Use Find & Replace to swap one word for another throughout your document

Microsoft Word's Find & Replace tool lets you search for a word or phrase and swap it for something else in seconds. Instead of hunting through your document manually, you can replace one instance, all instances at once, or stop and review each one as it appears. The tool works the same way in Word on Windows, Mac, and the web version.

You open Find & Replace by pressing Ctrl+H on Windows or Command+H on Mac. A dialog box appears with two fields: one for the word you want to find, and one for the word you want to replace it with. Type in both, then choose whether to replace one at a time or all at once.

Key Takeaways

  • Press Ctrl+H (Windows) or Command+H (Mac) to open the Find & Replace dialog.
  • Type the word you want to find in the first field and the replacement word in the second field.
  • Click "Replace All" to change every instance at once, or "Replace" to go through them one by one.
  • Use "Match Case" if you need to match uppercase and lowercase exactly, or leave it unchecked to find all variations.
  • The tool shows you how many replacements were made when you finish.

Opening Find & Replace in Word

The fastest way to open Find & Replace is the keyboard shortcut. On a Windows computer, hold Ctrl and press H. On a Mac, hold Command and press H. The Find & Replace dialog box will appear on the right side of your screen (in newer versions) or as a floating window (in older versions).

If you prefer using the menu, you can also go to the Home tab at the top of Word, look for the Editing group on the right side of the ribbon, and click the dropdown arrow next to Find. Select Replace from the menu. In Word on the web, click Edit at the top, then Find and Replace.

Typing in the Find and Replace fields

Once the dialog is open, you will see two text fields. The top one says "Find what:" — this is where you type the word or phrase you want to search for. The bottom one says "Replace with:" — this is where you type what you want it to become.

For example, if you wrote "colour" throughout a document but need to change it to "color", type "colour" in the Find field and "color" in the Replace field. Word is not case-sensitive by default, so it will find "Colour", "colour", and "COLOUR" all the same. If you need to match the exact case, check the Match Case option under "Search Options" or "More Options" (the name varies by version).

Replacing one instance or all at once

After you have typed both words, you have two choices. Click Replace to change just the first instance Word finds. The cursor will move to the next match, and you can decide whether to replace that one too. This is useful when you are not sure every instance should be changed — for example, if you are replacing a person's name and want to make sure you are not changing it in a quote or title where it should stay the same.

Click Replace All to change every instance in the entire document at once. Word will show you a message telling you how many replacements were made. This is faster when you are confident the change should happen everywhere — like fixing a misspelled word or updating a company name.

Using Match Case and other search options

By default, Find & Replace ignores whether letters are uppercase or lowercase. If you search for "john", it will find "John", "JOHN", and "john" all the same. If you need to match the exact capitalization, click More Options (or Search Options in some versions) to expand the dialog, then check the Match Case box.

Other useful options in the expanded menu include Find whole words only, which prevents Word from finding your search term inside other words. For example, if you search for "cat" without this option checked, it will also find "category" and "scatter". With the option checked, it will only find the word "cat" by itself. You can also search in specific directions (forward or backward from your cursor) or search in headers, footers, and footnotes if you need to.

What to do if no matches are found

If you type a word in the Find field and click Replace or Replace All, Word will tell you "Search key not found" or "No matches found" if that word does not appear in your document. This usually means you misspelled the search term, or the word you are looking for is not actually in the document.

Double-check the spelling of what you typed in the Find field. If you are searching for a phrase with multiple words, make sure you typed it exactly as it appears in the document — extra spaces or different punctuation will cause the search to fail. You can also try unchecking Match Case if you have it checked, in case the capitalization is different from what you expected.

Closing Find & Replace and undoing changes

When you are done using Find & Replace, close the dialog by clicking the X button in the corner or pressing Escape. Your document will stay open with all the replacements made.

If you replace something and then realize it was a mistake, you can undo the change when ready by pressing Ctrl+Z (Windows) or Command+Z (Mac). If you used Replace All and changed many instances at once, pressing Ctrl+Z or Command+Z once will undo all of them together. If you only replaced a few instances and want to undo just one, you will need to undo each one separately.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use Find & Replace with special characters or punctuation?

Yes. Type the punctuation mark or special character in the Find field just as it appears in your document. For example, to replace all hyphens with dashes, type a hyphen in the Find field and an em dash in the Replace field. Some versions of Word also let you search using wildcards or regular expressions if you enable that option in Search Options, though this is more advanced.

What if I want to replace a word only in part of my document?

Select the section of text you want to search in before you open Find & Replace. Then open the dialog and make your search. Word will only look within the selected text. If you do not select anything, it searches the entire document.

Can I replace text with nothing to delete it?

Yes. Type the word you want to remove in the Find field, leave the Replace field empty, and click Replace All. Word will delete every instance of that word. Be careful with this — if you delete a common word by accident, you will need to undo it right away.

Does Find & Replace work in Word on the web?

Yes, but the web version has fewer options. Open the document, click Edit at the top, then Find and Replace. Type your search and replacement words and click Replace or Replace All. The basic function works the same, but you will not see advanced options like Match Case or Find whole words only in the web version.

Can I search for line breaks or paragraph marks?

Yes, but you need to enable regular expressions first. In the expanded Search Options menu, check the box for "Regular expressions" or "Use wildcards" (the name varies by version). Then use special codes: ^p for a paragraph break, ^l for a line break. For example, to remove all paragraph breaks, search for ^p and leave the Replace field empty.