How to Find and Replace Text
Search your whole book from the Search tab in the sidebar, or just the section you’re in with the editor’s find bar. Change a word everywhere at once, or one match at a time.
How to find text in your whole book
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Click Search at the top of the sidebar, or press Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+F⌘ Cmd+⇧ Shift+FCtrl+Shift+F.
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Type a word in the Search box. Every paragraph that holds it is listed under its section.
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Click a result to go to it.
The section opens at the match, and your open preview moves there too (the same editor and previewer sync as the sync shortcuts). Matches are highlighted in purple while the Search tab is open.
Search also looks in footnotes, endnotes, image captions and alt text, and tags those results [FOOTNOTE], [ENDNOTE], [IMAGE CAPTION] or [ALT TEXT]. Click Collapse All or Expand All to fold the list.
How to match case or whole words
Two buttons under the Search box narrow what counts as a match. Click one to turn it on and again to turn it off.
| Choose | To |
|---|---|
| Match Case | Find the same capitals only: "treat" no longer finds "Treat". |
| Match Whole Word | Find the word on its own: "treat" no longer finds "treats". |
Both also decide what Replace All changes.
How to replace text in your whole book
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Click the arrow beside the Search box (Show Replace).
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Type what to find in Search and the new words in Replace.
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Click the Replace All button beside it.
Every match in your book changes at once, in body text, footnotes, endnotes and captions. To remove a word everywhere, leave Replace empty.
Changed your mind? Choose Edit › Undo, or press Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+Z⌘ Cmd+⇧ Shift+ZCtrl+Shift+Z: the whole replace comes back in one step.
How to find and replace in one section
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Click Search in the editor toolbar, or press Ctrl/Cmd+F⌘ Cmd+FCtrl+F.
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Type a word. The bar counts the matches (“1 of 2”); press Enter or click the arrows to step through them.
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To replace, click the arrow at the left (Show Replace) and type the new words.
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Click Replace current to change this match and move to the next, or Replace All to change every match in this section.
The find bar finds a word whatever its capitals. To undo a replace here, click in your text and press Ctrl/Cmd+Z⌘ Cmd+ZCtrl+Z. Press Esc to close the bar.
Keyboard shortcuts
| Press | To |
|---|---|
| Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+F⌘ Cmd+⇧ Shift+FCtrl+Shift+F | Open the Search tab (Find in Project). |
| Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+H⌘ Cmd+⇧ Shift+HCtrl+Shift+H | Open the Search tab with Replace showing (Replace in Project). |
| Ctrl/Cmd+F⌘ Cmd+FCtrl+F | Open the find bar in this section (Find in Section). |
| Ctrl/Cmd+H⌘ Cmd+HCtrl+H | Open the find bar with Replace showing (Replace in Section). |
| Enter | In the find bar, go to the next match. In its Replace box, replace the current match. |
| Esc | Close the find bar, or clear the Search tab’s box. |
The same commands are in the Edit menu: Find, Replace, Find in Project and Replace in Project. You can change any of these keys in keyboard shortcuts.
Questions
Can I replace one match at a time?
Yes, in a section’s find bar: Replace current changes the match you’re on and moves to the next. The Search tab only replaces every match at once, so click a result there to open its section first.
Can I search by preset?
Not with Search, which finds words. In the Elements tab, choose Custom Presets to list everything that uses a preset other than Default (see search elements).
Why didn’t Replace All change a section title?
Search lists section titles and alt text, but Replace All doesn’t change them. Right-click the section and choose Rename to change its title.
Why does the Search tab show fewer results than the find bar?
The Search tab counts paragraphs: a paragraph with the word in it twice is one result. The find bar counts every match.