Find and Replace

Enter the information you want to search for. You can use a question mark (?) to match any single character or an asterisk (*) to match any string of characters. For example, sm?th finds "smith" and "smyth" and *east finds "Northeast" and "Southeast."

Previews what data might look like that meets the parameters specified using the Format button. Preview* indicates that a preview cannot be shown. No Format Set indicates that no formatting parameters have been specified.

Select Format to base searches on the formatting properties of the cells. Choose Format From Cell allows you to click on a cell that meets the formatting criteria you wish to use in this search. Clear Find Format allows you to remove previous search criteria.

Select Sheet to restrict your search to the active worksheet. Select Workbook to search all sheets in the active workbook.

Click the direction you want to search: down through columns by using By columns or to the right across rows by using By rows. To search up in columns or to the left across rows, hold down SHIFT and click Find Next. In most cases, it is faster to select By columns.

Specifies whether you want to search the value of the cells or their underlying formulas. For instance, a cell could show on the sheet “11” but actually contain a formula =”1”&”1”. Look in: Values would find this cell when searching for "11". Look in: Formulas would not. You can also choose to search comments attached to cells. On the Replace tab, Look in: Formulas is the only option.

Distinguishes between uppercase and lowercase characters.

Searches for an exact and complete match of characters specified in the Find what box.

Displays advanced search options. This button changes to Options << while these advanced options are displayed. Click Options << to hide the advanced options.

Finds all occurrences of the search criteria in your document. If you want to find and review each occurrence separately, click Find Next instead of Find All.

Searches for the next occurrence of the characters specified in the Find what box. To find the previous occurrence, hold down SHIFT and click Find Next.

Closes the Find or Replace dialog box when you've completed your search.

Type the replacement characters you want to use to replace the characters in the Find what box. To delete the characters in the Find what box from your document, leave the Replace with box blank.

Replaces all occurrences of the search criteria in your document. If you want to review and selectively replace each occurrence, click Replace instead of Replace All.

Replaces the selected occurrence of the criteria in the Find what box, finds the next occurrence, and then stops. If you want to automatically replace all occurrences of the search criteria in your document, click Replace All.