How to Find and Replace within Selection in Excel (7 Methods) (2023)

FAQs

Can you find and replace within a formula? ›

Select the cells that have the formula in which you want to replace the reference. If you want to replace in the entire worksheet, select the entire worksheet. Go to Home –> Find and Select –> Replace (Keyboard Shortcut – Control + H).

The easiest way to find and replace multiple entries in Excel is by using the SUBSTITUTE function. The formula's logic is very simple: you write a few individual functions to replace an old value with a new one.

Sometimes the Find & Replace feature won't work because the data you are looking for is actually missing from the worksheet due to Excel file corruption. In this case, the best thing you can do is to repair the file using the Restore function.

Press Ctrl+H or go to Home > Find & Select > Replace. In Find what, type the text or numbers you want to find. You can further define your search: Within: To search for data in a worksheet or in an entire workbook, select Sheet or Workbook.

To replace cell content:

From the Home tab, click the Find & Select command, then select Replace... from the drop-down menu. The Find and Replace dialog box will appear. Type the text you want to find in the Find what: field. Type the text you want to replace it with in the Replace with: field, then click Find Next.

Find and Replace in Google Sheets

Similarly, you can also find and replace multiple values in Google Sheets. Select the range where you want to replace values (here, B2:B19), and in the Menu, go to Edit > Find and replace (or use the keyboard shortcut CTRL + H).

Find/Replace with formatting

Another option is the ability to replace one set of text with another and apply formatting to the new text at the same time. To demonstrate, press the key combination CTRL-H on your keyboard to open the Replace tab of the Find and Replace dialog box.

How do you conditionally format every change in value in Excel? ›

Select any cell to which the rule applies and click Conditional Formatting > Manage Rules… In the Rules Manager dialog box, click the rule you want to modify, and then click the Edit Rule… button. In the Edit Formatting Rule dialog window, make the required changes and click OK to save the edits.

Have you made a selection of text? If so, the replace operation will work only within that selection. Have you cleared the formatting? (Unless the formatting is necessary for what you are trying to do.) Is Track Changes turned on? (Some functions using wildcards don't work as expected if Track Changes is on.)

Find and Replace helps you to find words or formats in a document and can let you replace all instances of a word or format. This is particularly handy in long documents. To use Find and Replace, use the shortcut Ctrl+H or navigate to Editing in the Home tab of the ribbon, then choose Replace.

To quickly find and replace text in a specific column, use the Ctrl+Shift+F shortcut. This will open the Find and Replace dialog box. Then, click the Options button and select the Match Entire Cell Contents check box.

Use SUBSTITUTE when you want to replace specific text in a text string; use REPLACE when you want to replace any text that occurs in a specific location in a text string.

Select cells you will replace in the filter range, and press Alt + ; keys simultaneously to select only visible cells. 2. Type the value that you will replace with, and press the Ctrl + Enter keys at the same time. Then you will see all selected cells in filtered range are replaced by the typed values at once.

=REPLACE(old_text, start_num, num_chars, new_text)

The REPLACE function uses the following arguments: Old_text (required argument) – This is the text we wish to replace some characters. Start_num (required argument) – The position, within old_text, of the first character that you want to replace.

Both features appear together, but they perform separately. The Find function allows you to locate a particular number or text string, while the Replace function helps you replace a particular number or text string with something else.

In Power Query, you can replace one value with another value in a selected column. You can replace specific values or the whole value in a cell.

How do you use the Find function in Excel? ›

Advanced Find and Replace for Excel makes it easy to search across multiple spreadsheets and workbooks, select or replace all found values in a click. It can simultaneously search in values, formulas, hyperlinks, and comments with case-sensitive, case-insensitive or exact match.

Another way to get an Excel IF to test multiple conditions is by using an array formula. To complete an array formula correctly, press the Ctrl + Shift + Enter keys together. In Excel 365 and Excel 2021, this also works as a regular formula due to support for dynamic arrays.

You can use find and replace (Ctrl + Shift + H or on the Home Ribbon, click on the Find & Select button under editing). Once the form pops open, select Look In "Formulas" and then type in the Find what and Replace with values. e.g. Sales and New_Sales. You can choose to replace just the one found or replace all.

REPLACE replaces part of a text string, based on the number of characters you specify, with a different text string.

If you need to compare two cells for contents, including a case sensitive comparison of letters, use the EXACT function. As its name indicates, the EXACT function can check for an exact match between text strings, including upper and lower case.

Detailed Solution. Find and Replace is not just for finding and replacing a specific word with another word; it can also be used to change a format throughout your document. Document name can be changed by saving the file with a different name or by right clicking on the file.

Which option is used to change any specific data from another specific data? ›

Shift registers can be used to change the data from special code to temporal code.

They are grouped into three categories: Data Bars are horizontal bars added to each cell, much like a bar graph. Color Scales change the color of each cell based on its value. Each color scale uses a two- or three-color gradient.

Sometimes the Find & Replace feature won't work because the data you are looking for is actually missing from the worksheet due to Excel file corruption. In this case, the best thing you can do is to repair the file using the Restore function.

To work around this issue, set the filter criteria to Show All on each worksheet in your workbook before you perform the search. To do this, follow these steps: Start Excel, and then open the workbook that you want to search. On the Data menu, point to Filter, and then click Show All.

Check that your serach options are set to look in Values, not Formulas. Make sure you don't have multiple cells selected (otherwise, Search will only look in selected cells). Make sure "Match whole cell" isn't selected , unselect Match Entire cell contents.

Find and replace basic text

, type the word or phrase that you want to find, and Word will highlight all instances of the word or phrase throughout the document. To replace found text: Select the magnifying glass, and then select Replace. In the Replace With box, type the replacement text.

You use the Find and Replace dialog box when you want to find and optionally replace small amounts of data, and when you are not comfortable using a query to find or replace data.

How do you automate find and replace in Excel? ›

=REPLACE(old_text, start_num, num_chars, new_text)

The REPLACE function uses the following arguments: Old_text (required argument) – This is the text we wish to replace some characters. Start_num (required argument) – The position, within old_text, of the first character that you want to replace.

Click View in the toolbar, then choose Show Find & Replace. in the Find & Replace window, then choose Find & Replace. You can also select other options, such as Whole Words and Match Case, to refine your search.

The AVERAGE and SUM functions are nested within the IF function. You can nest up to 64 levels of functions in a formula. Click the cell in which you want to enter the formula. Excel inserts the equal sign (=) for you.

You can use find and replace (Ctrl + Shift + H or on the Home Ribbon, click on the Find & Select button under editing). Once the form pops open, select Look In "Formulas" and then type in the Find what and Replace with values. e.g. Sales and New_Sales. You can choose to replace just the one found or replace all.

Use SUBSTITUTE when you want to replace specific text in a text string; use REPLACE when you want to replace any text that occurs in a specific location in a text string.

What is the FIND Function? The FIND Function[1] is categorized under Excel TEXT functions. The function will return the position of a specified character or sub-string within a supplied text string. In financial analysis, we can use this function to locate specific data.

Press and hold the Shift key, and then drag the column to a new location. You will see a faint "I" bar along the entire length of the column and a box indicating where the new column will be moved. That's it! Release the mouse button, then leave the Shift key and find the column moved to a new position.

How do I find and replace only one column in numbers? ›

Re: Restricting Find/Replace to single column

if you want to select the whole column click on the header and press ctrl+SpaceBar then click on ctrl+H to replace the elemnts you need .

Another way to get an Excel IF to test multiple conditions is by using an array formula. To complete an array formula correctly, press the Ctrl + Shift + Enter keys together. In Excel 365 and Excel 2021, this also works as a regular formula due to support for dynamic arrays.

If you need to do more than one logical test in a formula, you can combine multiple IF functions in one formula. This is called a nested formula, because the additional IF functions act as arguments, nested within another IF function.