Find & Replace
Search for specific words or phrases and replace them.
How to Use
- Paste or type the text you want to modify in the main text area
- Enter the text you want to find in the "Find" field
- Enter the text you want to replace it with in the "Replace With" field
- Preview updates automatically as you type
- Use "Copy Result" to copy the preview text, or "Clear" to start over
Related Tools
About Find & Replace
How It Works
- Enter your text in the main input field
- Specify the text to search for and replacement text
- See matches count update automatically
- Preview updates in real-time as you type
Common Use Cases
- Clean up and standardize text formatting
- Correct repeated typos or mistakes in documents
- Update terminology across documentation
- Convert between formatting styles
- Normalize data formats (dates, phone numbers, etc.)
- Remove or replace unwanted characters
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Find & Replace tool used for?
The Find & Replace tool allows you to search for specific words, phrases, or patterns in your text and replace them with alternative text. This is useful for correcting typos, changing terminology, standardizing formats, or making bulk text edits efficiently.
Does the tool support case-sensitive searching?
Yes, the tool offers a case-sensitive option that you can toggle on or off. When enabled, the search will match the exact capitalization of your search term. When disabled, it will find all instances regardless of case (e.g., "Text", "TEXT", and "text" would all match).
Can I match whole words only?
Yes, the "Match whole word" option ensures that only complete words are matched, rather than parts of words. For example, searching for "car" with this option enabled would match "car" but not "carpet" or "scar".
What are regular expressions and how do I use them in this tool?
Regular expressions (regex) are powerful pattern-matching formulas. Enable the "Use regular expression" option to search using regex patterns. For example, "\d+" would match one or more digits. The tool provides a reference guide with common regex patterns to help you get started.
Can I replace just the first occurrence or all occurrences?
The tool supports both methods. Choose "Replace All" to change every instance at once, or disable the "Replace all occurrences" option to replace matches one at a time, starting from the beginning of the text.
Is there a limit to how much text I can process?
The tool is designed to handle typical documents and text snippets efficiently. Very large texts (hundreds of thousands of characters) may experience some performance slowdown, particularly when using complex regular expressions.
How do I replace line breaks or special characters?
To replace line breaks or special characters, enable the "Use regular expression" option. Use "\n" to represent line breaks, "\t" for tabs, and other escape sequences for special characters in your search pattern.
Is my text secure when using this tool?
Yes, this tool processes all text entirely in your browser. No data is sent to any server or stored anywhere, ensuring complete privacy and security for your content.
Can I use this tool to format or clean up data?
Absolutely! The Find & Replace tool is excellent for data cleaning tasks like standardizing formats, removing unwanted characters, fixing inconsistencies, or preparing text for import into other systems. The regex support makes it especially powerful for formatted data.
How can I count occurrences without replacing them?
Simply enter your search term without providing any replacement text. The tool will display the number of matches found without making any changes to your text.
What's the difference between basic text search and regex search?
Basic text search looks for exact character matches (with options for case sensitivity and whole words). Regular expression search allows for more flexible pattern matching, including wildcards, character classes, quantifiers, and other advanced features for complex search needs.
Can I use capture groups in my regular expressions?
Yes, you can use capture groups in your regular expressions by enclosing patterns in parentheses. In the replacement field, use $1, $2, etc., to reference these captured groups. This is useful for reordering or transforming parts of the matched text.