The Find & Replace tool does the work for you

Microsoft Word has a built-in tool called Find & Replace that finds every instance of a word and swaps it for another one in seconds. You do not have to hunt through your document manually. Open the Find & Replace dialog, type the word you want to remove and the word you want instead, then choose whether to replace one instance or all of them at once.

The tool works the same way in Word for Windows, Word for Mac, and Word Online. The keyboard shortcut is Ctrl+H on Windows and Command+H on Mac — this is the fastest way to open it.

Key Takeaways

  • Press Ctrl+H (Windows) or Command+H (Mac) to open Find & Replace, or use the menu: Home tab, then Editing group, then Find & Replace.
  • Type the word you want to find in the "Find what" field and the replacement word in the "Replace with" field.
  • Click "Replace All" to change every instance at once, or "Replace" to change them one at a time and skip any you want to keep.
  • Use "Match case" if you need to preserve capital letters, and "Whole words only" if you want to avoid replacing parts of longer words.

Step-by-step: using Find & Replace

Open your document in Word. Press Ctrl+H on Windows or Command+H on Mac. The Find & Replace dialog box will appear.

In the "Find what" field, type the word you want to replace. In the "Replace with" field, type the new word. For example, if you want to change "colour" to "color" throughout the document, type "colour" in the first field and "color" in the second.

Before you proceed, decide whether you want to replace every instance or go through them one by one. If you click "Replace All", Word will change every match in the entire document when ready. If you click "Replace", Word will highlight the first match and ask you to confirm — you can then click "Replace" to change that one, or "Find Next" to skip it and move to the next match.

When you are done, close the dialog by clicking the X button or pressing Escape.

Matching case and whole words only

Word offers two checkboxes that control how strictly the tool matches your search. Match case tells Word to treat uppercase and lowercase letters as different. If you search for "Word" with Match case on, it will not find "word" or "WORD". This is useful when you need to preserve the original capitalization — for instance, if you are replacing a proper noun or the start of a sentence.

Whole words only prevents Word from replacing parts of longer words. If you search for "read" without this option, it will also change "reading", "reader", and "already". With Whole words only checked, it will only change the standalone word "read". This is especially important when replacing short words that might be part of other words.

Both checkboxes are in the Find & Replace dialog. Click "More options" or "Additional options" (the label varies by version) if you do not see them when ready.

Undoing a replacement you did not mean to make

If you click "Replace All" and realize the change was wrong — you replaced the wrong word, or the replacement affected text you wanted to keep — press Ctrl+Z on Windows or Command+Z on Mac right away. Word will undo the entire replacement operation and restore your document to how it was before.

This is why using "Replace" one at a time is safer when you are unsure. You can see each match before you approve it, and you can skip any that do not belong.

Replacing across multiple documents

Find & Replace works on one document at a time. If you need to replace a word in many documents, you have two options: open each document separately and run Find & Replace in each one, or use Word's batch processing features if you have Word 2019 or later and the documents are in the same folder.

For batch processing in newer versions, go to File, then Open, then Browse. Select all the documents you want to change (hold Ctrl and click each one), then instead of clicking Open, click the dropdown arrow next to Open and choose "Open and Repair" or look for a batch option in your version. Not all versions support this, so check your Word help menu if you do not see the option.

The simpler approach for most people is to open each document, use Ctrl+H, and run the replacement. It takes a few minutes but is reliable and works in every version of Word.

When Find & Replace does not work the way you expect

Sometimes you run Find & Replace and it says "Search key not found" even though you know the word is in the document. This usually means the word you typed does not exactly match what is in the document. Check for extra spaces, different punctuation, or hidden formatting characters.

Another common issue: you replaced text but some instances did not change. This often happens when the text you are looking for is split across a page break or has a line break in the middle of it. Word treats line breaks as characters, so "find" and "find" with a line break in the middle are not the same to the tool. If this happens, use "Replace" one at a time and watch for these cases.

If you are replacing a word that appears in headers, footers, or text boxes, make sure those sections are unlocked and visible. Find & Replace will not search inside locked sections or hidden text.

Using wildcards and special characters

For advanced users, Word allows you to search for patterns using wildcards and special characters. For example, you can search for any number, any letter, or any punctuation mark without typing the exact character. This requires turning on "Use wildcards" in the Find & Replace dialog.

Common wildcards include ^p for a paragraph break, ^t for a tab, and . (a period) for any single character when wildcards are on. If you need to replace text that follows a pattern — like removing all paragraph breaks or standardizing spacing — wildcards can do it in one operation. However, this feature has a learning curve, and for most everyday replacements, the basic Find & Replace is all you need.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I undo a Replace All if I did it by mistake?

Yes. Press Ctrl+Z (Windows) or Command+Z (Mac) when ready after the replacement. Word will undo the entire operation and restore your document. If you have made other changes since the replacement, undo will reverse those too, so act quickly.

What is the difference between Replace and Replace All?

Replace changes one instance at a time and asks you to confirm each one. Replace All changes every instance in the document without asking. Use Replace All when you are certain the replacement is correct everywhere. Use Replace when you want to check each match first.

How do I replace a word only at the beginning of sentences?

Standard Find & Replace cannot target only sentence beginnings. The workaround is to use Replace one at a time and skip instances that are not at the start of a sentence. For more complex rules, you would need to use wildcards, which requires some technical knowledge of Word's wildcard syntax.

Will Find & Replace change text inside headers and footers?

Only if the header or footer is unlocked and you are currently viewing it. If a header or footer is locked or you are in the main document view, Find & Replace will skip it. Double-click the header or footer area to unlock it, then run Find & Replace again.

Can I replace a word with nothing to delete it?

Yes. Leave the "Replace with" field empty and click Replace All. Word will remove every instance of the word you searched for. Be careful with this — it is straightforward to delete more than you intended. Use Replace one at a time if you are unsure.