The Replace All feature finds and changes every instance of a word or phrase at once

Word's Find and Replace tool lets you search for text and swap it out across your entire document in one action. You open it with Ctrl+H (Windows) or Command+Option+F (Mac), type what you want to find in the first box, type what you want to replace it with in the second box, then click Replace All. Word will change every match and tell you how many replacements it made.

This is faster than finding and replacing one instance at a time, especially in long documents. But it also carries real risk: if you mistype the search term or don't think through what you're replacing, you can change text you didn't mean to touch. The safest approach is to use Find Next a few times first to see what Word will actually change, then use Replace All once you're certain.

Key Takeaways

  • Open Find and Replace with Ctrl+H on Windows or Command+Option+F on Mac, then type your search term and replacement text.
  • Click Find Next a few times to preview what Word will change before you click Replace All, which changes every match at once.
  • Word shows you a count of replacements made, so you can catch if the number seems wrong.
  • Use Match Case if you only want to replace "Smith" but not "smith", and use Find Whole Words Only to avoid changing "cat" inside "catalog".

Opening Find and Replace and entering your search term

Press Ctrl+H on Windows or Command+Option+F on Mac. A dialog box will open with two text fields: "Find what" at the top and "Replace with" below it. Type the exact text you want to find in the "Find what" field. If you're searching for a phrase with spaces or punctuation, type it exactly as it appears in your document.

Word searches from your cursor position forward through the document. If you want to search the entire document, move your cursor to the beginning first by pressing Ctrl+Home (Windows) or Command+Home (Mac). This ensures you don't miss any matches earlier in the file.

Typing the replacement text and previewing matches

Click in the "Replace with" field and type what you want to use instead. This can be a single word, a phrase, or even nothing at all if you want to delete the search term. Leave this field blank if you're removing text rather than swapping it.

Before you click Replace All, click Find Next at least two or three times. Word will highlight each match in your document so you can see exactly what it found. This catches typos in your search term or unexpected matches you didn't think about. For example, if you search for "the" without checking first, you might accidentally change "the" inside "theater" or "therapy".

Using Replace All safely

Once you've confirmed that Find Next is highlighting the right text, click Replace All. Word will change every remaining match in the document and show you a message saying how many replacements it made. Read that number carefully — if it says "47 replacements made" but you expected 5, something went wrong and you should undo when ready by pressing Ctrl+Z.

If the count looks right, you're done. If it doesn't match what you expected, undo the replacement and try again with a more specific search term. For instance, instead of searching for "Smith", search for "Smith," (with a comma) if you only want to replace the surname when it appears in a list.

Using Match Case and Find Whole Words Only

Match Case makes Word treat uppercase and lowercase letters as different. If you turn this on and search for "Smith", Word will find "Smith" but not "smith". This is useful when you want to replace a proper name but leave common words alone.

Find Whole Words Only prevents Word from changing a search term when it's part of a longer word. If you search for "cat" without this option, Word will change "cat" inside "catalog", "category", and "caterpillar". With Find Whole Words Only turned on, Word will only change "cat" when it stands by itself. Both options are checkboxes in the Find and Replace dialog — turn them on before you search.

What Replace All cannot do

Replace All works only with plain text. It cannot find or replace formatting (like bold or italics), paragraph breaks, or special characters like tabs unless you use Word's special codes. For example, you cannot use Replace All to make every instance of a word bold, or to remove all line breaks at once. You would need to use Find Next and replace each one individually, or use Word's formatting tools separately.

Replace All also cannot search inside headers, footers, or text boxes unless you click into those areas first. If you need to replace text throughout your entire document including headers and footers, you'll need to run Find and Replace separately in each section.

Undoing a Replace All that went wrong

If you click Replace All and the result is not what you wanted, press Ctrl+Z when ready to undo. Word will restore your document to the state it was in before the replacement. You can undo multiple times if you need to go back further.

If you've already saved the document after a bad replacement, you cannot undo. This is why previewing with Find Next first is so important. Taking thirty seconds to check a few matches can save you from having to retype or manually fix dozens of changes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I replace text with nothing to delete it?

Yes. Leave the "Replace with" field blank and click Replace All. Word will remove every instance of the search term. This is useful for deleting repeated words or removing formatting codes, but be careful — if you delete the wrong term, you'll need to undo right away.

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

Select the text you want to search in first, then open Find and Replace. Word will only search within your selection. If you don't select anything, it searches the entire document from your cursor position forward.

Can I search for a line break or paragraph mark?

Yes, but you need to use a special code. In the "Find what" field, type ^p to search for paragraph breaks. You can replace paragraph breaks with text or vice versa, though this is an advanced move and straightforward to mess up — preview carefully before using Replace All.

Why did Replace All change text I didn't expect?

Your search term probably matched text you didn't think about. For example, searching for "read" will also change "read" inside "thread" or "already". Use Find Whole Words Only to avoid this, or make your search term more specific by including punctuation or spaces.

Does Replace All work the same way on Mac and Windows?

The feature works the same way, but the keyboard shortcut is different. Windows uses Ctrl+H, Mac uses Command+Option+F. The dialog box and all the options look slightly different on Mac, but Replace All does the same thing on both.