How to Find and Replace in Word

Quickly Find and Replace text in MS Word across all platforms, including Windows, macOS, Word 365, and Xodo online.

When you have a long Word document, revisions can be daunting.

Ever need to update a recurring term?

Correct a repetitive typo?

Then you know that it means you’ll have to sift through each page to find and revise every instance.

This is where Microsoft Word's Find and Replace feature can save you time and effort, letting you sift out all the occurrences of the terms you’re looking for and replace them all at once.

If you’re just getting familiar with this feature, we're covering how to use the feature to refine your textual content on the following platforms:

• Windows
• macOS
• Word 365
• Xodo online

Let’s get you started on editing and proofreading like a pro in Word!

How to Find and Replace in Word on Windows

Here’s how to find and replace in Word on Windows:

1. Go to Home > Editing > Replace. You can also use CTRL + H.
2. In the dialog, enter the word or text you wish to replace in the “Find what” field.
3. Enter your new text in the “Replace with” field.
4. Choose Replace All to change all occurrences. To change a specific occurrence, click on Find Next until you find the specific instance you wish to update and choose Replace.

If you need to undo the revisions made in bulk, you can use MS Word’s Undo history.

Simply go to the Undo option on the toolbar and click to expand the drop-down menu. You’ll see a listing of all the edits you performed.

You can undo your changes by clicking on the latest modification in the history list. Note that you can only undo changes in bulk using this method, not individual changes.

Not a Windows user? Don’t worry! Making bulk changes to replace text in Word is also possible on macOS.

Find and Replace Text in Word on macOS

To find and replace in Word on Mac, follow these steps:

1. Open Microsoft Word on Mac.
2. Go to Edit> Find from the drop-down menu.
3. Click on Replace…. You can also hold Shift + Command + H on your keyboard.
4. In the side panel, enter the text you wish to locate in the first field, and click on Find.
5. Underneath, enter the text you wish to insert instead in the second field, and click on Replace. You can click on which occurrence you want to change. To change all instances, click on the Replace All button.

While the above two methods we covered are meant for working on your desktop, you can also accomplish the task online with Word 365.

How to find and Replace in Word 365

To use the find and replace in Word 365 online, follow the steps below:

1. Go to Home > Replace. You can also use CTRL + H to access the feature.
2. In the side panel, enter the word or phrase you want to replace in the "Search in document" field. 
3. Enter your new text in the "Replace with" field.
4. Choose Replace All to change all occurrences of the word or phrase. Or, click on the navigation arrows until you find the one you want to update, and then choose Replace.

If you don't have access to MS Word on either your desktop or online, you can still perform a quick search and replace text online with Xodo.

Find and Replace Text in Word using Xodo

Here's how find and replace text in Word documents using Xodo:

1. Go to Xodo’s online DOCX Editor.

2. Upload your Word document.

3. Press CTRL + F and type in the term or phrase you wish to locate and select from the search options provided: Case sensitive or Whole word.

4. In the side panel, click on the occurrence of the word or text you wish to replace and Xodo will take you to that instance.

5. Then simply delete the text directly from the page and manually type to replace it.

You can also use Xodo to weak paragraph formatting, add or delete text, insert images, and edit your Word document online.

Master Find and Replace across any platform

The Find and Replace text in Word feature is a simple yet powerful functionality.

You’ve just learned how to use this feature on Windows, macOS, online, and even learned how to perform the same task without MS Word.

And the best part is that it works similarly on any platform.

For more tips on working with content in MS Word, check out our other guides to refine your MS Word skills further:

• Recovering an unsaved Word document
• Deleting a page in MS Word
• Clearing formatting in Word documents
• Instantly strikethrough text in Word
• Removing links from Word documents

Wherever and however you work with documents, Xodo offers a quick, hassle-free solution to streamline your experience, without needing MS Word.

With Xodo, you have all the document tools you need. Try it for free!