What is find and replace in word

Find and replace text

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  1. Go to Home > Replace.

  2. Enter the word or phrase you want to replace in Find what.

  3. Enter your new text in Replace with.

  4. Choose Replace All to change all occurrences of the word or phrase. Or, select Find Next until you find the one you want to update, and then choose Replace.

  5. To specify only upper or lowercase in your search, select More > Match case. There are several other ways to search in this menu.

Match case

For other options, see Find and replace text

Find and replace basic text

In the upper-right corner of the document, in the search box Enter text to search for in the document, type the word or phrase that you want to find, and Word will highlight all instances of the word or phrase throughout the document.

To replace found text:

  1. Select the magnifying glass, and then select Replace.

    The Replace option is highlighted in the Search box

  2. In the Replace With box, type the replacement text.

  3. Select Replace All or Replace.

    Tips: 

    • You can also open the basic Find and Replace pane with the keyboard shortcut CONTROL + H.

    • When you replace text, it’s a good idea to select Replace instead of Replace All. That way you can review each item before replacing it.

You can find text with special formatting, such as bold or highlight, by using the Format menu.

  1. Select View > Navigation Pane.

    On the View tab, Navigation Pane is checked

  2. In the Navigation Pane, select the magnifying glass.

  3. Select Settings Screenshot of gear, and then select Advanced Find & Replace.

    In the Find and Replace box, Advanced Find and Replace is highlighted

    Notes: 

    • Select the arrow at the bottom of the Find and Replace dialog box to show all options.

    • Shows how to open the Format popup menu

  4. On the Format menu, select the option that you want.

    Shows the Format options

    If a second dialog box opens, select the options that you want, and then select OK.

  5. In the Find and Replace dialog box, select Find Next or Find All.

You can find and replace text with special formatting, such as bold or highlight, by using the Format menu.

  1. Select View > Navigation Pane.

    On the View tab, Navigation Pane is checked

  2. In the Navigation Pane, select the magnifying glass.

  3. Select Settings Screenshot of gear, and then select Advanced Find & Replace.

    In the Find and Replace box, Advanced Find and Replace is highlighted

  4. At the top of the dialog box, select Replace.

    Notes: 

    • Select the arrow at the bottom of the Find and Replace dialog box to show all options.

    • Shows how to open the Format popup menu

  5. On the Find what box, type the text that you want to find.

  6. On the Format menu, select the formatting that you want to find.

    Shows the Format options

    If a second dialog box opens, select the options that you want, and then select OK.

  7. Select in the box next to Replace with.

  8. On the Format menu, select the replacement formatting. If a second dialog box appears, select the formats that you want, and then select OK.

  9. Select Replace, Replace All, or Find Next.

  1. Select View > Navigation Pane.

  2. In the Navigation Pane, select the magnifying glass.

  3. Select Settings Screenshot of gear, and then select Advanced Find & Replace.

    In the Find and Replace box, Advanced Find and Replace is highlighted

    Notes: 

    • Select the arrow at the bottom of the Find and Replace dialog box to show all options.

    • Shows how to open the Format popup menu

  4. On the Special menu, select the special character that you want to find.

    Find special characters

  5. Select Find Next.

  1. Select View > Navigation Pane.

    On the View tab, Navigation Pane is checked

  2. In the Navigation Pane, select the magnifying glass.

  3. Select Settings Screenshot of gear, and then select Advanced Find & Replace.

    In the Find and Replace box, Advanced Find and Replace is highlighted

    Notes: 

    • Select the arrow at the bottom of the Find and Replace dialog box to show all options.

    • Shows how to open the Format popup menu

  4. At the top of the Find and Replace dialog box, select Replace and then select in the Find What box, but don’t type anything there. Later, when you select a special character, Word will automatically put the character code in the box for you.

    Note: Select the arrow at the bottom of the Find and Replace dialog box to show all options.
    Shows how to open the Format popup menu

  5. On the Special menu, select the special character that you want to find.

  6. Select in the Replace with box.

  7. On the Special menu, select the special character that you want to use as a replacement.

  8. Select Replace or Find Next.

  1. Select View > Navigation Pane.

    On the View tab, Navigation Pane is checked

  2. In the Navigation Pane, select the magnifying glass.

  3. Select Settings Screenshot of gear, and then select Advanced Find & Replace.

    In the Find and Replace box, Advanced Find and Replace is highlighted

  4. Select the Use wildcards check box.

    If you don’t see the Use wildcards check box, select Down arrow for more options.

  5. Select the Special menu, select a wildcard character, and then type any additional text in the Find what box.

    Using wildcards in the Find and Replace dialog box

  6. Select Find Next.

    Tips: 

    • To cancel a search in progress, press The Command button.+ PERIOD.

    • You can also enter a wildcard character directly in the Find what box instead of selecting an item from the Special pop-up menu.

    • To search for a character that’s defined as a wildcard character, type a backslash () before the character. For example, type ? to find a question mark.

    • You can use parentheses to group the wildcard characters and text and to indicate the order of evaluation. For example, search for <(pre)*(ed)> to find «presorted» and «prevented.»

    • You can search for an expression and use the n wildcard character to replace the search string with the rearranged expression. For example, type (Newman) (Belinda) in the Find what box and 2 1 in the Replace with box. Word will find «Newman Belinda» and replace it with «Belinda Newman.»

  7. To replace found text:

    1. Select the Replace tab, and then select the Replace with box.

    2. Select Special, select a wildcard character, and then type any additional text in the Replace with box.

    3. Select Replace All, Replace, or Find Next.

      Tip: When you replace text, it’s a good idea to select Replace instead of Replace All. That way you can confirm each replacement to make sure that it’s correct.

You can refine a search by using any of the following wildcard characters.

To find

Use this

For example

Any single character

?

s?t finds «sat» and «set.»

Any string of characters

*

s*d finds «sad» and «started.»

One of the specified characters

[ ]

w[io]n finds «win» and «won.»

Any single character in this range

[-]

[r-t]ight finds «right» and «sight» and «tight.»

Ranges must be in ascending order.

Any single character except the characters inside the brackets

[!]

m[!a]st finds «mist» and «most» but not «mast.»

Any single character except characters in the range inside the brackets

[!x-z]

t[!a-m]ck finds «tock» and «tuck» but not «tack» or «tick.»

Ranges must be in ascending order.

Exactly n occurrences of a character or expression

{ n}

fe{2}d finds «feed» but not «fed.»

At least n occurrences of a character or expression

{ n,}

fe{1,}d finds «fed» and «feed.»

A range of occurrences of a character or expression

{ n, n}

10{1,3} finds «10,» «100,» and «1000.»

One or more occurrences of a character or expression

@

lo@t finds «lot» and «loot.»

The beginning of a word

<

<(inter) finds «interesting» and «intercept» but not «splintered.»

The end of a word

>

(in)> finds «in» and «within,» but not «interesting.»

Word for the web lets you find and replace basic text. You can match case or fine whole words only. For more varied options, open your document in Word for the desktop.

Need more help?

Exchange one text string for another in any version of Word

Updated on October 29, 2021

What to Know

  • Open the Find and Replace tool in Word with the keyboard shortcut CTRL+H.
  • Find and Replace doesn’t take capitalization into account unless you specifically tell it to.
  • To replace capitalization, select More in the Find and Replace box, then Match Case > Replace or Replace All > OK.

All editions of Microsoft Word offer a feature called Find and Replace. Use this tool to search for a specific word, number, or phrase in a document and replace it with something else. You can also make several replacements at once—like changing a name or fixing something you’ve consistently misspelled. Use it, also, to replace numbers or punctuation and cap or uncap words.

If you turn on Track Changes before you begin, you can reject the replacement or deletion of any unintended word. 

Find and Replace a Word

The Microsoft Word Find and Replace dialog box, in its simplest form, prompts you to type the word you’re looking for and the word you want to replace it with. Then, click Replace, and either allow Word to change every entry for you or, go through them one at a time.

To open the tool, press Ctrl+H (Cmd+H on Mac).

Change Capitalization in Microsoft Word

The Find and Replace feature doesn’t take into account anything about capitalization unless you specifically tell it to. To get to that option you’ll need to click the More option in the Find and Replace dialog box:

  1. Open the Find and Replace dialog box using your favorite method. We prefer Ctrl+H.
  2. Click More.
  3. Type the appropriate entry in the Find What and Replace With lines.
  4. Click Match Case.
  5. Click Replace and Replace again, or, click Replace All.
  6. Click OK.

Advanced Options

When you select the More expander in the Search and Replace dialog box, you’ll encounter several customizations. The list of items varies according to which version of Word you’re running.

Search Options

Select the check boxes to include or exclude things like punctuation, white-space characters, or substrings. Plus, apply tools like word-form matching (i.e., walked also matches walking) and Soundex matching (Karin matches Karen).

Replace Options

Word supports more advanced substitutions, too. Use special characters to substitute text markup with symbols. For example, replace a character code like &amp; with an ampersand. This approach is useful for de-cluttering pasted HTML text that uses HTML codes to render certain symbols.

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Find and Replace is a function in Word that allows you to search for target text (whether it be a particular word, type of formatting or string of wildcard characters) and replace it with something else.

Contents

  • 1 What is the key for Find and Replace?
  • 2 What is the use of Find and Replace feature in writer?
  • 3 Where is the Find and Replace tab in word?
  • 4 What are the difference of finding and replacing text?
  • 5 What is control G?
  • 6 What is the shortcut key for finding and replacing text in a document?
  • 7 What is find in MS word?
  • 8 Is used for finding and replacing words in text?
  • 9 What is the use of Find and Replace command in Open Office Writer?
  • 10 Where is Find and Replace in Word 2019?
  • 11 How do I find and replace symbols in Word?
  • 12 How do I find and replace numbers in Word?
  • 13 What is difference between FIND and all options?
  • 14 What is replacing text?
  • 15 What is the difference between replace and replace all?
  • 16 What is the function of Ctrl H?
  • 17 What is Control H?
  • 18 What does Alt Tab do?
  • 19 What is Ctrl F in Word?
  • 20 Which key is used to find a Word in a document?

What is the key for Find and Replace?

Ctrl+H
To use Find and Replace, use the shortcut Ctrl+H or navigate to Editing in the Home tab of the ribbon, then choose Replace. To just quickly find something, use the shortcut Ctrl+F or navigate to Home>Editing>Find.

What is the use of Find and Replace feature in writer?

WPS Writer’s Find and Replace feature allows you to search for the specific text in your documents, such as words, phrases, even specific characters. If necessary, you can use Find and Replace Feature to replace text or phrases you needs.

Where is the Find and Replace tab in word?

To use Find and Replace, use the shortcut Ctrl+H or navigate to Editing in the Home tab of the ribbon, then choose Replace.

What are the difference of finding and replacing text?

Using the find option you can find the particular word in your document, it will tell you all the occurrences of that particular word in the document.While replacing a particular word or phrases with another word or phrases, it will first ask you whether you want to replace it from beginning.

What is control G?

Alternatively known as Control+G and C-g, Ctrl+G is a keyboard shortcut often used to advance through Find results or move to a specific line in a document, spreadsheet, or text file.Ctrl+G in Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Opera. Ctrl+G in Excel and other spreadsheet programs.

What is the shortcut key for finding and replacing text in a document?

Ctrl + H
If you want to find and replace text in a Word document, use the key combo Ctrl + H. That will bring up the “Find and Replace” dialog box.

Find describes locating a specified text, file, document, or other objects on a computer, in a file, or on the Internet.In Microsoft Word, you can press Ctrl + F to find specific text in a document. Note. On Apple computers, use Command + F to open a find.

Is used for finding and replacing words in text?

Alternatively, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+H. Type the word or phrase you’re looking for in the “Find what” box, and the replacement word or phrase in the “Replace with” box.For each instance, click “Replace” to update the text with your replacement word or “Find Next” to go to the next instance.

What is the use of Find and Replace command in Open Office Writer?

Writer has a Find and Replace feature that automates the process of searching for text inside a document. In addition to finding and replacing words and phrases, you can: Use wildcards and regular expressions to fine-tune a search. Find and replace specific formatting.

Where is Find and Replace in Word 2019?

Using the Find and Replace command in Word 2019

  • Click the Home tab.
  • Click the Replace icon in the Editing group (or press Ctrl+H).
  • Click in the Find What text box and type a word or phrase to find.
  • Click in the Replace With text box and type a word or phrase to replace the text you typed in Step3.

How do I find and replace symbols in Word?

Select an instance of the symbol with which you want to replace the current symbol and press [Ctrl]C. Put your cursor in the Replace With: text box and press [Ctrl]V. Press the Replace All button and close the dialog box when all the symbols have been replaced.

How do I find and replace numbers in Word?

Press CTRL + H keys to bring Find and Replace box up. Click on More >> button to reveal more options for Find and Replace. Now press Find button and MS Word will find you the first number (i.e. any digit from 0 to 9) in the document.

What is difference between FIND and all options?

Answer: The Find option helps you to find only the FIRST occurrence of the word you want to find. The Find ALL option helps you to find all the words which are similar.

What is replacing text?

2. Replace refers to overwriting text or inserting text over existing text. For example, in Microsoft Excel, to replace the existing text in a cell, click the cell where you want to replace text.

What is the difference between replace and replace all?

The difference between replace() and replaceAll() method is that the replace() method replaces all the occurrences of old char with new char while replaceAll() method replaces all the occurrences of old string with the new string.

What is the function of Ctrl H?

For example, in most text programs, Ctrl+H is used to find and replace text in a file. In an Internet browser, Ctrl+H may open the history. To use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+H, press and hold either Ctrl key on the keyboard and while continuing to hold, press the “H” key with either hand.

What is Control H?

Alternatively referred to as Control+H and C-h, Ctrl+H is a keyboard shortcut whose function varies depending on the program. For example, with text editors, Ctrl+H is used to find and replace a character, word, or phrase. However, in an Internet browser, Ctrl+H opens the history tool.Ctrl+H in an Internet browser.

What does Alt Tab do?

Pressing Alt-Tab switches between all open applications in the Taskbar. The Alt key is held down while the Tab key is pressed to cycle through the icons of all the windows. When the Tab key is released, the highlighted window is brought to the foreground.

What is Ctrl F in Word?

What is Ctrl-F?Also known as Command-F for Mac users (although newer Mac keyboards now include a Control key). Ctrl-F is the shortcut in your browser or operating system that allows you to find words or phrases quickly. You can use it browsing a website, in a Word or Google document, even in a PDF.

Which key is used to find a Word in a document?

Press Ctrl+F, and then type your search words.

What Is Find and Replace? And Why You Should Be Using It

You may already know that it is possible to search a Word document for a particular word, phrase or string of characters. This is the Find function in Word. Once you have found your target text, you have the option of replacing it with something. This is the Find and Replace function in Word.

As will be revealed by this series of articles, the many powerful uses of the Find and Replace function mean that if you are not currently using it when working in Word, you really should be.

This first article of the series explains what Find and Replace is and the components of the Find and Replace dialogue box. In subsequent articles, the usefulness of Find and Replace for any author or editor will be demonstrated through relevant examples.

What Is Find and Replace

Find and Replace is a function in Word that allows you to search for target text (whether it be a particular word, type of formatting or string of wildcard characters) and replace it with something else.

Using the Find and Replace tool is an important part of maintaining absolute consistency in your document, as it allows you to implement your style sheet. But beyond this, it is a valuable tool for speeding up typing and formatting tasks, potentially saving you hours of work.

The Find and Replace Dialogue Box

The quickest way to open the Find and Replace dialogue box is to type Ctrl + H. You will then see this box:

The Find and Replace Dialogue Box, and why you should use it

In the ‘Find what’ field, you will enter what you want to search for. In the ‘Replace with’ field, you will enter what you want to insert instead.

Replace or Replace All?

You then have two options: Replace or Replace All. Choosing Replace lets you decide for each instance whether you want to replace it or not. For example, if you are using Find and Replace to replace ‘organization’ with ‘organisation’ in a journal article that should be written in British/Australian English, you want to check each instance of ‘organization’ before replacing it with ‘organisation’. Therefore, you should use Replace.

If you were to use Replace All, you would incorrectly change instances of ‘organization’ that should be kept in your document (e.g. if they are in quotations, in the reference list, or in the official names of organisations such as the World Trade Organization).

When you know that you want to replace all instances of something in your document, you can then use Replace All. For example, if you know that you have misspelled an author name in your document (e.g. you want to replace all instances of ‘Jorgenson’ with ‘Jørgenson’), you can use Replace All safely.

More Options

In the bottom-left corner of the dialogue box, you will see the option More. Clicking this expands the dialogue box, to show all the options at your disposal.

More options in The Find and Replace Dialogue Box

The options under More are grouped into three categories: search options, formatting options and special characters.

Search Options

Checking a search option will modify your Find search in some way. Using these options can make your Find search more effective and efficient, by excluding unwanted search results or making sure all desired results are included. A detailed explanation of these search options, with examples, is provided in the supplementary article to this series: ‘Understanding the Find and Replace Search Options’.

Formatting Options

Clicking Format will open a drop-down menu as shown in the following figure.

Formatting options in the Find and Replace Dialogue Box

Using these options, you can search either for text with these formatting characteristics (e.g. only italicised instances of a specified word) or for all instances of that formatting (by not typing anything into the Find box, and searching only for the formatting characteristics). Example of both of these search types are provided in the article in this series, ‘What You Can Do with Find and Replace: Part II’.

Special Options

Clicking Special opens a drop-down menu of all the special characters you can insert in your Find searches, as shown below.

Special Options in the Find and Replace Dialogue Box

Special characters are used in two ways: To make Find searches more flexible, and to create Find and Replace searches that include characters that cannot otherwise be typed into the Find what box (e.g. the paragraph mark or a line break). Examples of these kinds of uses are given in the articles ‘What You Can Do with Find and Replace: Part I’ and ‘What You Can Do with Find and Replace: Part II’.

You should now have a thorough theoretical understanding of what Find and Replace is, and the options it offers. The next articles in this series demonstrate some practical uses of Find and Replace, using examples relevant to the average academic writer and editor. 


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This wikiHow teaches you how to use Microsoft Word’s «Find and Replace» feature to look up words in your document, as well as how to replace instances of a word with another word.

  1. Image titled Use "Find" and "Find and Replace" Features in Microsoft Word Documents Step 1

    1

    Open a Microsoft Word document. Either double-click a Word document, or open Word and then select the document from the list of recently opened documents if applicable.

  2. Image titled Use "Find" and "Find and Replace" Features in Microsoft Word Documents Step 2

    2

    Place your cursor at the beginning of the document. Click to the left of the first word in your document to place the cursor there. «Find and Replace» will only search for words after the cursor.

    • If you only want to search for words in a specific section of text (rather than the whole document), highlight that section instead.

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  3. Image titled Use "Find" and "Find and Replace" Features in Microsoft Word Documents Step 3

    3

    Click the Home tab. It’s in the upper-left section of the Word ribbon, which is the blue strip at the top of the window.

  4. Image titled Use "Find" and "Find and Replace" Features in Microsoft Word Documents Step 4

    4

    Click Find. This option is on the far-right side of the toolbar in the «Editing» section. Doing so will open a search bar on the left side of the window.

  5. Image titled Use "Find" and "Find and Replace" Features in Microsoft Word Documents Step 5

    5

    Type in a word you wish to find and press Enter. This will highlight instances of the word you searched for in the document.

  6. Image titled Use "Find" and "Find and Replace" Features in Microsoft Word Documents Step 6

    6

    Click or . These arrows are below the right side of the search bar. Clicking these arrows will jump to the next (or previous) instance of your word.

    • You can also click one of the results in the middle of the sidebar.
  7. Image titled Use "Find" and "Find and Replace" Features in Microsoft Word Documents Step 7

    7

    Click

    Android 7 Dropdown

    . It’s on the far-right side of the search bar. Doing so prompts a drop-down menu.

  8. Image titled Use "Find" and "Find and Replace" Features in Microsoft Word Documents Step 8

    8

    Click Replace. This option is in the drop-down menu. Doing so opens the Find and Replace window.

  9. Image titled Use "Find" and "Find and Replace" Features in Microsoft Word Documents Step 9

    9

    Type a word into the «Replace with» field. This field is near the bottom of the Find and Replace window. You should use a word you with which you intend to replace the «Find what» word.

  10. Image titled Use "Find" and "Find and Replace" Features in Microsoft Word Documents Step 10

    10

    Click Replace all. It’s at the bottom of the Find and Replace window. This will replace each instance of the word you typed into «Find what» with the word you typed into the «Replace» field.

    • For example, entering «Banana» in the «Find what» field and then entering «Plantain» in the «Replace with» field and clicking Replace all would replace the word «banana» with «plantain» in your whole paper (or the selected section).
    • If you would rather replace some, but not all, instances of a word, you can click Replace instead to go word-by-word. You may need to click the beginning of the paper again before doing so.
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  1. Image titled Use "Find" and "Find and Replace" Features in Microsoft Word Documents Step 11

    1

    Open a Microsoft Word document. Either double-click a Word document, or open Word and then select the document from the list of recently opened documents if applicable.

  2. Image titled Use "Find" and "Find and Replace" Features in Microsoft Word Documents Step 12

    2

    Place your cursor at the beginning of the document. Click to the left of the first word in your document to place the cursor there. «Find and Replace» will only search for words after the cursor.

    • If you only want to search for words in a specific section of text (rather than the whole document), highlight that section instead.
  3. Image titled Use "Find" and "Find and Replace" Features in Microsoft Word Documents Step 13

    3

    Click the Home tab. It’s on the far-left side of the Microsoft Word ribbon, which is the blue strip at the top of the Word window.

  4. Image titled Use "Find" and "Find and Replace" Features in Microsoft Word Documents Step 14

    4

    Click the search bar. It’s on the far-right side of the Microsoft Word ribbon.

  5. Image titled Use "Find" and "Find and Replace" Features in Microsoft Word Documents Step 15

    5

    Type in a word you wish to find and press Return. This will highlight instances of the word you searched for in the document.

  6. Image titled Use "Find" and "Find and Replace" Features in Microsoft Word Documents Step 16

    6

    Click or . These arrows are on the right side of the search bar. This will cycle through the different areas of your paper in which your typed word appears.

  7. Image titled Use "Find" and "Find and Replace" Features in Microsoft Word Documents Step 17

    7

    Click

    Android 7 Dropdown

    . It’s to the right of the magnifying glass icon that’s on the left side of the search bar. Doing so prompts a drop-down menu.

  8. Image titled Use "Find" and "Find and Replace" Features in Microsoft Word Documents Step 18

    8

    Click Replace. This option is in the drop-down menu. Clicking Replace opens a left-hand sidebar.

  9. Image titled Use "Find" and "Find and Replace" Features in Microsoft Word Documents Step 19

    9

    Type a word into the «Replace With» field. It’s near the top of the FIND AND REPLACE sidebar. You should use a word you with which you intend to replace the searched word.

  10. Image titled Use "Find" and "Find and Replace" Features in Microsoft Word Documents Step 20

    10

    Click Replace All. It’s below the «Replace With» field. This will replace each instance of the word you searched for with the word you typed into the «Replace» field.

    • For example, if your searched word was «spumoni» and you meant to write «neopolitan», typing «neopolitan» into «Replace With» and click Replace All would remove «spumoni» from the paper and replace it with «neopolitan».
    • If you would rather replace some, but not all, instances of a word, you can click Replace instead to go word-by-word. You may need to click the beginning of the paper again before doing so.
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Add New Question

  • Question

    How do I clear the «Find and Replace» box when I am finished?

    Community Answer

    You can get there by pressing the «ctrl+alt» button on the keyboard. Remove the box by clicking the «x» or «close» button on the upper right corner of the box.

  • Question

    What are some uses for find and replace?

    Community Answer

    Say, for example, you are writing a document and reference a character by the name of Ann, only to find out that Ann’s name is actually spelled «Anne». Now, instead of tediously going through the entire document, finding each instance of «Ann» and changing it to «Anne» (with the possibility of missing an instance, leaving you with an inconsistent document), you can simply find all instances of «Ann» and replace with «Anne» and it will delete all cases of «Ann» and insert «Anne» in its place. The find and replace also goes beyond simple characters such as above, as it can apply to miscalculated numerical values.

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  • In addition to text, you can use the Find and Replace dialog to search for and replace formatting and special characters.

  • You can bring up the Find and Replace section by press Ctrl+H (PC) or Command+H (Mac).

  • If your document is lengthy, the find and replace search may take a while. You can cancel the search at any time by pressing the «ESC» key on your keyboard.

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  • Always save your work before using Find and Replace in case you accidentally mess up your document.

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About This Article

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Is this article up to date?

This tutorial explains where is the find and replace in Word and how to use it. This is the continuation of the previous tutorial on how to copy and paste the text we want and move it to a different part of the same document or to a different document. On the other hand, this tutorial will show you how to use find and replace text in your document.

Find and Replace is a Word function that allows you to search for and replace specified text, such as a word, a certain type of formatting, or a string of wildcard characters, with another string.

You can change one word with another using the tool. This can be useful if you need to modify the spelling of a term or scan a text to ensure that the same word is not repeated.

Table of contents

  • What is Find and Replace in Word?
  • Why Find and Replace is Important?
  • Why use Find and Replace?
  • Advantages of Find and Replace Option
  • Difference between Replace and Replace All
  • Where is the Find and Replace in Word?
  • How to Use Find and Replace on Windows
  • Short Cut Keys
  • Summary

Why Find and Replace is Important?

The Find and Replace tool is important because if you want your document to be completely consistent, it lets you use your style sheet. But it is also a useful tool that can speed up typing and formatting, which could save you hours of work.

Why use Find and Replace?

Using Find and Replace allows you to search for and replace all instances of a word or format within a document. This is very useful in lengthy papers.

It can be difficult and time-consuming to find a specific word or phrase when working with lengthy documents. Word’s Find and Replace features allow you to quickly replace words or phrases in a document. Word can automatically search your document using the Find function.

Find and Replace allows you to search for and replace all instances of a word or format within a document. This is especially useful in lengthy documents. To use Find and Replace, press Ctrl+H or select Replace from the Editing section of the Home tab of the ribbon.

Advantages of Find and Replace Option

The advantage of find and replace function is it allows you to change a single word in a lengthy document to another word without having to change it multiple times.

Additionally, this feature will search your documents for specific text, which can then be highlighted, replaced with alternative text or formatting, or left as-is. This function provides numerous advanced search options to help you find what you’re looking for as precisely as possible.

Difference between Replace and Replace All

The difference between replace and replace all is that Replace all indicates that the word you typed will be replaced wherever it appears in the document. The replace option, on the other hand, only modifies the selected word.

Where is the Find and Replace in Word?

The Find and Replace in Word is on the “Home” tab of the Ribbon. In the Editing group click or hover over “Find” from the dropdown menu. This will open a pop-up with many options, including the basic options of replace all, replace, and find, along with more specifications, such as matching prefixes and suffixes.

How to Use Find and Replace on Windows

Here are the following steps on how to use Find and Replace on Windows.

  • Step 1: Click “Home” in the upper-left corner, followed by “Replace” in the upper-right corner. Use the alternative keyboard shortcut “Ctrl+H”.

    FIND AND REPLACE IN WORD

  • Step 2: Type the word or phrase you want to find in the “Find what” box and the word or phrase you want to use instead in the “Replace with” box.

    Fill in the slots with the appropriate words.
    FIND AND REPLACE IN WORD

  • Step 3: The word or phrase will take you to the first time it is used. Click “Replace” to change the text to your new word, or “Find Next” to move on to the next instance.

    REPLACE AND REPLACE ALL AND FIND NEXT

    You can choose to “Replace” specific instances and then click “Find Next” to go to the next time that word shows up.

  • Step 4: Click “Replace All” to change all of the times a word or phrase is used.

Short Cut Keys

The following are the Short Cut Keys in using Find and Replace in Word.

Short Cut Keys Description
Ctrl+F Press Ctrl+F, and then type your search words.
Ctrl + H This will bring up the “Find and Replace” dialog box.
Short Cut Keys of Find and Replace in Word

Summary

In this tutorial, we’ve talked about where to find the “find and replace” text in MS Word documents and how to use it, as well as what those terms mean. In addition, we learn their importance and why they are useful in making our documents. We also gain insight into the tips for using find and replace text in a document. Additionally, we learned some shortcut keys for using the find and replace function.

We hope this tutorial helps you as you plan to create a document in MS Word.


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Lesson 7: Using Find and Replace

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Introduction

When you’re working with longer documents, it can be difficult and time consuming to locate a specific word or phrase. Word can automatically search your document using the Find feature, and it allows you to quickly change words or phrases using Replace.

Optional: Download our practice document.

Watch the video below to learn more about using Find and Replace.

To find text:

In our example, we’ve written an academic paper and will use the Find command to locate all instances of a particular word.

  1. From the Home tab, click the Find command. You can also press Ctrl+F on your keyboard.

    the Find command

  2. The navigation pane will appear on the left side of the screen.
  3. Type the text you want to find in the field at the top of the navigation pane. In our example, we’ll type the word we’re looking for.

    typing a search term

  4. If the text is found in the document, it will be highlighted in yellow and a preview of the results will appear in the navigation pane. You can also click one of the results below the arrows to jump to it.

    search results with search terms highlighted

  5. When you’re finished, click X to close the navigation pane. The highlight will disappear.

    closing the Navigation pane

For more search options, click the drop-down arrow next to the search field.

expanding more search options

To replace text:

You may discover that you’ve made a mistake repeatedly throughout your document, like misspelling someone’s name, or that you need to exchange a particular word or phrase for another. You can use Word’s Find and Replace feature to quickly make revisions. In our example, we’ll use Find and Replace to change the title of a magazine so it is abbreviated.

  1. From the Home tab, click the Replace command. You can also press Ctrl+H on your keyboard.

    the Replace command

  2. The Find and Replace dialog box will appear.
  3. Type the text you want to find in the Find what: field.
  4. Type the text you want to replace it with in the Replace with: field, then click Find Next.

    clicking Find Next

  5. Word will find the first instance of the text and highlight it in gray.
  6. Review the text to make sure you want to replace it. In our example, the text is part of the title of the paper and does not need to be replaced. We’ll click Find Next again to jump to the next instance.

    using Find Next to skip a word

  7. If you want to replace it, you can click Replace to change individual instances of text. You can also click Replace All to replace every instance of the text throughout the document.

    replacing Sewanee Review with SR

  8. The text will be replaced.

    showing the replaced text

  9. When you’re done, click Close or Cancel to close the dialog box.

For additional search options, click More in the Find and Replace dialog box. From here, you can select additional options, like matching case and ignoring punctuation.

clicking More to see additional Find options

When it comes to using Replace All, it’s important to remember that it could find matches you didn’t anticipate and that you might not actually want to change. You should only use this option if you’re absolutely sure it won’t replace anything you didn’t intend it to.

Challenge!

  1. Open our practice document.
  2. Using the Find feature, determine which pages mention Caroline Gordon.
  3. The name T.S. Eliot is misspelled. Replace all instances of Elliot with Eliot. When you’re finished, you should have made three replacements.
  4. Allen Tate’s name is also misspelled. Find and Replace Alan with Allen. Hint: Do not use Replace All. Otherwise, you might accidentally replace the word balance.

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