Finding and replacing of text or other items

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Use Microsoft Word to find and replace text, formatting, paragraph marks, page breaks  (page break: The point at which one page ends and another begins. Microsoft Word inserts an "automatic" (or soft) page break for you, or you can force a page break at a specific location by inserting a "manual" (or hard) page break.), and other items. You can extend your search by using wildcards and codes.

To find text

You can quickly search for every occurrence of a specific word or phrase.

1. On the Edit menu, click Find.
2. In the Find what box, enter the text that you want to search for.
3. Select any other options that you want.

To select all instances of a specific word or phrase at once, select the Highlight all items found in check box, and then select which portion of the document you want to search in by clicking in the Highlight all items found in list.

4. Click Find Next or Find All.

To cancel a search in progress, press ESC.

Replace text

You can automatically replace text— for example, you can replace "Acme" with "Apex."

1. On the Edit menu, click Replace.
2. In the Find what box, enter the text that you want to search for.
3. In the Replace with box, enter the replacement text.
4. Select any other options that you want.
5. Click Find Next, Replace, or Replace All.

To cancel a search in progress, press ESC.

Find and replace specific formatting

You can search for and replace or remove character formatting. For example, find a specific word or phrase and change the font color, or find specific formatting such as bold and remove or change it.

1. On the Edit menu, click Find.
2. If you don't see the Format button, click More.
3. In the Find what box, do one of the following:
• To search for text without specific formatting, enter the text.
• To search for text with specific formatting, enter the text, click Format, and then select the formats you want.
• To search for specific formatting only, delete any text, click Format, and then select the formats you want.
4. Select the Highlight all items found in check box to find all instances of the word or phrase, and then select which portion of the document you want to search in by clicking in the Highlight all items found in list.
5. Click Find All.

All instances of the word or phrase are highlighted.

6. Click Close.
7. On the Formatting toolbar, click buttons to make changes. For example, select a different font color, click Bold, and then click Italic.

The changes you make are applied to all the highlighted text.

8. Click anywhere in the document to remove highlighting from the text.

Find and replace paragraph marks, page breaks, and other items

You can easily search for and replace special characters and document elements such as page breaks and tabs.

1. On the Edit menu, click Find or Replace.
2. If you don't see the Special button, click More.
3. In the Find what box, do one of the following:
• To choose the item from a list, click Special, and then click the item you want.
• Type a code for the item directly in the Find what box.
4. If you want to replace the item, enter what you want to use as a replacement in the Replace with box.
5. Click Find Next, Replace, or Replace All.

To cancel a search in progress, press ESC.

Tip

For a quick way to find items such as graphics or comments (comment: A note or annotation that an author or reviewer adds to a document. Microsoft Word displays the comment in a balloon in the margin of the document or in the Reviewing Pane.), click Select Browse Object on the vertical scroll bar, and then click the item you want. You can click Next or Previous to find the next or previous item of the same type.

Find and replace noun or adjective forms or verb tenses

You can search for:

Singular and plural noun forms

For example, replace "apple" with "orange" at the same time that you replace "apples" with "oranges".

All adjective forms

For example, replace "worse" with "better" at the same time that you replace "worst" with "best".

All tenses of a root verb

For example, replace "sit" with "stand" at the same time that you replace "sat" with "stood".

1. On the Edit menu, click Find or Replace.
2. If you don't see the Find all word forms check box, click More.
3. Select the Find all word forms check box.
4. In the Find what box, enter the text you want to find.
5. If you want to replace the text, enter the replacement text in the Replace with box.
6. Click Find Next, Replace, or Replace All.
7. If the replacement text is ambiguous, click the word that best matches the meaning you want.

For example, "saw" can be both a noun and a verb; click "saws" to replace nouns, or click "sawing" to replace verbs.

To cancel a search in progress, press ESC.

Notes

• If you're replacing text, it's a good idea to click Replace instead of Replace All; that way, you can confirm each replacement to make sure it's correct.
• Use the same part of speech and tense for both the search and replacement text. For example, search for "see" and replace it with "observe" (both are verbs in the present tense).