The Find and Replace tool is in the Home tab, accessible through Ctrl+H

Open any Excel spreadsheet and press Ctrl+H on your keyboard. A dialog box labeled "Find and Replace" will appear when ready. This is the fastest way to reach the tool on Windows. On Mac, press Command+H instead.

If you prefer using the menu, click the Home tab at the top of Excel. Look for a button labeled Find & Select in the right section of the ribbon (the toolbar). Click it and choose Replace from the dropdown menu. Both methods open the same dialog.

The Find and Replace dialog stays open while you work, so you can make multiple replacements without reopening it. Close it by clicking the X button or pressing Escape when you are finished.

Key Takeaways

  • Press Ctrl+H (or Command+H on Mac) to open Find and Replace when ready from any spreadsheet.
  • 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 Options button to search only in specific columns, match whole words only, or search by cell format instead of text.
  • The tool works across all sheets in your workbook if you choose that setting, or stays within a single sheet by default.
  • Click Find All first to see how many matches exist before you replace them, which prevents accidental bulk changes.

How to type what you want to find and replace

In the "Find what:" field, type the exact text or number you want to locate. In the "Replace with:" field, type what should appear instead. If you want to delete something entirely, leave the "Replace with:" field empty and click Replace All.

Excel searches for your text exactly as you type it. If you search for "Smith" it will not find "smith" or "SMITH" unless you turn off case sensitivity. To ignore uppercase and lowercase differences, click Options and uncheck the box labeled "Match case."

You can also search for partial text. Typing "cat" will find "catalog," "category," and "concatenate." If you want to find only the word "cat" by itself, click Options and check "Match entire cell contents."

Replacing one instance at a time versus all at once

After you type your search term, you have two choices. Click Find Next to locate one instance at a time. Excel will highlight the first match in your spreadsheet. You can then click Replace to change just that one, or click Find Next again to skip it and move to the next match.

Click Replace All to change every match in your spreadsheet when ready. Excel will tell you how many replacements it made. This is faster when you are confident the search term will only match what you intend to replace.

Before you click Replace All, click Find All to see a list of every match. This shows you exactly what will change and lets you spot any surprises. If the list looks wrong, close the dialog and refine your search term.

Searching specific columns or sheets

By default, Find and Replace searches your entire workbook — every sheet and every cell. To limit the search, click Options to reveal more settings.

If you want to search only the current sheet, click the dropdown next to "Search" and choose Sheet instead of Workbook. If you want to search only a specific column, first select that column by clicking its letter at the top, then open Find and Replace. The search will stay within your selection.

You can also search by format rather than by text. Click Options, then click the dropdown arrow next to "Find what:" and choose Format. This lets you find all cells with a specific color, font, or number format and replace them with different formatting.

When Find and Replace does not work as expected

If your search finds nothing, check whether you have selected a specific range of cells. If you selected cells A1 through A10, the search will only look there. Click somewhere outside your selection to deselect it, then try again.

Spaces and special characters matter. Searching for "Smith " (with a space after) will not find "Smith" (without a space). If your search is not working, try removing extra spaces or special characters from your search term.

If you are searching for a number and finding nothing, the cell might contain text that looks like a number. For example, a cell might display "123" but actually contain the text "123" formatted to look like a number. Try searching for the number in quotes, like "123", or check the cell format by right-clicking and choosing Format Cells.

Using wildcards to find patterns

Excel lets you search for patterns using wildcards — special characters that stand in for unknown text. The question mark ? represents any single character. The asterisk * represents any number of characters.

To find all five-letter words starting with "cat", search for "cat??". To find anything starting with "cat", search for "cat*". To find cells containing "cat" anywhere in the text, search for "*cat*".

Wildcards only work when you check the "Regular expressions" option in the Options menu. If your wildcard search is not working, verify that this box is checked.

Undoing a replacement you did not mean to make

If you click Replace All and realize the change was wrong, press Ctrl+Z when ready to undo it. Excel will reverse the entire replacement operation and restore your original text. This works even if you made hundreds of replacements at once.

Undo works only if you catch the mistake right away. If you have made other changes since the replacement, undoing will reverse those changes too. For this reason, it is safer to use Find Next and Replace one instance at a time when you are uncertain about a search term.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I search for line breaks or special characters?

Yes, but you need to enable regular expressions first. Click Options, then check "Regular expressions." Then use ^n to find a line break within a cell, or \t to find a tab character. For other special characters, you can often type them directly into the search field.

Will Find and Replace work on formulas or only on displayed values?

It searches both. If a cell contains the formula =SUM(A1:A10) and you search for "SUM", it will find that cell. If you search for a number that appears as a result of a formula, it will not find the formula itself — only cells where that number is typed directly.

What happens if I search across multiple sheets?

Excel searches every sheet in order from left to right. When it finishes one sheet, it moves to the next. The status message tells you which sheet it is currently searching. You can stop the search at any time by pressing Escape.

Can I replace text with a formula?

No. The Replace field accepts only text and numbers, not formulas. If you need to replace text with a formula, use Find and Replace to delete the text first, then manually enter the formula or use a different method like a helper column with a formula.

Is there a way to see what changed after I click Replace All?

Click Find All before you replace to see a list of all matches. After you replace, press Ctrl+Z to undo and review what changed, then press Ctrl+Y to redo the replacement if it was correct.