There are a few things that should terrify everyone: clowns, sharks, a clown-shark-tornado, and using Find and Replace with unintended consequences.
To quell your nightmares, we’ve outlined the basics of using Find and Replace in Microsoft Word and Google Docs.
No matter which word processing software you prefer, don’t miss the final “Pitfalls” section—a list of the most common ways people break everything with Find and Replace and how to avoid them.
Using Find and Replace in Microsoft Word
If you’re new to the Find and Find and Replace tools, the best approach is using it on a case-by-case basis.
In other words, instead of trying to find and highlight every instance of your search en masse, look through them one by one, ensuring the initial search reflects your intent. If you were searching for instances of “corn” and realize all four instances of “unicorn” were also highlighted, you can correct your search (see Pitfalls section below). When you’re replacing text or punctuation marks, you can do so one at a time as well, confirming that each one is being replaced exactly as you intended.
This may sound cumbersome, but you’ll still save time versus skimming and manually deleting and retyping. Once you’re more confident in the mechanics of this tool, finding and replacing all instances will be less terrifying and error-prone.
Opening Find and Replace
You can open Find and/or Find and Replace in two ways:
Find and Replace Options
There are plenty of options you can toggle on or off to help you accurately filter your search. View these by clicking the More button. Current examples include:
When you select these options, they’ll appear under the Find what search bar. You can also choose Reading Highlight and Find In to customize your search.
You can view search results one by one. Choose Replace or Replace All for a case-by-case replacement or en masse replacement, as mentioned above.
Using Find and Replace in Google Docs
There are some subtle but important differences between Microsoft Word’s and Google Docs’ Find and Replace tools. Google Docs’ isn’t quite as robust, so be sure to read the “Pitfalls” section below for a brief overview of how to compensate and avoid introducing errors to your documents.
We also suggest the same approach as a newbie to Microsoft Word Find and Replace: Start slow; find and replace a single instance at a time until you’re comfortable with the tool.
Opening Find and Replace
You can open Find and/or Find and Replace in two ways:
Find and Replace Options
There are only three options you can toggle on or off to help you accurately filter your search. They are always viewable in the main pop-up menu:
Google Docs automatically highlights text that fits Find/Find and Replace search parameters.
Just like Microsoft Word, you can view and choose Replace or Replace All for a case-by-case replacement or en masse replacement, as mentioned above.
Find and Replace Pitfalls
These are the sneaky little banana peels that will trip up your Find and Replace jobs. Take note so you can avoid them for good.
Finally, if you introduce an error or realize something has gone wrong with your Find and Replace operation, don’t freak out! Your salvation is at hand in the form of our beloved Undo button.
If only there were an Undo button for life choices, we’d be golden.
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