How to Replace a Word in Microsoft Word

The fastest way to replace text in Word

Open the document, press Ctrl+H (or Cmd+H on Mac), and the Find & Replace dialog opens. Type the word you want to find in the "Find what" field, type the replacement word in the "Replace with" field, then click "Replace All" to change every instance at once. If you want to check each replacement before it happens, click "Replace" one at a time instead.

The Find & Replace tool works the same way in Word 2016, Word 2019, Word for Microsoft 365, and Word Online. The keyboard shortcut is the fastest route, but you can also reach it through the Home tab: click "Find & Replace" in the Editing group on the right side of the ribbon.

Key Takeaways

Press Ctrl+H to open Find & Replace, type the word to find and the replacement word, then click Replace All to change every instance at once.
Click Replace instead of Replace All if you want to review each change before Word makes it, which catches unintended matches.
Use "Match case" if you need to replace only uppercase or lowercase versions of a word, leaving others untouched.
The Find & Replace tool works across your entire document, headers, footers, and footnotes unless you select a specific section first.

Replacing one instance at a time

If you only want to change some of the matches, not all of them, use the "Replace" button instead of "Replace All". Open Find & Replace with Ctrl+H, type the word to find and the replacement, then click "Replace". Word highlights the first match and waits for your choice. Click "Replace" to change that one, or click "Find Next" to skip it and move to the next match.

This method takes longer but prevents mistakes. For example, if you search for "bank" intending to replace it with "financial institution", you might not want to replace "bank" when it appears in "riverbank" or as part of a proper name. Reviewing each match lets you decide which ones actually need to change.

Making replacements case-sensitive

By default, Find & Replace treats uppercase and lowercase the same way. If you search for "apple", it will find and replace "Apple", "APPLE", and "apple" all together. To change only one version, check the "Match case" box before you search. Then "apple" will match only lowercase, "Apple" will match only the capitalized version, and so on.

This is useful when you need to fix a word that appears in different forms. You might want to replace "john" with "John" in a document where someone's name was typed in lowercase, but leave "JOHN" in all caps alone because it appears in an acronym or heading.

Using wildcards and special characters

The Find & Replace tool can search for patterns, not just exact words. Check the "Use wildcards" box to search for things like "any digit" or "any letter". For instance, you can search for "cat." (with a period) to find the word "cat" only when it ends a sentence, leaving "cats" and "catfish" untouched.

Common wildcard patterns include ? (any single character), * (any number of characters), and ^p (a paragraph break). If you want to find and replace line breaks or tabs, you can use ^l for a line break and ^t for a tab. These patterns are most useful in longer documents where straightforward word-for-word replacement would miss what you actually need to change.

What Find & Replace covers in your document

The Find & Replace tool searches the entire document by default, including the main text, headers, footers, footnotes, and endnotes. If you want to limit the search to only part of your document, select that section first, then open Find & Replace. Word will only search within your selection.

If you have multiple documents open, Find & Replace works on only the document you are currently viewing. It does not search across multiple files at once. Close or switch between documents if you need to replace text in more than one file.

Undoing a replacement you did not mean to make

If you click "Replace All" and realize the replacements were wrong, press Ctrl+Z when ready to undo. Word will revert every change that the Replace All command made in one step. This works even if you closed the Find & Replace dialog already.

If you have already saved the document after the replacement, undo will not work. This is another reason to use "Replace" one at a time when you are unsure, or to save a backup copy of the document before running "Replace All" on a large batch of text.

Finding and replacing formatting, not just words

You can also use Find & Replace to change formatting without changing the actual words. Open Find & Replace, leave the "Find what" field empty, then click "Format" at the bottom of the dialog. Choose the formatting you want to find — bold, italic, a specific font, a specific color, or a paragraph style. In the "Replace with" field, set the formatting you want instead.

For example, you could find all text in Times New Roman and replace it with Arial, or find all bold text and make it regular weight. This is faster than manually selecting and reformatting text throughout a long document.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I replace text in Word Online the same way as desktop Word?

Yes. Word Online has the same Find & Replace tool. Press Ctrl+H to open it, or click the search icon in the toolbar and select "Replace". The process is identical to desktop Word, though some advanced options like wildcards may not be available in the online version.

What if I want to replace a word only in a specific paragraph?

Select that paragraph first by clicking and dragging to highlight it, then open Find & Replace with Ctrl+H. Word will only search within your selection. When you click Replace All, it changes only the matches inside the highlighted area.

Does Find & Replace work with special characters like hyphens or apostrophes?

Yes. Type the special character exactly as it appears in your document. If you want to find a hyphen, type a hyphen. If you want to find a curly apostrophe (the kind Word creates automatically), type or paste that exact character into the Find field. Straight apostrophes and curly apostrophes are different characters and will not match each other.

Can I replace a word with nothing to delete it?

Yes. Type the word to find, leave the "Replace with" field empty, and click Replace All. Word will remove every instance of that word from your document. This is useful for cleaning up repeated words or removing placeholder text.

This guide is for general information only and is not medical, financial, legal, or other professional advice. For decisions specific to your situation, consult a qualified professional. See our Editorial Policy.