How to Find and Replace in Google Docs

With Google Docs, it’s easy to write the content of your choice and even access it from any device, thanks to the great sync feature. However, mistakes can happen, and if you have made some mistakes while typing in Google Docs, you can use the find and replace in Google Docs. This guide will cover all you need to know about it.

Google Docs is a powerful and user-friendly word-processing tool that offers a wide range of features to help streamline your document editing process. The option to find and replace words in Google Docs can be helpful if you need to correct a recurring typo, replace specific words and phrases, or make global changes. Let us show you how to do it.

Also Read: How to Do a Hanging Indent on Google Docs

1. Search for a Word and Replace It in Google Docs Using PC

It’s easy to replace words in Google Docs on your PC. All you have to do is:

Step 1: Open Google Docs on your browser and go to the document you want to change.

Open Google Docs

Step 2: Click on Edit from the menu bar and choose ‘Find and replace.’

Tip: You can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + H.

Step 3: Add the word you want to find and what to Replace it with.

Note: Check the following boxes:

• Match case: To change the options only for words matching the capitalization for the word you entered.
• Use regular expressions: This is useful for changing strings of text.
• Ignore Latin diacritics: If you have used special characters in your text, this option will change the words while ignoring those characters.

Step 4: Now, choose Replace if you wish to change the word in a specific place or Replace all to change them all.

2. Find and Replace Words Using Keyboard Shortcuts in PC

To simplify things, Google Docs also allows you to use keyboard shortcuts to search and replace a word in Google Docs. Here are the shortcuts you can use:

Function	Windows	macOS
Find	Ctrl + f	Command + f
Find and replace	Ctrl + h	Command + shift + h

3. Using Extension Add-on on PC

Apart from all the above-mentioned steps, you can replace words in Google Docs using extensions. This feature is currently only available for PC users. Follow these steps:

Note: The tool mentioned here will only allow 30 clicks for the free version. To use the tool further, you must subscribe to the premium.

Step 1: Open Google Docs on your browser and go to the document you want to edit.

Open Google Docs on your browser

Step 2: Click Extensions > choose Add-ons and then click ‘Get Add-ons.’

Step 3: Search and open ‘Advanced Find and Replace.’

Step 4: Open the extension and click Install.

Step 5: Click Continue to confirm the installation.

Step 6: Verify your Google account and give necessary permissions by clicking Allow.

Step 7: Once installed, you can access the extension from Extensions > ‘Advanced Find & Repaid for Docs.’

Step 8: Choose ‘Find & Replace.’

Step 9: Once the tool is used, you can type the words to find and what it should replace it with.

The best part about this tool is that it will let you customize the replacing texts with formatting.

4. Find and Replace Words in Google Docs on Smartphone

As for smartphone users, you can find and replace words in Google Docs by following these steps for each platform.

On Android

Step 1: Open the document in the Google Docs app.

Step 2: Tap the three dots at the top right corner and choose ‘Find and replace.’

Step 3: Add the word you wish to replace and tap the search or enter button on the keyboard.

Tip: If the results don’t appear, open ‘Find and Replace’ again, and you will see the options.

Step 4: To replace a word, tap the three dots at the top right corner and choose between:

• Replace: Only replace the words of your choice.
• Replace all: Change all the words.

Step 5: Type the word you wish to replace the existing word with and tap on Replace.

On iPhone

Step 1: Open the document in Google Docs > tap the three dots at the top right corner and select ‘Find and replace.’

Step 2: Add the word to Find and tap the check mark.

Tip: If the results don’t appear, open ‘Find and Replace’ again to see the option.

Step 3: To replace a word, tap the three dots again at the top right corner and choose between:

• Replace: To replace a specific word.
• All: To change all the words.

Have an Error-Free Experience

Google Docs provides a simple and easy interface for users to edit their documents. However, mistakes can happen, and if you don’t want to spend all your time searching and changing those errors, you can easily find and replace them in Google Docs. Additionally, you may also want to learn how to make an Em dash in Google Docs.