How to: Search for and Replace Text...

This page is specific to

Microsoft Visual Studio 2005/.NET Framework 2.0

Other versions are also available for the following:

Visual Studio Tools for the Microsoft Office System

How to: Search for and Replace Text in Documents

Note
Some code examples in this topic use the this or Me keyword or the `Globals` class in a way that is specific to document-level customizations, or they rely on features of document-level customizations such as host controls. These examples can be compiled only if you have the required applications installed. For more information, see Features Available by Product Combination.

Use the Find object to loop through a Microsoft Office Word 2003 document searching for specific text, formatting, or style, and use the Replacement object to replace any of the items found.

The following code searches a selection and replaces all of the occurrences of the string find me with the string Found.

Example

Visual Basic

Private Sub SearchReplace()
    Application.Selection.Find.ClearFormatting()
    Application.Selection.Find.Text = "find me"

    Application.Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting()
    Application.Selection.Find.Replacement.Text = "Found"

    Application.Selection.Find.Execute(Replace:=Word.WdReplace.wdReplaceAll)
End Sub

private void SearchReplace() 
{ 
    object replaceAll = Word.WdReplace.wdReplaceAll; 

    Application.Selection.Find.ClearFormatting(); 
    Application.Selection.Find.Text = "find me"; 

    Application.Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting(); 
    Application.Selection.Find.Replacement.Text = "Found"; 

    Application.Selection.Find.Execute(
        ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, 
        ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing,
        ref replaceAll, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing);
}

Compiling the Code

The Find object has a ClearFormatting method and the Replacement object also has its own ClearFormatting method. When you are performing find-and-replace operations, you must use the ClearFormatting method of both objects. If you only use it on the Find operation, you might replace the text with unanticipated results.

Use the Execute method to replace each found item. The Execute method has a WdReplace enumeration that consists of three additional enumerations:

wdReplaceAll- Replaces all found items.
wdReplaceNone - Replaces none of the found items.
wdReplaceOne - Replaces the first found item.

Example

Compiling the Code

See Also

Tasks

Concepts

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