Open Find and Replace with a keyboard shortcut or menu
The fastest way to open Find and Replace in Word is to press Ctrl+H on Windows or Command+Option+F on Mac. A dialog box will appear with two text fields: one for the text you want to find, and one for the text you want to replace it with.
If you prefer the menu, go to the Home tab at the top of your document, then click Replace in the Editing group on the right side of the ribbon. This opens the same dialog box.
The Find and Replace box stays open while you work, so you can search through your document without closing it between searches.
Key Takeaways
- Press Ctrl+H (Windows) or Command+Option+F (Mac) to open Find and Replace when ready.
- Type the text you want to find in the first field and the replacement text in the second field, then click Replace All to change every instance at once.
- Use Replace to change one instance at a time, or Replace All to change every match in the document in a single action.
- The More Options button reveals advanced settings like Match Case and Whole Words Only, which let you search more precisely.
- You can search for formatting, special characters, and paragraph marks by clicking Format or Special in the expanded dialog.
Type what you want to find and what you want instead
In the Find what: field, type the exact text you want to search for. In the Replace with: field, type what you want it to become. For example, you might find "colour" and replace it with "color" throughout a document.
If you want to leave something blank — for instance, to delete a word or phrase — type the text to find but leave the Replace with field empty. When you click Replace All, Word will remove every instance of that text.
Word is case-sensitive by default, meaning it treats "Word" and "word" as different. If you want to find both uppercase and lowercase versions, you will need to adjust your search settings, which we cover below.
Choose Replace to change one at a time, or Replace All to change everything
Once you have entered your find and replace text, you have two options. Replace changes only the next instance Word finds. Replace All changes every instance in your entire document at once.
Use Replace when you want to check each change before it happens — for example, if you are replacing a common word and want to make sure the context is right each time. Word will highlight the match it finds, and you can click Replace to change it or Find Next to skip it and move to the next one.
Use Replace All when you are confident the change is correct everywhere — for instance, replacing a product name or correcting a consistent misspelling. Replace All is much faster for large documents.
Use More Options to search by case, whole words, or formatting
Click the More Options button (or arrow) in the Find and Replace dialog to reveal additional settings. These let you narrow your search so you do not accidentally change text you want to keep.
Match Case makes the search case-sensitive. If you check this box and search for "Word", it will find only "Word" with a capital W, not "word" in lowercase. This is useful when you want to replace a proper noun or acronym without affecting the same letters in other words.
Whole Words Only finds only complete words, not partial matches. If you search for "read" with this option on, it will find "read" but not "reading" or "thread". This prevents accidental replacements inside longer words.
Use Regular Expressions lets you search using patterns instead of exact text. For example, you can search for any number, any letter, or any character that matches a specific pattern. This is an advanced feature and requires knowledge of regular expression syntax.
Search for formatting, special characters, and paragraph marks
The Find and Replace dialog can search for more than just text. Click the Format button to find text with specific formatting — for instance, all bold text, or all text in a particular font or color. You can then replace it with text in different formatting.
Click the Special button to search for paragraph marks (^p), tab characters (^t), line breaks (^l), and other invisible characters. This is useful when you need to remove extra spaces between paragraphs or replace line breaks with paragraph marks.
For example, you might search for "^p^p" (two paragraph marks in a row) and replace it with "^p" (one paragraph mark) to remove double spacing throughout your document. Or search for "^t" to find every tab and replace it with spaces if you need to standardize spacing.
Undo changes if you replace the wrong text
If Replace All changes something you did not intend, press Ctrl+Z (Windows) or Command+Z (Mac) when ready to undo the entire replacement. Word will revert every change from that Replace All action at once.
This is why Replace All is safe even if you are not certain — you can always undo it. However, if you have made other edits since the replacement, undoing will also undo those edits, so it is best to undo right away.
If you are working on an important document, consider saving a copy before using Replace All on a large number of changes. That way you have a backup if something goes wrong.
Close Find and Replace when you are done
Click the X button in the top right corner of the Find and Replace dialog to close it. You can also press Escape on your keyboard. The dialog will close but your replacements will remain in the document.
If Word tells you "Search key not found" or "No more matches", it means there are no more instances of your search text in the document. You can then close the dialog and continue editing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I search for text across multiple documents at once?
No, Find and Replace works only within the document you currently have open. To search multiple documents, you would need to open each one and run Find and Replace separately, or use a third-party tool designed for batch operations across files.
What does the "Find All" button do?
Find All highlights every instance of your search text in the document at once, without replacing anything. This is useful when you want to see how many times a word appears or select all instances for formatting. After you click Find All, all matches are selected, and you can explore formatting to all of them together.
How do I search for a line break instead of a paragraph mark?
In the Special menu, line breaks are represented by ^l (lowercase L). Paragraph marks are ^p. If your document uses line breaks instead of paragraph marks, search for ^l and replace it with ^p to standardize the formatting.
Can I replace text with a formula or field code?
Find and Replace works with text and formatting only, not with formulas or field codes. If you need to replace field codes, you will need to delete them manually or use Word's field update features instead.
What if I want to find text but keep some of the original words in the replacement?
You can use regular expressions and capture groups to do this. For example, search for "(word1) (word2)" with regular expressions on, then replace it with "$2 $1" to swap the order. This requires knowledge of regex syntax and is an advanced technique.