How to use the Find and Replace
- Paste your text.
- Enter what to find and what to replace it with.
- Add more rules if needed, one “find → replace” per line.
- Copy the updated text.
Example
| Input | Find “colour” → replace “color” |
|---|---|
| Result | Every “colour” becomes “color” (3 replacements) |
One replacement or many
Use the Find and Replace with boxes for a single replacement, or the rules box above the text for several at once. Put one rule per line in the form “find => replace”, such as “favourite => favorite”. Rules run in order, one after another, so a later rule works on the text that earlier rules have already changed. A summary tells you how many replacements were made.
Options
- Match case: off by default, so “Colour” and “colour” are both found. Turn it on to match the exact capitalization.
- Whole words only: finds a word only when it stands alone, so “cat” does not match “category”.
- Use regular expressions: treats the Find text as a pattern. In this mode you can use $1, $2 and so on in the replacement to insert the parts of the match that you captured.
Without regular expressions, everything you type is searched for literally, so characters such as . and ? have no special meaning, and the replacement is inserted exactly as typed.
Examples
- Switch spelling styles, such as “colour” to “color”, across a whole document with a list of rules.
- Replace names, product codes or placeholders such as [NAME] in a template.
- Reformat dates with a pattern: find (\d{2})/(\d{2})/(\d{4}) and replace with $3-$2-$1.
- Delete text by leaving the Replace with box empty.
Tips
- Check the result before you copy it. The original text in the box is never changed.
- If you see “Invalid pattern”, a character in your regular expression needs escaping with a backslash, or a bracket is unbalanced.
- To test a pattern first, use the Regex Tester, and to clean up what is left afterwards, try the Remove Extra Spaces.
- Need to add text to every line instead? Use the Add Prefix & Suffix to Lines.
Frequently asked questions
Can I do several replacements at once?
Yes. Use the “Multiple rules” box with one rule per line, written as find => replace. Rules run in order from top to bottom.
What does “whole words only” mean?
It only replaces complete words, so finding “cat” will not change “category”.
Is the replacement case-sensitive?
Not by default. The search ignores case unless you tick “Match case”. The replacement text is always inserted exactly as you typed it.
Can I undo a replacement?
Your original text is untouched in the input box. Edit it and the result updates, or simply change the rules and try again.