--- title: "Find and Replace | Microsoft Docs" ms.custom: "" ms.date: "03/01/2017" ms.prod: "sql-server-2016" ms.reviewer: "" ms.suite: "" ms.technology: - "database-engine" ms.tgt_pltfrm: "" ms.topic: "article" f1_keywords: - "vs.findreplace.quickfind" - "vs.find" - "vs.findreplace.quickreplace" helpviewer_keywords: - "Find and Replace dialog box" ms.assetid: 09297893-d80b-4c88-86b4-52bfb639e521 caps.latest.revision: 24 author: "BYHAM" ms.author: "rickbyh" manager: "jhubbard" --- # Find and Replace Use the **Find and Replace** dialog box to locate text within a file and optionally replace it. Versions of the **Find and Replace** dialog box with slightly different options can appear, depending on how the dialog box was opened. On the **Edit** menu, point to **Find and Replace**, and then click **Quick Find** to open the dialog box with find options, but without replace options. On the **Edit** menu, point to **Find and Replace**, and then click **Quick Replace** to open the dialog box with both find options and replace options. Toolbar buttons and shortcut keys are also available to open the **Find and Replace** dialog box. ## Find What These controls enable you to specify the string or expression that will be matched. **Find what** Type the text to search for. The dialog box attempts to fill in a probable search text, using text selected with the cursor before opening the dialog box, or nearby text, or previously searched-for text. You can reuse one of the last 20 search strings by selecting it from this drop-down list. **[string with wildcards]** If you want to use wildcards such as asterisks (`*`) and question marks (`?`) in your search string, select the **Use** check box under **Find Options** and then click **Wildcards**. **[regular expression]** To cause the search engine to interpret your search string as a regular expression, select the **Use** check box under **Find Options** and then click **Regular expressions**. **Expression Builder** This triangular button next to the **Find what** box becomes available when the **Use** check box is selected in **Find Options**. Click this button to display a list of wildcards or regular expressions, depending upon the **Use** option selected. Choosing any item from this list adds it to the string specified in the **Find what** box. ## Replace With These controls enable you to specify what will be inserted in the place of the matched string or expression. **Replace with** To replace instances of the string specified in **Find what** with another string, enter the replacement string in this field. To delete instances of the text specified in **Find what**, leave this field blank. Select the drop-down list to display the last 20 items entered. To include regular expressions in the string specified in the **Replace with** box, click the **Use** check box and then click **Regular Expressions**. This box only appears if this dialog box was opened by clicked **Quick Replace**. **Replace with** To replace instances of the string specified in the **Find what** box with another string, enter the replacement string in this field. To delete instances of the string specified in the **Find what** box, leave this field blank. Select the drop-down list to display the last 20 items entered. To include regular expressions in the string specified in the **Replace with** box, click the **Use** check box and then click **Regular Expressions**. **Expression Builder** This triangular button next to the **Replace with** box becomes available when the **Use** check box is selected in **Find Options**. Click this button to display a list of wildcards or regular expressions, depending upon the **Use** option selected. Clicking any item in this list adds it to the string specified in the **Replace with** box. **Replace** Click this button to replace the current instance of the string specified in the **Find what** box with the string specified in the **Replace with** box, and find the next instance within the scope specified in **Look in**. **Replace all** Click this button to replace all instances of the string specified in the **Find what** box with the string specified in the **Replace with** box, in all files within the scope specified in the **Look in** box. > [!CAUTION] > Make sure that **Look in** is set to include only those files that you want to modify. A reminder is displayed that includes a **Keep modified files open** option. To retain the **Undo** option, you must select this option. **Undo** is only available in files that remain open for editing after they are modified. **Skip File** Becomes available when the value specified for **Look in** includes multiple files. Click this button if you do not want to search or modify the current file. The search will continue in the next file on the list in **Look in**. ## Look In **Look in** Select the location to look for the text specified in **Find what**. Options are **Current Document**, which searches the document window that had focus when the dialog box was opened, and **All Open Documents**, which searches all document windows that are currently open in [!INCLUDE[ssManStudioFull](../../includes/ssmanstudiofull-md.md)]. ## Find Options You can expand or collapse the **Find Options** section. The following options can be selected or cleared. **Match case** When this check box is selected, the Find Results windows will only display instances of the string specified in **Find what** that are matched both by content and by case. For example, a search for "**MyObject**" with the **Match case** check box selected will return "MyObject" but not "myobject" or "MYOBJECT." **Match whole word** When selected, the Find Results windows will only display instances of the string specified in **Find what** that are matched in complete words. For example, a search for **MyObject** will return "MyObject" but not "CMyObject" or "MyObjectC." **Search up** Search from the cursor location towards the beginning of the document. **Search hidden text** Locate instances of the text that are concealed and collapsed text. **Use** Indicates how to interpret special characters entered in the **Find what** or **Replace with** text boxes. The options include **Wildcards** and **Regular Expressions**. **Regular Expressions** Special notations define patterns of text to match. For a list, see [Search Text with Regular Expressions](../../relational-databases/scripting/search-text-with-regular-expressions.md). **Wildcards** Special characters such as asterisks (`*`) and question marks (`?`) represent one or more characters. For a list, see [Search Text with Wildcards](../../relational-databases/scripting/search-text-with-wildcards.md). **Find Next** Begins searching for the text in the **Find what** box. **Replace** Click this button to replace the current instance of the string specified in **Find what** with the string specified in **Replace with**, and find the next instance within the scope specified in **Look in**. **Replace All** Choose this button to replace all instances of the string specified in **Find what** with the string specified in **Replace with**, in all files within the scope specified in **Look in**. > [!CAUTION] > Make sure that **Look in** is set to include only those files that you want to modify. ## Find and Replace Views The tabs at the top of the Find and Replace window include **View** menus. These menus enable you to choose a set of fields to display in the active pane. You can leave the **Find and Replace** window docked in a convenient location, and then change from tab to tab and view to view to perform any type of find or replace operation. **Quick Find** This toolbar tab changes the dialog box to a **Quick Find** dialog box. **Find in Files** This toolbar tab changes the dialog box to a **Find in Files** dialog box. **Quick Replace** This toolbar tab changes the dialog box to a **Quick Replace** dialog box **Replace in Files** This toolbar tab changes the dialog box to a **Replace in Files** dialog box ## See Also [SQL Server Management Studio Keyboard Shortcuts](../../tools/sql-server-management-studio/sql-server-management-studio-keyboard-shortcuts.md)