Google Docs’ Find and replace tool lets you swap one word or phrase for another throughout a document in seconds, whether you’re fixing a misspelled name, changing British to American spelling, or updating a product name. This guide covers the keyboard shortcut, the options that prevent mistakes, the mobile apps, and a few advanced tricks.
Quick Answer
Press Ctrl + H (Windows, ChromeOS) or Cmd + Shift + H (Mac), or click Edit > Find and replace. Type the word in Find, the new word in Replace with, and click Replace all. Check Match case first if capitalization matters.
How to Replace a Word in Google Docs
- Open the document on a computer.
- Press Ctrl + H (or Cmd + Shift + H on a Mac), or click Edit > Find and replace.
- In Find, type the word or phrase you want to change. Docs highlights every match and shows a count, such as “1 of 4.”
- In Replace with, type the new text.
- Choose how to replace:
- Replace all changes every match at once.
- Replace changes only the current match and moves to the next. Use Next and Prev to skip ones you want to keep.
- Close the dialog. If something went wrong, press Ctrl + Z (Cmd + Z) to undo the whole Replace all.
Options That Prevent Mistakes
| Option | What it does | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Match case | Only finds text with the same capitalization. | Replacing a name like “Will” without changing the word “will.” |
| Use regular expressions | Treats the Find box as a search pattern. | Matching whole words, variations, or patterns (see below). |
| Ignore Latin diacritics | Treats letters with and without accents as the same (for example, é and e). | Documents mixing “cafe” and “café.” |
Watch out for partial matches. Replacing “art” with “design” also changes “start” to “stdesign.” Use Replace and Next to check each match, or use a regular expression for whole words.
Replace Whole Words Only
Docs doesn’t have a “whole words only” checkbox, but a regular expression does the same thing:
- Check Use regular expressions.
- In Find, type the word between \b markers, for example: \bart\b
- Type the replacement normally and click Replace all.
\b means “word boundary,” so “start” and “artist” are left alone.
More Regular Expression Examples
- Remove double spaces: Find \s{2,} (with regular expressions on), replace with a single space.
- Match both spellings: Find colou?r to catch “color” and “colour.”
- Delete a word everywhere: put the word in Find and leave Replace with empty.
Docs uses Google’s RE2 syntax. If a pattern doesn’t match what you expect, test it on a copy of the document first.
On iPhone, iPad, and Android
- Open the document in the Google Docs app and tap the pencil icon to edit.
- Tap the ⋮ (Android) or ⋯ (iPhone/iPad) menu and choose Find and replace.
- Type the word to find, then tap the ⋮ or options menu next to the search box to enter replacement text.
- Tap Replace or All.
The mobile apps have fewer options (no regular expressions), so use a computer for complex changes.
Tips
- Just find, don’t replace: press Ctrl + F (Cmd + F) for a quick search box.
- Formatting stays: replaced text keeps the formatting of the original word (bold stays bold). Find and replace can’t change formatting on its own.
- Track your changes: switch to Suggesting mode (pencil icon, top-right) before replacing if collaborators need to review each change.
- Headers, footers, and footnotes: check them separately after a big replacement, since they may not always be included in the search.
- Comments aren’t changed by Find and replace.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I replace words in several documents at once?
Not with the built-in tool; it works on one document at a time. Add-ons or Apps Script can batch-replace across files.
Why doesn’t Find and replace find my word?
Check spelling and extra spaces, turn off Match case, and make sure Use regular expressions is off if your text contains symbols like . ? or (, which have special meanings in patterns.
Is there a limit to how many replacements Docs can make?
Replace all handles very large documents, though it may take a moment. Undo reverses the whole operation in one step.
Summary
- Press Ctrl + H or Cmd + Shift + H (or Edit > Find and replace).
- Enter the old and new text.
- Turn on Match case if needed, and use \bword\b with regular expressions for whole words.
- Click Replace all, or step through with Replace and Next.
Kermit Matthews is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with more than a decade of experience writing technology guides. He has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Computer Science and has spent much of his professional career in IT management.
He specializes in writing content about iPhones, Android devices, Microsoft Office, and many other popular applications and devices.