Open Find and Replace with a keyboard shortcut or the 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 fields: one for the text you want to find, and one for what you want to replace it with.

If you prefer the menu, go to the Home tab at the top of your document, then click Find & Replace in the Editing group on the right side of the ribbon. You can also use Ctrl+F to open just the Find pane if you only need to search without replacing.

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 Match Case if you need to distinguish between uppercase and lowercase letters, or Whole Words Only to avoid replacing parts of longer words.
  • Click Replace instead of Replace All if you want to review each match before changing it, which prevents accidental replacements.
  • The Find and Replace history remembers your recent searches, so you can reuse them without retyping.

Type what you want to find and what to replace it with

In the Find what: field, type the exact text you are looking for. In the Replace with: field, type what you want it to become. For example, if you want to change "colour" to "color" throughout your document, type "colour" in the first field and "color" in the second.

Word will search for your text in the order it appears in the document, starting from wherever your cursor is positioned. If you want to search from the beginning, click the arrow next to Search Options to expand the menu, then choose All under the Search dropdown.

Choose Replace All to change everything at once, or Replace to go one by one

If you are confident about the replacement, click Replace All and Word will change every instance of that text in your document when ready. Word will tell you how many replacements it made in a small message box.

If you want to check each match before it changes, click Replace instead. Word will highlight the first match and wait for you to decide. You can click Replace to change that one instance, Find Next to skip it and move to the next match, or Replace All if you change your mind and want to replace the rest without reviewing them.

Use Match Case and Whole Words Only for precise searches

By default, Find and Replace ignores whether letters are uppercase or lowercase. If you need to distinguish between "Apple" and "apple," click the arrow next to Search Options and check Match Case. Now "Apple" will only match "Apple," not "apple."

The Whole Words Only option prevents Word from replacing text that is part of a longer word. For example, if you search for "cat" without this option checked, it will replace "cat" inside "category" and "scatter." With Whole Words Only checked, it will only replace "cat" when it stands alone.

Use wildcards and special characters for complex replacements

Word can search for patterns, not just exact text. Click Search Options, then check Use wildcards to turn on pattern matching. The period (.) matches any single character, the asterisk (*) matches any number of characters, and the caret (^) lets you search for line breaks or paragraph marks.

For example, typing ^p in the Find field will search for paragraph breaks. If you want to remove all paragraph breaks and replace them with a space, type ^p in Find and a single space in Replace. This is useful when you have text that was pasted with unwanted line breaks.

Undo a replacement if you made a mistake

If Replace All changed something you did not intend, press Ctrl+Z when ready to undo the entire replacement. Word will restore your document to the state it was in before you clicked Replace All.

This is why clicking Replace one at a time is safer for important documents — you catch mistakes as they happen instead of discovering them after 200 replacements have already been made. If you have already closed the Find and Replace dialog, you can still undo by pressing Ctrl+Z or going to File > Recent and opening the previous version if you saved it.

Close Find and Replace and return to your document

Once you are finished, press Escape or click the X button in the top right corner of the Find and Replace dialog. Your document will return to normal view, and any replacements you made will remain in place.

Word keeps a history of your recent searches in the Find and Replace dialog. The next time you open it, you can click the dropdown arrow next to the Find field to see previous searches and reuse them without retyping.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I undo Replace All if I already closed the dialog?

Yes. Press Ctrl+Z to undo the last action, even after closing Find and Replace. If you have made other changes since the replacement, you may need to press Ctrl+Z multiple times to get back to before the replacement happened. If that does not work, go to File > Recent and open an earlier version of the document if you saved one.

What does the arrow next to Search Options do?

Clicking the arrow expands a menu with additional search settings like Match Case, Whole Words Only, Use wildcards, and the ability to choose whether to search All, Down, or Up from your current position. These options let you narrow or broaden your search to avoid unintended replacements.

How do I search for special characters like asterisks or question marks?

If you have Use wildcards turned on, special characters like * and ? are treated as pattern symbols. To search for the literal character, put a backslash before it — type \* to find an actual asterisk. If Use wildcards is off, you can type special characters normally.

Can I replace text with nothing to delete it?

Yes. Leave the Replace with field empty and click Replace All. Word will remove every instance of the text you searched for. This is useful for deleting repeated words, extra spaces, or unwanted formatting characters throughout your document.

Does Find and Replace work in tables and headers?

Yes, Find and Replace searches the entire document including tables, headers, footers, and text boxes. If you want to limit the search to only the main document body, you will need to manually select that text first, then open Find and Replace — it will only search within your selection.