Workiva Support Center

Find and Replace allows you to search for and replace multiple instances of a word, value, or phrase in a document.

Note: Only 25,000 instances of a word, value, or phrase can be searched and replaced in a document at a time.

Find text

Use the Find feature to locate all instances of a word or phrase in a single section or the entire document.

Note: Headers and footers are not included in the Find feature.

To use Find:

1. From the View toolbar, click Find .
   
2. Type a word or phrase in the search bar and click Perform a new search or press Enter on your keyboard. 
   
3. To navigate through the results, use the arrows or continue pressing Enter on your keyboard. A yellow highlight indicates search results, while an orange highlight shows the currently selected word. A green highlight will appear when a term or phrase has been successfully replaced.
   
   
   You can view additional search options and navigate through results by clicking Advanced Options to open the Find and replace panel.

From here, you can select several options to customize your search:

• Match case: This makes your search case sensitive.
• Exclude links: This excludes links from your search and prevents changes to source links.

• Exclude entered values: This excludes all entered in values and formulas from your search and prevents them from being replaced. 

  For example, if you're trying to find "7" and a cell has the formula =SUM(7,8) the number "7" within that formula would be considered as a search result, unless you check the option Exclude entered values & formulas.

Note: Destination links won’t be replaced even if the Exclude links option isn’t selected.

In the Find in… section, you can choose where you want to search. You can search the entire sheet, range, or all sheets within the spreadsheet.

Replace text

After you find content in your document, you can replace each instance with a different word or phrase. You can replace a single instance or use bulk replace to replace multiple instances all at once.

Note: You cannot replace content in a destination link, hidden cell, or locked cell. Click Skip to continue replacing words in your search.

To replace a word or phrase:

1. Use the Find function to search for a word or phrase.
2. Click Advanced Options to open the Find and replace panel.
3. In the Replace with box, type the word or phrase you want to add to your document.
   
4. Select any options for your search.
5. Click Replace to replace the currently selected word.
6. Continue clicking Replace until you make all the needed changes.

You can also replace multiple instances of the same word or phrase all at once.

To bulk replace a word or phrase:

1. Open the Find and replace panel.
2. In the Find box, type in what you want to search for.
3. In the Replace with box, type the word or phrase you want to add to your document.
   
4. Select any options for your search.
5. Click Bulk replace.
6. If your search includes Workiva links and formulas, you'll need to confirm the bulk replace.
   

Once you click Bulk replace, it’ll automatically work in the background even if you navigate away from the file or the Find and replace panel. You’ll receive a notification when bulk replacement is done and you can view its results.

If all instances were successfully replaced, you can click Review all within the Find and replace panel to go through what was replaced.

 

You may encounter some instances that couldn’t be replaced. Within the Find and replace panel, choose Review failed to only see instances that couldn’t be replaced or Review all.

Reviewing replace results 

Depending on your bulk replace, you may have different options for reviewing your results.
 

If all instances were replaced, you can click Review all to go through the results. You can navigate through the results by clicking the arrow buttons.

A green highlight will temporarily appear within the file when a term or phrase has been successfully replaced. When you’re done reviewing, you can select Clear results to restart the panel.

If your bulk replace couldn’t replace everything, you can choose to review only the remaining instances that couldn’t be replaced or Review all. As you review, click Skip to mark an item as complete and navigate to the next instance. You can also click the arrow buttons near the search bar to navigate without marking an instance as complete.

Once you’ve completed every instance, click Clear results to restart the panel.