Open Find and Replace with a keyboard shortcut or the menu
The fastest way to open Find and Replace in Microsoft Word is to press Ctrl+H on Windows or Command+H on Mac. A dialog box will appear with two text fields: one for the text you want to find, and one for what you want to replace it with.
If you prefer using the menu, click the Home tab at the top of the screen, then look for the Editing group on the right side of the ribbon. Click the arrow next to Find and select Replace from the dropdown menu.
You can also use Ctrl+F (or Command+F on Mac) to open just the Find pane if you only need to search for text without replacing it. This opens a narrower panel on the right side of your document.
Key Takeaways
- Press Ctrl+H (or Command+H on Mac) to open the Find and Replace dialog in one keystroke.
- 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 the Find Next button to review each match one at a time before replacing it, which prevents accidental changes.
- The More Options button reveals advanced settings like Match Case (uppercase vs. lowercase) and Whole Words Only (to avoid partial matches).
- You can search for special characters, paragraph marks, and formatting by clicking the Special or Format buttons in the expanded dialog.
Type your search term and replacement text
In the Find what: field, type the exact text you want to search for. This can be a single word, a phrase, or even a string of numbers. Word will search your entire document for every instance of that text.
In the Replace with: field, type what you want to replace it with. If you want to delete the text entirely, leave this field blank and click Replace All. For example, if you want to remove all instances of the word "the" before a particular name, you would search for "the John" and replace it with "John".
Be careful with your search term. If you search for a common word like "and" without any other restrictions, Word will find it inside other words too—like "sand" or "brand"—unless you use the Whole Words Only option (explained below).
Choose between Replace, Replace All, and Find Next
Once you have entered your search and replacement text, you have three main options for how to proceed. Find Next locates the first instance of your search term and highlights it in the document. You can then decide whether to replace that specific instance or skip it and find the next one.
Replace changes only the currently highlighted instance and then moves to the next match. This is the safest option if you want to review each change before it happens. Use this when you are replacing something that might appear in different contexts where you only want to change it in some places.
Replace All changes every instance of your search term throughout the entire document in one action. Word will tell you how many replacements it made. Use this only when you are certain the replacement is correct everywhere—for example, replacing a company's old name with its new name throughout a document.
Use Match Case to distinguish between uppercase and lowercase
By default, Word treats uppercase and lowercase letters the same way. If you search for "john," it will find "John," "JOHN," and "john" all equally. To change this behavior, click More Options to expand the dialog, then check the Match Case box.
With Match Case enabled, your search becomes case-sensitive. Searching for "john" will now find only lowercase instances, while "John" will find only the capitalized version. This is useful when you need to replace a word only in certain contexts—for instance, replacing "march" (the month) but not "march" (the verb).
Match Case is also helpful when working with acronyms or technical terms where capitalization matters. For example, you might want to replace "SQL" but not "sql" if they appear in different parts of your document.
Enable Whole Words Only to avoid partial matches
When you search for a word, Word normally finds it even if it is part of a longer word. Searching for "cat" will find "cat," "cats," "category," and "concatenate." To prevent this, check the Whole Words Only box in the expanded More Options section.
With Whole Words Only enabled, Word treats your search term as a complete word surrounded by spaces or punctuation. Now searching for "cat" will find only the standalone word "cat," not "cats" or "category." This is especially important when replacing short words that commonly appear inside longer words.
Combining Whole Words Only with Match Case gives you the most precise control. For example, you could search for "The" (capitalized, whole word only) to replace only instances where "The" starts a sentence, leaving "the" in the middle of sentences unchanged.
Search for special characters and formatting
The Find and Replace dialog can search for more than just text. Click the Special button to find paragraph marks, line breaks, tabs, and other invisible characters. For instance, you might search for two paragraph marks in a row (which creates a blank line) and replace them with a single paragraph mark to remove extra spacing throughout your document.
Click the Format button to search for text with specific formatting applied—such as bold, italic, underline, or a particular font. You can search for all instances of bold text and replace them with regular text, or find all text in Arial font and change it to Calibri. This is powerful when you inherit a document with inconsistent formatting and need to standardize it.
To search for a paragraph mark, click Special and select Paragraph Mark. The code ^p will appear in your search field. To search for a tab, select Tab Character and ^t will appear. You can type these codes directly if you remember them, but using the Special button is more reliable.
Review the replacement count and undo if needed
After you click Replace All, Word displays a message telling you exactly how many replacements were made. Read this number carefully—if it seems too high or too low, the replacement may not have worked as intended. Close the message and review your document to confirm the changes look correct.
If you realize the replacement was a mistake, press Ctrl+Z (or Command+Z on Mac) when ready to undo all the replacements at once. Word treats Replace All as a single action, so one undo will reverse every change. This is why Replace All is safe to use—you can always undo it if something goes wrong.
If you used Replace instead of Replace All and made several individual replacements, you may need to press Ctrl+Z multiple times, once for each replacement, to undo them all. Keep the Find and Replace dialog open while you work so you can quickly undo and try again if needed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I search for text across multiple documents at once?
No, Find and Replace works on one document at a time. However, you can open multiple documents and run Find and Replace in each one separately. If you have many documents to update, consider opening them all, then using Find and Replace in each document in sequence.
What does the Find All button do?
Find All highlights every instance of your search term in the document at once, without replacing anything. This is useful when you want to see how many times a word appears or to select all instances for formatting. After Find All, you can explore bold, color, or other formatting to all highlighted instances together.
How do I search for a question mark or asterisk?
Question marks and asterisks are special characters in Find and Replace. To search for them literally, click More Options and check Use Regular Expressions, then type a backslash before the character—for example, \? to find a question mark or \* to find an asterisk. Without this, Word treats them as wildcards.
Can I replace text with a line break or paragraph mark?
Yes. In the Replace with field, click Special and select Paragraph Mark (or type ^p directly) to insert a paragraph break. Click Special and select Line Break (or type ^l) to insert a line break without starting a new paragraph. This is useful for reformatting text—for example, replacing commas with paragraph marks to split a list into separate lines.
What if Find and Replace says "Search key not found"?
This message means Word could not locate your search term anywhere in the document. Check that you spelled the search term correctly and that it actually exists in the document. If you have Match Case enabled, make sure the capitalization matches. You can also try removing any special options like Whole Words Only to broaden the search.