This wikiHow teaches you how to use the Find and Replace feature in Microsoft Word. You can use this feature to search for words in the active document, as well as change certain words into other words.
Step
Method 1 of 2: Using Windows
Step 1. Open a Word document by double-clicking the document in the file manager
To open a document, you can also open Microsoft Word and select the document you want to open from the list of recent documents.
Step 2. Once the document is open, left-click the first word in the document to place the cursor at the beginning of the document
The Find and Replace function will only replace and overwrite the words that appear after the cursor.
If you want to search for a word in a specific part of the text, instead of the entire document, select the part of the document you want
Step 3. Click the Home tab in the upper-left corner of the Word menu ribbon
This menu ribbon is a blue line at the top of the window.
Step 4. On the right side of the toolbar, in the Editing section, click Find
A search bar will appear on the left side of the window.
Step 5. Enter the word you want to search for, then press Enter
If the word you are looking for is in the document, it will be marked.
Step 6. Click or at the bottom right of the search window to display the word you are looking for in the document.
You can also directly click on the search result in the middle of the toolbar
Step 7. Click menu
in the right corner of the search bar to display the menu.
Step 8. From the menu that appears, click Replace
The Find and Replace dialog box will open.
Step 9. Enter the word you want to overwrite in the Find what field, and enter the replacement word in the Replace with field
It's near the bottom of the Find and Replace window.
Step 10. To overwrite a word, click the Replace all button at the bottom of the Find and Replace window
All the words you enter in the Find what field will be overwritten with the words you entered in the Replace with field.
- For example, you can enter "duren" into the Find what field, and "durian" into the Replace With field. After clicking Replace All, the entire word "duren" in the document (or any part of the text of your choice) will be replaced with "durian".
- If you want to select the word to replace, click Replace, instead of Replace All. This way, you can control the word replacement process. Before you begin, you may need to click on the beginning of the text.
Method 2 of 2: Using a Mac
Step 1. Open a Word document by double-clicking the document in the file manager
To open a document, you can also open Microsoft Word and select the document you want to open from the list of recent documents.
Step 2. Once the document is open, left-click the first word in the document to place the cursor at the beginning of the document
The Find and Replace function will only replace and overwrite the words that appear after the cursor.
If you want to search for a word in a specific part of the text, instead of the entire document, select the part of the document you want
Step 3. Click the Home tab in the upper-left corner of the Word menu ribbon
This menu ribbon is a blue line at the top of the window.
Step 4. Click the search bar in the right corner of the Word menu ribbon
Step 5. Enter the word you want to search for, then press Enter
If the word you are looking for is in the document, it will be marked.
Step 6. Click or at the right of the search window to display the word you are looking for in the document.
Step 7. Click menu
to the right of the magnifying glass icon to display the menu.
This menu is to the left of the search toolbar.
Step 8. From the menu that appears, click Replace
The Replace window will open.
Step 9. Enter a replacement word in the Replace With field
This column is at the top of the Find and Replace window.
Step 10. To overwrite a word, click the Replace all button at the bottom of the Replace with column
All the words you are looking for will be overwritten with the words you entered in the Replace with field.
- For example, you can enter "rambutan" into the search field, and "Kampung Rambutan" into the Replace With field. After clicking Replace All, all the words "rambutan" in the document will be replaced with "Kampung Rambutan".
- If you want to select the word to replace, click Replace, instead of Replace All. This way, you can control the word replacement process. Before you begin, you may need to click on the beginning of the text.
Tips
- You can open the Find and Replace window by pressing Ctrl+H (PC) or Command+H (Mac).
- If your document is long, the word search process may take a while. You can cancel the search at any time by pressing the Esc key on the keyboard.
- In addition to searching for text, you can also use the Find and Replace window to find and overwrite special characters and formatting.
