How to Find and Replace Text in Microsoft Word
Replacing Text in Microsoft Word
Knowing how to find and replace text in Microsoft Word lets you quickly change all instances of a mistaken word or phrase throughout an entire document.
Whenever you notice a typo, misspelling, or poorly phrased term throughout an article or other Word document, you don’t want to have to change every single instance of that phrase throughout your paper.
Instead, learn a few easy steps to replace all instances of your mistake, making corrections all at once. You might still want to proofread to see if the changed phrase makes sense, but learning how to make changes through the entire document lets you avoid the hard work of text editing.
Set the Cursor to the Right Spot
Place your cursor at the beginning of your paper or article. If you leave the cursor somewhere halfway through, you’re going to change only those phrases found after the cursor in the document. Change everything by starting at the beginning of your writing.
Find the Edit Menu
Click on the “Edit” menu of your Microsoft Word program. Once there, click on “Find”. This should open a window bar which says “Find and Replace” or something similar, depending on the edition of Microsoft Word you’re using. Once there, select “Replace” from the options.
Type the Word or Phrase You Want Replaced
Type the word or phrase you want to replace into the “Find What” prompt. Be careful about what you type, because if the phrase isn’t precise, the Microsoft Word program won’t make the necessary change. If you have a word you want to replace with another word, you want to capitalize the word to be replaced, then replace it with a capitalized version of the replacement word.
Then you want to do the same with a lowercase version of the same words, so you make certain to get all occurences of the word. (Be careful if it’s a common word, though, since it might turn up somewhere else in your paper.) For phrases you want replaced, capitalize the first word of the phrase to be replaced, then capitalize the first word of the phrase replacing it. Then do the same with a lowercase version of each phrase.
Type the Replacement Word or Phrase
Next, type the word or phrase you need to replace in the document into the “Replace With” box. Make certain this reads exactly the way you want the phrase to read. This includes capitalization instances and other punctuation. Whatever your input is in this box is how the changes are going to appear throughout the document.
Customize Your Search and Replace
If you don’t want to target every single example of a phrase or word in a paper, use the functions “Up” or “Down” to direct your search to the proper part of your document. Only use “Replace All” when you actually want to replace every single example of a word or phrase in your writing.
Select “Next” or “Replace” if you only want to replace the next version of a word, but you don’t want to search through the entire document.
How to Find and Replace Text in Microsoft Word
Mastering how to find and replace text in Microsoft Word is easy, though you want to be conscious of a few cases where the search and replace buttons can lead you astray. Replacing misspelling and words out of context only make your paper or document look better if you are thorough, and you don’t replace the messed up terms or phrases with other mistakes. Proofread to eliminate any mistakes, and never trust your computer or Microsoft Word program to spot every phrase that appears out of context. There’s still some things only humans can do.