The Find and Replace tool does the work for you

Microsoft Word's Find and Replace feature lets you search for a word or phrase and swap it for something else throughout your entire document in seconds. You do not have to hunt through the page manually or edit each instance one at a time. The tool finds every match and replaces them all at once, or lets you approve each one before it changes.

This is especially useful when you have written a document using the wrong term, misspelled a name consistently, or need to update a phrase that appears dozens of times. Instead of reading through line by line, you open one dialog box, type what you want to find and what you want to replace it with, and let Word do the work.

Key Takeaways

  • Open Find and Replace by pressing Ctrl+H on Windows or Command+Option+F on Mac, or use the Edit menu.
  • Type the word or phrase you want to find in the "Find what" field and the replacement text in the "Replace with" field.
  • Click "Replace All" to change every instance at once, or "Replace" to approve each change individually before it happens.
  • Use "Match case" if you need to distinguish between uppercase and lowercase versions of the same word.
  • You can undo all replacements at once by pressing Ctrl+Z when ready after the operation finishes.

Opening Find and Replace on Windows

The fastest way is to press Ctrl+H on your keyboard. This opens the Find and Replace dialog box when ready, no matter where you are in the document.

If you prefer using the menu, click the Edit tab at the top of the screen, then select Find and Replace from the dropdown. You will see the same dialog box appear.

Opening Find and Replace on Mac

Press Command+Option+F to open the Find and Replace dialog. This is the keyboard shortcut built into Word for Mac.

Alternatively, click Edit in the menu bar at the top, then select Find and Replace from the list. The dialog will open in the same way.

Entering your search term and replacement text

In the dialog box, you will see a field labeled "Find what". Type the word or phrase you want to search for. For example, if you wrote "colour" throughout a document but need "color" instead, type "colour" in this field.

Below that is a field labeled "Replace with". Type what you want to replace it with — in this case, "color". Be careful with spacing and punctuation, because Word will replace exactly what you typed.

If you are replacing a phrase, include the spaces around it. For example, if you want to change "New York City" to "NYC", type the full phrase in both fields so the spacing comes out right.

Replacing all instances at once or one at a time

Once you have entered your search term and replacement, you have two choices. Click "Replace All" to change every instance of that word or phrase in the entire document when ready. Word will tell you how many replacements it made.

If you want to review each change before it happens, click "Replace" instead. Word will highlight the first match in your document. You can then click "Replace" to change that one instance, or "Find Next" to skip it and move to the next match. This approach takes longer but gives you control over which instances actually change.

You can also click "Find All" to see every match highlighted in your document at once, without replacing anything yet. This is useful if you want to count how many times a word appears or check whether the matches are what you expected.

Using Match Case to distinguish between uppercase and lowercase

By default, Find and Replace treats uppercase and lowercase letters the same way. If you search for "apple", it will find "Apple", "APPLE", and "apple" all together.

If you need to distinguish between them — for example, if you want to replace only the lowercase "apple" but leave "Apple" (a proper noun) untouched — check the box labeled "Match case" before you click Replace All. Now Word will only find exact matches of the capitalization you typed.

Undoing replacements if something goes wrong

If you click "Replace All" and realize the replacements were not what you wanted, press Ctrl+Z (Windows) or Command+Z (Mac) when ready. This will undo all the replacements at once and restore your document to how it was before.

This undo works only if you do it right away, before you make other changes to the document. If you have made other edits since the replacement, undoing will reverse those too. For this reason, it is a good habit to save your document before using "Replace All" on a large number of instances, so you have a backup if something unexpected happens.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I search for part of a word?

Yes. If you type "ing" in the Find field, Word will find it inside words like "running", "walking", and "thing". If you want to find only the complete word "ing" by itself, check the box labeled "Match entire word only" before you search.

What if I want to find a word but leave some instances unchanged?

Use the "Replace" button instead of "Replace All". Word will highlight each match one at a time, and you can click "Replace" to change it or "Find Next" to skip it and move to the next one. This way you approve each change individually.

Can I search for line breaks or special characters?

Yes, but you need to use special codes. For example, to find a paragraph break, type "^p" in the Find field. To find a tab, type "^t". These codes work in the Find and Replace dialog, though the exact codes vary slightly between Windows and Mac versions of Word.

Does Find and Replace work in headers and footers?

Yes. Find and Replace searches the entire document, including headers, footers, and text boxes. If you want to search only the main body of the document and not the headers or footers, you will need to close those sections first before opening Find and Replace.