Find and Replace
This tool allows you to search for specific words or patterns in a block of text and replace them with new content in a single operation. It is designed for situations where manual editing would be slow, error-prone, or repetitive.
Instead of scanning text line by line, you can define exactly what should be matched and how it should be replaced. The resulting output reflects the applied rules consistently across the entire text.
How Find and Replace Works
The tool scans your text for occurrences of the search input and substitutes them with the replacement value when you apply the action. By default, it performs a straightforward text match, but additional options let you control how strict or flexible the matching should be.
All processing happens locally in your browser. The tool does not store or transmit your text, and the replacement is applied only when you explicitly trigger it.
Inputs and Options Explained
The behavior of the replacement depends on the options you enable. Each option exists to handle a specific real-world use case.
- Find — The word, phrase, or pattern to look for in the text.
- Replace — The text that will replace each matched occurrence.
- Use regular expression — Treats the “Find” input as a regular expression, allowing advanced pattern matching.
- Match case — Only replaces text that matches the exact letter casing of the search input.
- Whole word — Ensures that only complete words are replaced, avoiding partial matches inside larger words.
Examples and Edge Cases
If you search for a short word without enabling “Whole word”, the tool may also replace that sequence when it appears inside longer words. This is often intentional, but in cases like code or structured text, enabling whole-word matching prevents accidental changes.
Regular expressions offer more power but also require care. A loosely defined pattern can replace more text than expected, which is why it’s best used when you understand the structure of the content being edited.
Who Should Use This Tool
Find and replace is useful whenever the same change needs to be applied consistently across a large piece of text.
- Writers updating repeated terms or phrases
- Editors fixing formatting or naming inconsistencies
- Developers refactoring identifiers in text snippets
- Anyone cleaning or standardizing copied content
Related Concepts
Find and replace is often part of a broader text-cleanup workflow.
- Normalizing spacing and line breaks
- Changing letter case before or after replacement
- Reviewing word and character counts after edits
After making replacements, you may want to adjust formatting using the Case Converter or verify text length with the Word & Character Counter.