Microsoft Excel 2003/2004

Using the Find and Replace Features

The Find and Replace features are time-saving techniques that allow you to rapidly change the content of your worksheets.

Using the Find Feature
Using the Replace Feature

Using the Find Feature

The Find feature can be helpful if you are trying to locate information not currently visible on the screen. You can search for information used in formulas, values, and notes.

Finding Information

From the Edit menu, select Find...
OR
Windows: Press [Ctrl] + [F]
The Find and Replace dialog box appears.
Macintosh: Press [control] + [F]
The Find dialog box appears.
In the Find what text box, type the text or data to be found
OPTIONAL: Adjust the searching options
Click FIND NEXT
The information is found and selected.
NOTES:
Clicking FIND NEXT again finds subsequent occurrences of the information in the document.
If Excel cannot find the information you are looking for, a message to that effect will be displayed.
To close the dialog box, click CLOSE

Searching Options

You can limit the results of a search by using the available search options.

Windows: From the Find and Replace dialog box, click OPTIONS
Macintosh: From the Find or Replace dialog box, select the following search options.

Option	Description
Windows Only: Format...	Match content when specific formatting is applied.
Within	Specify the search area (i.e., worksheet or workbook).
Search	Control the order of the search: left to right (columns) or top to bottom (rows).
Look In	Limit the search to type of content: values, formulas, comments.
Match case	Limit search results to cells in which the case is an exact match. EXAMPLE: Spring instead of spring.
Match entire cell contents	Limit search results to cells where an exact match occurs. EXAMPLE: Smith will locate Smith but not Chris Smith.

Using the Replace Feature

The Replace feature is useful when you want to change the same piece of information throughout your worksheet.

NOTES:
Use the Replace option to replace each occurrence of the information individually.
Clicking FIND NEXT will advance to and review subsequent occurrences.

WARNING: Use the Replace All option with caution. If you do not first select specific cells to change, this option will replace the selected information throughout the entire document.

Replacing Information

OPTIONAL: If you do not want to replace the information throughout the entire document, select only those cells you want to change
Windows: To select non-contiguous cells, hold down [Ctrl] + click the desired cell(s)
Macintosh: To select non-contiguous cells, hold down [command] + click the desired cell(s)
From the Edit menu, select Replace...
OR
Windows: Press [Ctrl] + [H]
The Find and Replace dialog box appears.
Macintosh: Press [control] + [H]
The Replace dialog box appears.
In the Find what text box, type the text or data to be found
In the Replace with text box, type the text or data to replace the information found
OPTIONAL: Adjust the searching options
Click FIND NEXT
The first occurrence is highlighted.
Click REPLACE or REPLACE ALL
The old information is replaced with the new.
WARNING: Use the Replace All option with caution. If you do not first select specific cells to change, this option will replace the selected information throughout the entire document.
To close the dialog box, click CLOSE