In Microsoft Word, the ability to find and replace text option can come in handy a many situations. For example, if youâre working with a document with a lot of text, and you discovered that thereâs a mistake on a name, date, or address, which appears multiple times, or the wrong word or phrase was used throughout the document.
The âReplaceâ option is available on Microsoft 365 (Office 365), Office 2019, Office 2016, and older versions, and in all versions, the feature includes advanced options to narrow down the text that youâre trying to correct.
In this guide, youâll learn the steps to find and replace a word or phrase in a Microsoft Word document.
- How to find and replace text in Word
- How to find and replace text using advanced options in Word
How to find and replace text in Word
To find and replace text in Microsoft Word, use these steps:
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Open Word.
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Click on the Home tab.
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Under the âEditingâ section, click the Replace button.
Microsoft Word Replace option Quick tip: You can also use the Ctrl + H keyboard shortcut to open Replace. Also, if youâre using the search feature in Word, you can click the down-arrow menu, next to Search button, to open the content menu to find the Replace option.
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In the âFind whatâ box, specify the word or phrase you want to find and replace.
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In the âReplace withâ box, specify the word or phrase replacement.
Find and replace text in Word
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Click the Find Next button to find the first mention of the text in the Find what box.
Quick tip: If you only want to replace text on a specific area, click the Find Next button until you arrive to the text to be replaced.
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Click the Replace button to replace the currently highlighted content in the Word document.
Replace text in Word
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(Optional) Click the Replace All button to replace all mentions of the text across the document at once.
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Click the Cancel button.
Once you complete the steps, the text will be edited with the content you specified.
If youâre using the Replace All button, remember that this option will replace all instances of the text, and many times, it could cause problems. For example, if the word youâre trying to replace is part of another word, such as âautoâ and âautomatically,â itâll also get replaced. As a result, using the Find Next and Replace buttons are the best way to replace text in Microsoft Word.
However, in this particular case, you can use the advanced search option, and selecting the Find whole words only will prevent replacing the wrong word.
How to find and replace text using advanced options in Word
To perform an advanced search and replace in Word, use these steps:
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Open Word.
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Click on the Home tab.
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Under the âEditingâ section, click the Replace button.
Microsoft Word Replace option
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In the âFind whatâ box, specify the word or phrase you want to find and replace.
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In the âReplace withâ box, specify the word or phrase replacement.
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Click the More button.
Replace search options button
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Under the âSearch optionsâ section, choose the appropriate search parameters:
Replace advanced search options
- Search â specifies where to search. Options include, All (recommended), Up or Down.
- Match case â specifies a search that treats cases, such as Car and car as different words.
- Find whole words only â finds the whole word, so you donât replace âautomaticallyâ when youâre looking for âautoâ only.
- Use wildcards â allows to find and replace parts of text with (*) wildcard. For instance, you can remove all âsâ from words using the â*sâ query.
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Click the Find Next button to find the first mention of the text in the âFind whatâ box.
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Click the Replace button to replace the currently highlighted content in the Word document.
These are the most common search options, but Microsoft Word also includes a few other options, including âSounds like (English),â âFind all word forms (English),â âMatch prefix,â âMatch suffix,â âIgnore punctuation characters,â and âIgnore white-space characters.â