Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: When Replace Doesn't Work.
When you try to replace text in your document using Find and Replace, things may not always work as you would expect. If they don't, check these factors:
If these factors are set properly and it still doesn't work properly, then you should exit Word and restart the program. You will then be able to perform the replace anew, with Word in a "fresh" condition.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (11097) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: When Replace Doesn't Work.
Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 2013 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access) with VBA programming, using it for writing macros, automating Office applications, and creating custom applications. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2013 today!
Word has a powerful Find and Replace capability, but sometimes it can be tricky to figure out exactly how to use it. Here ...
Discover MoreSome replacement tasks can seem daunting, but Word provides some great tools for making just about any replacement you ...
Discover MoreWord has a powerful find and replace capability that can help you perform quite a few changes to your documents. This tip ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
2018-09-14 15:58:05
scott Larson
I appreciate that it takes time and effort to provide help with computer programs. I also appreciate nothing is free. However, the low level of technical "meat" (more like common sense) and the high level of advertising makes this site is not useful to me. My find command works but my replace command does not. Thank you.
2016-10-03 16:23:24
Caran
Iris, Have you checked that the capital letters aren't being formatted as all caps format with caps lock on? I've run in to something similar before. One thing in particular we were told to do was to use Shift+F3 to change the case of a letter instead of using caps lock (?), I don't remember for sure. Maybe that would have been the solution.
2016-09-30 04:10:25
I always use find and replace and use formatting and never highlight the text. It is a very important tool but didn't work after Office was reinstalled by windows. It did not fix itself after restarting on many occasions. I did the doc I wanted by hand and have tried other dos but doesn't work. Mine was a capital letter that was sent to me in a draft. It kept showing 13 replacements but it was always the same. Even when I did it by hand and made most changes it still said it had made 13 changes. In the last few days I have had lots of downloads but no fixes. 30 Sep 2016
Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2019 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: 
Comments