Why is find and replace not working in word. That way you can review each item before replacing it.

Why is find and replace not working in word Sep 18, 2018 · Find and Replace in Word has bugs after latest update to Windows After the latest update to Windows, Find-and-Replace stopped working correctly for many cases. docx files are binary files (not plain text) and Notepad++ is a text editor. From dealing with non-responsive features to troubleshooting protected documents, addressing these specific problems can restore functionality quickly. Several times I have tried to use the function to change from YOU to you, lowercase. This is a BUG, because replacing capitalization used to work perfectly in earlier versions going way back. Jun 7, 2019 · End With But this won't replace any text in the main body of my word document. 2387 32-bit). Feb 24, 2017 · Hmm, I’m not sure how we can help with this level of detail. When I click the button (or use the command) nothing happens - literally nothing. I found some information that might help you can use the following methods to carry the Find and Replace dialogue box in Word: Press Ctrl+Tab to toggle between the Find and Replace dialogue box and your document. To my extreme suprise, my copy of Microsoft Word 2013 Home is able to find double spaces, but isn't able to rep Feb 7, 2017 · What happened to find and replace and how do I fix it? I am not a ‘programmer’. Text = Replace Is there a fix for find and replace in Visual Studio? FIX: Find/Replace in files didn’t work in Visual Studio 2019 version 16. Jul 29, 2025 · I have no issues with it, and I find it quite convenient because of the other features implemented inside, however, every time I press the option to “find & replace,” nothing shows up despite the menu going away, and every other option working (like “page borders” or “size”). It's as it has been… Sep 30, 2023 · Find and Replace is a great tool, but what are you to do if your find or replace doesn't work as you expect? This tip provides a few pointers that will help you track down the cause of whatever problems you are facing. 9 and higher. Apr 7, 2024 · Unable to use Find and Replace in Google Sheets? Here's what to try if you're having issues with Google Sheets Find and Replace not working. Note: in NP++, \t is tab, \r is carriage return and \n is newline, so search on \t\r\n and replace with \t. Click the Assign button. Set Extended search to use this notation. g. So, for example,… In the upper-right corner of the document, in the search box , type the word or phrase that you want to find, and Word will highlight all instances of the word or phrase throughout the document. Check "Match case" in the Replace dialog. I have also tried to use the function in just one section of the document and got the same results. ) [example in text]Kimberly[a first name]… Jun 15, 2019 · Hello, My office recently updated to Office 365, and I am currently running MS Word 2016 MSO (Version 1803 - 16. I deleted my install and downloaded the latest version to find the same problem which is that the CR&LF are replaced by a literal \s inserted before each Find Remote Why Is Find And Replace Not Working In Word Jobs that allow telecommuting, part-time, full-time, or freelance contracts. Dec 8, 2022 · I understand you are having an issue with the Find and Replace features in Excel. Let me show you how Microsoft Word’s Find and Replace works and why it matters for efficient document editing. xsl file, but it looks like more work than doing global find and replaces. NOTE: checking Match case will function for the current session of Word only. Dec 16, 2022 · ¶ ¶ I can find the two paragraph characters using either ^p; ^13 or ^013 (by ticking use wildcards), however whenever I try to replace it with anything, it does not work. ) I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling 365 but nothing has helped. It has worked fine for 6 months or so and now when I try to do a "find and replace" in a Word document, I get an error message that says "Find and Replace (Not Responding). I'm also going to make a suggestion that you change your field name *Date* in table Notes to something else as it is a Reserved Word and will cause you a Nov 22, 2021 · The information is then pasted as such: Text paragraph break (x2) Text paragraph break (x2) Text paragraph break (x4) Text paragraph break (x19) Text (rinse & repeat) How do I fix this? I know I need to replace ^p with nothing to erase individual paragraph breaks, but it becomes complex when the paragraph breaks are not consistent. I have used this many times before and never had any trouble, so am completely mystified. (and i have been using this same… Sep 29, 2021 · The Find / Find and Replace window appears, but it doesn't actually find (or highlight) the word, even though it is absolutely within the document. What's going on here? (See screenshot) Windows 10 Pro, fully current/updated Civil 3D 2020, fully current/updated Nov 22, 2022 · Find and Replace "all caps" not working Hi all I need to get rid of all "cells" (I believe they are actually "frames"? not sure) that contain all caps text. Aug 25, 2021 · In the past I've used the CTRL+J solution, involving replacing the line breaks in Word with a character that doesn't appear elsewhere in the text (I've used ****), pasting this into Excel, and then using Find & Replace in Excel to find all of the **** and replace with a line break, which used to be CTRL+J, but now this is just erasing all of Jun 3, 2024 · I am using find and replace. [Solved] Find and Replace not working Word Sep 30, 2023 · Find and Replace is a great tool, but what are you to do if your find or replace doesn't work as you expect? This tip provides a few pointers that will help you track down the cause of whatever problems you are facing. As far as I know, this is by design, and it is Apr 28, 2021 · I attempted to find all instances of a reference to "sanitary" sewer systems. Oct 24, 2022 · Word 'Not Responding' when using 'Find & Replace All' - Can it be interrupted? I keep running into situations where doing a 'Replace All' unexpectedly causes Word to stop responding. (The Find function still worked. It works just fine in Excel and Word. In the dialog box, enter the password to unlock it. As someone who’s spent years helping professionals streamline their document workflows, I can tell you that mastering Find and Replace is one of the most effective ways to cut editing time in half while ensuring document consistency. When I contacted the BB support, they suggested to flatten the mark ups and… I was using find and replace to fill all cells containing a certain word to a certain colour. I do OCR of books and documents for work, so I do a LOT of repetitive find/replace actions -- for example, right now I'm working on a document where I want to find a superscript and manually replace it with a footnote. My question is this: the problem seems to have been around for a while, why hasn't it been addressed and corrected? Feb 20, 2025 · Don't know how to fix Find and Replace not working in Excel? This blog consists of 7 easy solutions that will solve your issue in a beat. The machine tells me it has replaced 24 occurrences but nothing has changed in the document. I tried to uncheck it and press "Set As Default", close all Word windows, nothing works. This will find you any « that is after space or paragraph, and is not followed by a space, so that'll Dec 22, 2023 · To open the Find and Replace in Excel dialogue, highlight the cells you wish to search for and click the Ctrl + F keyboard shortcut. Also, the Replace button does not advance to the next item. Sep 30, 2023 · When you try to replace text in your document using Find and Replace, things may not always work as you would expect. Jul 15, 2019 · Using "Find and Replace," this job can be done in a matter of seconds. Jul 11, 2024 · Unable to use Find and Replace in Microsoft Excel? Here are some ways to fix the Find and Replace not working issue in Microsoft Excel. You might find that different characters are used for the end-of-paragraph symbol Jan 22, 2022 · Hi, When I try to search a word in Microsoft Word it only finds the word if I write it case-sensitive, even when the Match case option is unchecked. That does not work. Version 2. Word always makes it SERIES 3, and the only way i can fix it is to change each individual instance. Replace only the characters you need to. The document has multiple sections. M$ Word . Nov 24, 2023 · Here’s the options for reaching Word’s full Find dialog quickly. When selecting Font Color to change using Find What in the Findor Replace tabs, the font found based on your selection within document Word returns a basic… Nov 5, 2024 · Since I use indesign 2025 I can no longer replace a word (Find and Replace - Zoeken/wijzigen) with a new word across the entire document. And then of course, it will not replace it, either. When Microsoft Word’s Find and Replace feature isn’t working, there are a few common issues and solutions that can help get it back on track. That way you can review each item before replacing it. , NAACP) with another word without all caps. Jul 24, 2020 · This problem and corresponding solution may possibly apply to other versions of Word and Windows. Also look just under the Find input box. The format is trivial; in Excel column A has the search term and column B the replacem Mar 21, 2024 · I’ve tried a number of suggestions to replace the first letter of each word with a capitalized letter, unfortunately none have seemed to work. I want to replace the both paragraph characters with a page break (^m). That doesn't work either. Presumably you should have a dot in front of the Ranges. When you replace text, it's a good idea to select Replace instead of Replace All. Dec 28, 2023 · Discover the top 7 fixes to the common issue of Excel find and replace not working. Match case is set as unchecked as the default. Jun 7, 2025 · Then did a ctl H (find & replace) Find blahblahblah replacement testtext and it worked flawlessly. Mar 30, 2024 · I have been using Find and Replace in Excel for months in the current spreadsheet i am working on. 5 and higher which uses the new implementation of Find/Replace in files. April 2020) FIX: The extension now works also in Visual Studio 2019 version 16. You can configure Word to display the traditional Find and Replace dialog box when you use Ctrl+F by applying this tip. This should be plain sailing, multiple solutions exist online. Cheers. Every Remote Why Is Find And Replace Not Working In Word Jobs is screened and verified. This comprehensive guide explores the most common causes of these issues and provides tested, effective methods to resolve them. For some reason, the Find and Replace function on my Word Program (Windows 7) has stopped working. Feb 2, 2017 · As @AFH notes « isn't a character that is part of a word because it is considered punctuation. I want to search/replace text in a Word doc from Excel. In a protected sheet, you can find text, but you won’t be able to make any changes with Replace. Help Jun 26, 2025 · Microsoft Word's advanced Find and Replace feature offers powerful tools that can simplify complex data cleanup and text searches beyond basic keyword matching. ) However, if I invoke's Word's Replace dialog, fill in the "Find What:" and "Replace With:" with the text that should do the job (e. If they don't, check these factors: Have you made a selection of text? If so, the replace operation will work only within that selection. Ctrl + F doesn’t jump to the Word Find window anymore. I think that is what you are experiencing because the Find and Replace works. Then do a second find for highlighted text with first part ie ( [0-9]) [-–], and replace with \1%–. (Ignore that it's meaningless. Search and Replace function in Bluebeam is not working on 'Markups' (able to search but can't replace). Feb 15, 2023 · The Find-Command in VBA is exactly the same as the Find/Replace in Word - you can easily confirm this by letting your code run and check the Replace-Dialog in Word: Parameters (like search and replace term) are the ones that you set by your code. Step 2: Enter the text or number you’re looking for in the Excel search function box. Whether I chose the line break/paragraph break from their "Format" button or whether I type ^l or ^p myself. Dec 21, 2024 · Eppa needs to replace a company name in a document. The name appears throughout the document, and also in the header and footer. Using find and replace to swap out manual line breaks with "," Now that I use the subscription of Office 365 it seems to have stopped working. Whether you’re looking to update company Oct 8, 2023 · When you say all fields do you mean that you cannot type anything in the Search and Replace boxes, or only that the buttons stay grey and inoperable? In the latter scenario it's because it doesn't find any match for what you search. Eppa can use Find and Replace to replace within the document itself, but it won't make replacements in the headers and footers for some reason. But recently the function is not working, look like Alternately I need to copy+paste to new worksheet, then only can find the text. Without it, using the "Find"-only method and then manually replacing each double space with a single space can take forever. May 27, 2020 · @Ward-Scott I’m not sure this is going to work. Range . This should not remove all formatting, only the spurious line breaks. 9126. I’m sorry you’re having trouble moving the Find & Replace dialogue box in Word. Learn to replace all instances or select ones in a few minutes. In essence, the Replace function is designed to facilitate the quick substitution of text within a document. As an alternative way of accomplishing what you want to do, though not sure if it'll be good enough in your situation, you can use ([^13- ])(«)([! ]) as the Find string and Replace with \1»\3. As such, if Find and Replace is not working, disable the Excel Filter feature and check if it makes any difference. Oct 29, 2021 · The problem is that I shouldn't start the "Find and Replace" function right after starting the macro recording. I have also tried replacing them with simple text. Jul 1, 2021 · 7 I was able to use "find and replace" to find out the specific text/number in excel sheet in the past. The Find in Files function searching may not find the “plain text” in your “Find what” text box in a bunch of binary (not “plain text”) files. Jul 3, 2018 · Do you see the 2010 Find dialog when you go in to Find? If not, click on the "Magnifying Glass" icon on the Find line, select "Advanced Find" to display the better find/replace dialog. The issue of the "Find and Replace" not working has been going on since Word 2007. Why is replace function not working in Word? In the Replace dialog, click the More button and make sure none of the check boxes are checked. Doing it manually is very time May 1, 2025 · During preparation of isolation drawings quite often we need to change multiple text/ numbers in mark ups after using the Search facility. May 25, 2013 · I am trying to find and replace a whole lot of the word "and" with a "&" and it is not working. In my previous version of Word, typing each instance into Find/Replace and replacing all worked fine, but for some reason Word isn't recognizing that any double spaces exist when they clearly do in the document (ended up catching a lot of them manually. Dec 31, 2015 · I want to replace all double spaces () in one of my Word document to single space (). Nov 19, 2022 · Protected Sheet Another possible reason why Find doesn’t work is that your sheet is protected. Boxes for replace and replace all do not respond. Apr 23, 2021 · Here, running Word 2019, the Find & Replace is working as expected, assuming (of course) that I remember to select the "Use wildcards" check box in the Find & Replace dialog box. 4 (22. With the latest updates, the problem should’ve been solved and allow you to easily find the words that might be spelt wrongly or appear multiple times in your document. Now then, when you click CTRL + F, you will see the familiar ‘Find’ tab of the ‘Find and Replace’ dialog box that you were used to. ) Dec 5, 2023 · The "Find and Replace" feature in Pages does not work unless you restart the program and open only the document you're working with. Fortunately, I found this solution on the Community Forum. Feb 7, 2017 · Re: . In particular, if you try to specify font attributes in a replace, they are usually ignored. If you change the "Search" option back to "Up" or "Down," which is the default when text has been selected before you start the Find & Replace, Word asks if you want to search outside the selection after the Replace All has been executed. The date column is definitely stored as text and replace should definitely work! BUT, even if you replace "/" with "-", that's not going to convert it to a real date format, as your PC Regional Settings for date are set as mm/dd/yyyy. From troubleshooting to pro tips, we've got you covered. 0. I work in web design and frequently use this to remove the infernal google i Sep 14, 2024 · Find and Replace is a function in Word that allows you to search for target text (whether it be a particular word, type of formatting or string of wildcard characters) and replace it with something else. Ever since Microsoft put in the Word Navigation Pane, they’ve messed up access to the Advanced Find dialog box. I’ve tried: In the “Find what” field, enter: (< [A-Za-z0-9]@>) In the “Replace with” field, enter: \1 And In the ‘Find what’ box, enter (< [A-Z] {1,}>) Leave the ‘Replace with’ box empty. Find and Replace is a feature in Microsoft Word that can save you loads of time, especially when working with large documents. Jun 12, 2023 · In my 400 page doc, I have to find H3 and replace it with Series 3. Jul 3, 2022 · WIth the selection in the Find what control, hold down the ALT key and type 0172 on the numeric keypad which will insert ¬ into that control. To ease this problem, I will guide you through some proven and tested methods to fix the issue of the MS Word find and replace feature not working correctly in this section. Jul 18, 2019 · Hi Team, While doing Find and Replace in the document, ms word is getting closed and restarting again. Click OK to close the word Options dialog box. This was working fine earlier today but now when I ctrl+F a word it says "we couldn't find what you were looking for" when I can literally see cells containing that word. If there are any formatting commands displayed there you will have to clear the find formatting by clicking on the MORE button, the clicking on the “no formatting” button. I even downloaded and uninstalled 365 using the "Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant" but when I reinstalled 365 Ctrl-H still Mar 29, 2025 · I want to replace I with we in a document. As well as other variations (Use Wildcards is Mar 20, 2025 · I would like to select the strings that are all caps and change them to small caps using find and replace The best solution I've found so far is to use wildcards, with a search string like this: Oct 18, 2017 · Open the file in Notepad++ or a similar text editor. … Sep 8, 2023 · Thanks for posting the query here in this forum. Feb 6, 2017 · I have for months been successfully transferring text from PDF documents to N++ and stripping the CR&LF that appears after each word by searching for \r\n and replacing with \s with the extended option ticked. Can you provide the text in the Find what: box and the Replace with: box, the other settings in the Replace dialog, and perhaps some sample text where only one instance is replaced when you click Replace All? If it’s a reproducible error, the version of Notepad++ would be helpful also. When looking for all caps text, i get this: Am i doing something wrong? I get about 10 documents per week in which i need to get rid of all all caps text. Oct 28, 2009 · Lacey When searching via the Subfrom note that those records are filtered to the Main Form, so technically, the Find is only searching the subset of records. Jun 19, 2025 · For a few weeks, neither my Find and Replace button nor the CTRL+F command triggers any action in PowerPoint. Now you know all the details about why Find and Replace in Word doesn’t work and how to solve it. Each time I get the message that it made 100 changes but those changes are not shown in the document even after I close and reopen it. I'm sorry, do you mean if you click on Home > Editing > Find & Select > Find, you can not find the "Find" feature? what about when you use the Ctrl+F keyboard shortcuts does it display the Find and replace function? Dec 12, 2023 · One change introduced in Word 2010 was the new navigation pane that is used for simple searching of information. To fix this problem, in the Ribbon, go to Review and click on Unprotect Sheet icon. Replace not working - VBA Check the Replace parameters. Firstly search for your pattern but in the replace don't replace with anything except to add highlighting (assuming nothing else in your doc is highlighted). Mar 23, 2013 · Hi all, have searched a lot to find a solution, hope some can verify what my problem is and how to solve it. Have you cleared the formatting? Oct 11, 2025 · If you’ve experienced problems with the Find and Replace function in Word, you’re not alone. Whether you're updating a company name or correcting a repeated typo, this handy tool lets you make changes throughout your document in just a few clicks. To do that, launch your Excel worksheet, click the Data option in the top bar, and then click Sep 11, 2008 · I did a find/replace there earlier (which worked) which is possibly why the options setting is still showing on the find/replace dialogue box? The test I just did was to go to another column with the default formatting and to search for the word "Completed" which is clearly visible in many of the cells. Anybody else? Thanks again! Mar 29, 2019 · 1 I copy my column from Excel to Word to easily create large arrays for my apps. Find but that also doesn't work. Mar 9, 2024 · In my Word docs -- old ones before the upgrade AND new test ones since the upgrade -- there is no find field when I want to do a word search. Find: CST Replace: Central Standard Time will replace it exactly like that, NOT uppercase. Jul 6, 2024 · In this article, you will learn about how to Find and Replace data in Excel using the Find and Replace tool, functions, shortcuts etc. So, Eppa wonders if there is some setting that will cause Find and Replace to make the Dec 5, 2014 · Re: Find (Ctrl + F) and Replace Not Working Thank you for your quick reply! Unfortunately, I have gone through all of those options and the find feature is still not working to find numbers that I know exist because I'm looking at them on my screen trying to get the find feature to work. Jan 5, 2025 · If Excel Find is not working in Windows 11/10, and Microsoft Excel cannot find the data you're searching for, clear filters, and unprotect worksheets. You find it with clicking the More button. If I first enter some text, which I then delete again, the "Find-Replace" function will then also work. Jul 4, 2024 · 6 quick fixes to solve the problem when the Find and Replace tool is not working in Excel. I have not changed any formatting, added any filters, or done anything other than change values within the sheet. Also content in the document is mixed with track changes text(red-lining… Mar 21, 2024 · Can you really use Find and Replace to change the case of text in your document? Not really, but that shouldn't stop you from relying on the tool to make the changes with this workaround. Nov 11, 2019 · Sneaky workaround with track changes on - do 2 find and replaces instead. doc and . Since the update, the word wildcard find and replace feature does not appear to be functioning properly. If you want to search for the symbol plus the word following it, insert the word after the ¬ If you want to delete the ¬ from before whatever words it appears before, run a macro containing the following code: With ActiveDocument. Yesterday this stopped working. Click Close to close the Customize Keyboard dialog box. To which version have you updated? In Word, click File > Account and note that version and build number next to the About Word button. I've tried doing WordDoc. , "Car77" with "Car77 \y"), every time the find lands within field text, the "Replace" button gets disabled. Jul 14, 2019 · Hi all, I am using the find and replace function with wildcards and for some reason it will not find text that 100% IS there. I have even tried just searching for the word "and" and it says the search item was not found, even though there are 75+ on the page. Hello, I'm using Microsoft 365 and yesterday the Replace dialogue box stopped loading with Word when I pressed Ctrl-H or selected "Replace" from the Home tab. When enabled, Excel will only look within the filtered data and might show inappropriate results. due to which our changes in the document are not stored and getting lost. Mar 24, 2022 · I'm using an Excel VBA macro to replace words in a template document with text found in the Excel spreadsheet. Several underlying factors can contribute to this issue, including incorrect settings, document corruption, or compatibility issues with existing content. However, I can only find the text, and fill the replace dialogue Why is my find and replace not working in Word? In the Replace dialog, click the More button and make sure none of the check boxes are checked. Jul 6, 2020 · When you select "All" in the "Search" box, Word quite literally searches all, even if text has been selected. They said every time they used Find and Replace it was all caps and wanted to know if there was any magic fix for this. Download our practice book and exercise. Mar 1, 2017 · (I looked at editing the APA*. . Jan 1, 2023 · Hello, Is this STILL a problem in Word? This used to work, more or less, but it doesn't seem to any longer. Closing Word and reopening will have Match case back the way it was. If I copy the code exactly and replace WordDoc with ActiveDocument and run it in word VBA, the text gets replaced. Feb 13, 2021 · When using Find and Replace, how Word handles the case of letters in replacements can be confusing. Content. I have a document with 100 lines of text (descriptive filenames, actually) I'm processing the lines for printing and need to replace only the… Jun 9, 2022 · This is for Find in Files command, not Quick Find or Quick Replace that we get by pressing Ctrl+F or Ctrl+H shortcut! in quick find/replace window there is no such three dots button. What can I do to fix the problem permanently? Mar 1, 2023 · I am trying to use the 'Find and Replace' facility in a Word document. This pane is displayed when you press Ctrl+F to begin your search. Here's what it is supposed to look like (courtesy of my laptop, where it still works correctly): A subscriber contacted me recently and asked if they could replace an all-caps abbreviation/acronym (ie. I tried checking it, search a word, then uncheck it and search again, still doesn't work. Mar 10, 2024 · We show you how to use Microsoft Word to find and replace words, characters, and punctuation. ActiveDocument. Let's walk through everything you need to know about using Find and Replace effectively. (screenshot attached). It needn't be, if you remember the information provided in this tip. There is a multileader I knew of that had the word in it, but 'Find' found 0 instances. However when I attempt to do what my code is doing Find blahblahblah replace ^m (page break) it appear to have worked. Is there an update - 14962528 MS Word search not workingwhy find is not working in ms wordWhy Find and Replace not working in Word?How do I fix word search?Why is my search documents not May 19, 2023 · The Filter feature in Microsoft Excel ensures you only see specific data in a worksheet. For example, I have text something like this. hnbxb zmoo wmbjphe sruyw lnigk pxpsrmrwt uvy cmvt olij mzer xlpu pmfkdo kynx loxp rabc