word 2013 if you need to add a shape to a drawing that you can’t replicate with one of the other options.

Additional Sources

Often when working in Microsoft Word we only need to change one or two words in the file to make it relevant to another client or project. For Example, updating a client’s name in a 30-page contract or updating the address of a company or speakers name in a briefing document.

Because scrolling through your document changing each word individually would be a tedious and time-consuming task Microsoft has built-in a hand tool called ‘Find and Replace’.

Find and Replace allows you to replace one word with another, across the entirety of your Microsoft Word Document at the click of a button.

There is no limit to how many times you can use this tool, but it does need to be done word by word, we can’t yet find and replace multiple words at once. But still, it’s a huge time saver and will guarantee you don’t miss a word that needs replacing.

In this post we will show you how to use the Find and Replace tool in Microsoft Word and leave you updating your document in seconds.

Using Microsoft Word’s Find and Replace

1. Open Word
2. Find and click Edit in the Home bar

1. Under Edit click Find

1. In the Find tab press Replace….

1. This will open a navigation box on the left-hand side of your Word Document
2. Type the word you wish to replace in the Find box

1. Type the word you wish to replace this word with, in the second text box

1. Choose Replace. To replace all instances at the same time, select Replace All.

1. Press OK.

You have no successfully used Words Find and Replace feature to update your Microsoft Word Document.

Advanced Word Replacement

If your word search shows multiple options, as shown below.

You can scroll through the highlighted words until you find the word you would like to replace. This will narrow down the word search and ensure you only replace the exact word you are looking for.

Looking for an easier solution to your collaboration frustrations?

When collaborating in Microsoft Word, your email inbox can quickly become filled with updated versions of a document being sent back and forward between colleagues.

John made an edit, sent an email ‘see updated attached’.

Then Lucy made an edit, sent an email 30minutes later ‘updated version attached’, and it goes on for days.

Sending updated versions via email is one way to know a new version is available and required your attention. But it can also clutter your inbox with internal emails, with a single line or sometimes nobody of text in the email.

The alternative is to send them via a group chat channel such as Slack or Microsoft Teams, but you should make a new channel for the document updates so that you don’t miss one, or lose it in an open channel as other conversations start happening around the document being sent.

With overflowing inboxes and your slack channel constantly telling you there are un-read messages there needs to be a solution for collaborating alone. Somewhere your updated versions can live in peace, with no other noise around them to allow you to easily review and check them at any time.

The solution is here and it comes in the form of a great new purpose-built tool called Simul Docs.

Simul was built just for Microsoft Word and for you, to help you collaborate with ease.

First and foremost, Simul will store and manage every version of your document in an easy to navigate toolbar that you can access from anywhere you have an internet connection (or offline if you do a quick download before losing your connection).

As a new version of your document is created, Simul will automatically save the file under a numerical version number that makes sense. The first version is named 0.0.1, the second 0.0.2, the third 0.0.3 and so on. Making it easy for you to keep track of how many versions have been made and which one is the most recent.

But what about any extra notes or comments the author wanted to make, ones they would usually put in the email such as ‘Tim, this is my final round of edits before we send onto client’? No worries, Simul allows you to add comments and notes to any version as well, so your team can see what is going on at all times.

Speaking of comments and notes, Simul will also track every comment, change or edit made to a version for you, without you having to remember to turn tracked changes on. That’s pretty cool, right?

So a tool that manages your version control, saves your files and stores them and tracks all of your edits and changes without you thinking about any of it, it sounds too good to be true or as though it would be difficult to use or implement. Well, don’t worry it’s not, it’s here and it is called Simul Docs and it’s so easy to use, after walking through the in-app tutorial we had it down within 3 minutes.

It’s a bit like an apple product, it just makes sense. It’s clean and simple, nothing too complicated, but with everything you need all in the one spot.

If you’re not convinced already, head over to Simul now and give their free trial a go.

Collaboration just got a whole lot easier with Simul Docs.

To Replace the Highlight; Open the Find and Replace dialog (Ctrl H) and click the More button. Click the Replace All button and Word will replace all your highlighting.

Can you select all highlighted text in Word?

You can select all highlighted text at once using the Find and Replace tool in Word. Press Ctrl + H.

How do I change the color of multiple words in Word?

Click the Font Color drop-down list and choose More Colors. Word displays the Colors dialog box. Make sure the Custom tab is displayed. Using the Red, Green, and Blue controls, specify the RGB values of the text you want to change.

How do I find and replace in highlighted text?

Highlighting Found Text

1. Press Ctrl+H.
2. Click the More button, if it is available.
3. In the Find What box, enter the text you want to find and highlight.
4. In the Replace With box, enter ^&.
5. With the insertion point still in the Replace With box, click the Format button.
6. Click the Highlight option.

What is the shortcut to change the highlight in Word?

Adding highlighting: Select the text you want to highlight, then press Ctrl+Alt+H. Removing highlighting: Select the highlighted text, then press Ctrl+Alt+H.

How do I select all text without dragging?

Click the “Select” drop-down menu in the Editing group on the ribbon and choose “Select All.” All of the body text on the pages will be highlighted. You can now format it, cut, copy, align the text and more. The keyboard shortcut “Ctrl-A” will accomplish the same result.

How do I copy a lot of text at once?

How to Copy and Paste Text from Multiple Locations in Microsoft…

1. Select the block of text you want to copy.
2. Press Ctrl+F3.
3. Repeat the two steps above for each additional block of text to copy.
4. Go to the document or location where you want to paste all of the text.
5. Press Ctrl+Shift+F3.

How do you select all text color in Word?

MICROSOFT WORD

1. Highlight some text with the formatting you want to change.
2. Go to the Editing group and click on Select.
3. From the dropdown list choose Select all text with similar formatting.
4. Then you can change all the selected text as you wish.

How do I highlight a recurring Word in Word?

Click Find in the Editing group or press Ctrl+F to open the Navigation pane. From the text dropdown, choose Options and then check the Highlight All setting (Figure B), and click OK. In the text control, enter video and press Enter. Word will automatically highlight all instances (Figure C).

How do I change the opacity of highlights in Word?

On the Picture Format ribbon, open the Format Picture pane and set the transparency to 45% (you can experiment with the percentage). Drag the picture to the desired location and size.

How do I change the default highlight color in Word?

The default color for highlighting is yellow, but you can change the color if you click the down-arrow to the right of the Highlight tool on the Formatting toolbar. Word allows you to pick any of fifteen different colors. The colors used for highlighting cannot be changed beyond what is offered in the fifteen colors.

Why can’t I remove highlighting in Word?

What appears to be highlighted text might actually be character shading.As such, try removing the highlighting by selecting the text and clicking the Clear Formatting option on the Home tab. Users can also select the text and press Ctrl + Space to remove its formatting.

How do you Ctrl highlight?

If you want to highlight one word at a time, press Ctrl while holding down Shift , and then press the Left arrow or Right arrow . If you want to highlight a whole line of text, move your cursor to the start of the line, hold the Shift key, and then press the Down arrow .

What is the Ctrl B?

Alternatively referred to as Control B and C-b, Ctrl+B is a shortcut key most often used to bold and un-bold text. Tip. On Apple computers, the shortcut to bold is the Command key+B or Command key+Shift+B keys.

What is Ctrl cut?

Keyboard Command: Control (Ctrl) + X. Remember “X” as. The Cut command is used to remove text or images from the screen you are currently working on. “CUT” moves the information to your virtual clipboard, where it is stored until it is overwritten by the next “cut” or “copy” command.

How do I move highlighted text in Word without dragging?

Hold down the Ctrl key and right-click where you want the selected text moved.

How do you select multiple words at once?

To select items that are not next to each other, follow these steps:

1. Select the first item that you want. For example, select some text.
2. Press and hold CTRL.
3. Select the next item that you want. Important Be sure to press and hold CTRL while you select the next item that you want to include in the selection.

How do I stop Word from selecting everything?

Go to File, Options, then Advanced. Look for the option When selecting, automatically select entire word (it is enabled by default). You can disable the ‘feature’ by deselecting it (checkbox).

How do you have multiple clipboards?

How it works: If you’re on the latest Insider build, you can activate the new clipboard by going to Settings > System > Clipboard, and then tap on ‘Save multiple items. ‘ once that’s done, you can press Win+V to access the clipboard, which shows up as a small pop up window.

Can you copy and paste multiple things at once?

Copy and paste multiple items using the Office Clipboard
Open the file that you want to copy items from. Select the first item that you want to copy, and press CTRL+C. Continue copying items from the same or other files until you have collected all of the items that you want.

How do you copy all words?

Press Ctrl + A on your keyboard to highlight all text in your document. Tip: You can also highlight your entire document by placing your mouse cursor in the left margin and then quickly clicking the left mouse button three times in a row. Press Ctrl + C to copy the entire highlighted selection.

It happens to all of us – we type a document up in Microsoft Word or Excel only to find that a word used multiple times was inaccurate or just plain wrong. It’s a “Ctrl-F” moment, but if there are many instances of said misspeak then you could be in for a tedious and time-consuming chore. There is a better way to replace words in Word and Excel.

That better way is known as Replace Genius, and it can make these changes for you batch-style, meaning multiple replacements can be carried out in one fell swoop.

Where Do I Get This and How Much Will It Cost Me?

To get started, guide your web browser over to the RL Vision site, where the software in question is located. Here, you will find a variety of information on the app as well as a Download button.

The app is free, which makes the price just right for any budget. The developer describes the software as a “Find & Replace command on steroids”.

What You Get

Replace Genius promises many things, including the ability to save often-used commands as “Presets” and “Batch Replace” lists for easy recall, the ability to work with text files, Word documents and Excel spreadsheets, highly configurable processing functions and a realtime preview shows the result before you change anything.

Let’s Get Started

This may look a bit complicated at first, but do not be put off by appearances. You will not need to put your computer science degree to work here.

There may be a lot here, but we are going to keep this simple by covering the basics of replacing a series of words in a Microsoft Word document.

So, let’s copy and paste a few words from one of my previous stories into Word and get started with replacing some of those words so we can see how all of this works.

With the first two paragraphs copied to Word and saved as a test document, it is time to get started. First we need to fire up Replace Genius and click the “Open” button to the far left of the top menu – beware that you will need to close the Word document or fear the wrath of Microsoft as you receive a message that the document is locked by another program. Browse to your file and get started.

The word I noticed most in these two paragraphs was “this” – note to my editor: it was not overused, I swear!

Let’s replace it with “the” – it will render the wording nonsensical, but this is just a test, after all. Here is what we need to do to make this minor change.

Click the “Replace” tab in the left column and fill in the two blank spaces. In this case we shall enter “this” in the “find” field and “the” in the “and replace with” field. Enable “batch replace” and click the “Apply” button and you will be off and running.

The result is an almost instantaneous replacement of every instance of the word. The process is carried out with no problem and no hassle.

The Verdict

At the exorbitant price of free, the app is well worth a look. If you are an Office power user then you may make use of this every day. If not, it is still a handy tool to have around.