9 Tips to Master the Search and Replace Function in Google Sheets

GiGiKing·March 22, 2024·0 comments
Video google sheet replace

Google Sheets is packed with useful features that can save you time and streamline your work. One such feature is the search and replace function. The ability to find and replace text in a large spreadsheet is an art in itself. To make the most of this feature and save yourself from sifting through irrelevant results, it’s crucial to know how to perform precise searches and replace operations efficiently. In this article, we will provide you with nine tips to effectively use the search and replace function in Google Sheets, making your work more efficient and accurate.

Why is the Search and Replace Function in Google Sheets Useful?

The search and replace function in Google Sheets allows you to search for specific values across multiple workbooks and replace them with the desired text. This feature offers several benefits that enhance your productivity:

  • It enables the use of regular expressions to search for values that follow a specific pattern.
  • Wildcards can be used to search for values similar to your search string.
  • You can search within formulas and formula results.
  • The option to search for cells that exactly match your search or cells that contain the search string.
  • The ability to specify whether the search should be case-sensitive or not.

Now, let’s explore these applications through examples using an imaginary dataset.

How to Use the Search and Replace Function in Google Sheets

There are three ways to use the search and replace function in Google Sheets:

  1. Using the Edit -> Find and Replace option.
  2. Using the CTRL+H keyboard shortcut (on Windows PC) or CMD+SHIFT+H (on Mac).
  3. Using the CTRL+F keyboard shortcut (on Windows PC) or CMD+F (on Mac).

It’s essential to note that there’s a difference between the two mentioned shortcuts. Pressing CTRL+H brings up the Google Sheets Search and Replace dialog box, while pressing CTRL+F opens a generic search box that can be used throughout your computer.

The Google Sheets Search and Replace dialog box allows you to find your search string one instance at a time. Each click of the Find button reveals the next occurrence of the search string. On the other hand, the generic search box displays all occurrences of the search string highlighted, allowing you to browse them using the up and down arrows.

Utilizing the Google Sheets Search and Replace Dialog Box

The Search and Replace dialog box offers several options to refine your search and replace operations. Let’s walk through each option using different search examples.

Replace All Occurrences of a Search String at Once

To illustrate this tip, let’s consider the following spreadsheet:

Spreadsheet

Suppose you want to replace all occurrences of the search string ‘Manufacturing’ with ‘Production’. Here’s how you can do it:

  1. Open the Search and Replace dialog box by going to Edit -> Find and Replace.
  2. Enter the following details:
    • Search: Manufacturing
    • Replace with: Production
    • Search in: This sheet
  3. Leave all other options blank or unchecked.
  4. Click the Replace All button.
  5. Once the replacements are complete, a notification will indicate the number of occurrences replaced.
  6. Click Done.

Now, all instances of the word ‘Manufacturing’ should be replaced with ‘Production’.

Replaced Word

Do note that the Search and Replace dialog box allows you to search within the current sheet, all sheets, or even within a selected range of cells. Simply select the dropdown next to “Search” and choose the desired option.

Replacing Occurrences of a Search String One by One

Suppose you want to replace occurrences of the search string ‘Operations’ with different operations department numbers like ‘Operations-1’ and ‘Operations-2’. In this case, replacing all occurrences at once may not be ideal. Follow these steps to replace occurrences one by one:

  1. Go to Edit -> Find and Replace.
  2. Enter the following details:
    • Search: Operations
    • Search in: This sheet
  3. Leave all other options blank or unchecked.
  4. Click the Find button.
  5. The first occurrence of the search string will be marked, and the Replace button will be enabled.
  6. Enter ‘Operations-1’ in the input field next to ‘Replace with’.
  7. Click the Replace button.
  8. The first occurrence will be replaced with ‘Operations-1’.
  9. The next occurrence will be selected.
  10. Enter ‘Operations-2’ in the input field next to ‘Replace with’.
  11. Click the Replace button again.
  12. The second occurrence will be replaced with ‘Operations-2’.
  13. Click Done.

After these steps, the spreadsheet should reflect the replacements:

Replaced Words

Matching the Full Content of Cells

In some scenarios, you may want to replace specific occurrences while disregarding similar values. Let’s say you want to replace all occurrences of the name ‘Paul Lee’ with ‘Paula Lee’. To achieve this, follow these steps:

  1. Go to Edit -> Find and Replace.
  2. Enter the following details:
    • Search: Paul Lee
    • Replace with: Paula Lee
    • Search in: This sheet
  3. Check the box next to the option ‘Match entire contents’.
  4. Click the Replace All button.
  5. Once the replacement process completes, a notification will indicate the number of occurrences replaced.
  6. Click Done.

After these steps, all occurrences of the name ‘Paul Lee’ should be replaced with ‘Paula Lee’:

Replaced Names

If you also want your search to be case-sensitive, check the box next to the option “Match case”.

Matching with Regular Expressions

The Google Sheets Search and Replace dialog box allows you to utilize regular expressions (Regex) to refine your search. Regular expressions enable you to search for strings that follow a particular pattern, such as ID formats, email addresses, or URLs. Here are a few examples of metacharacters commonly used in regular expressions:

  • ^: The start of the string.
  • $: The end of the string.
  • .: Any single character.
  • ?: Zero or one occurrence of a character or string.
  • *: Zero or more occurrences of a character or string.
  • +: One or more occurrences of a character or string.
  • |: The OR operator.
  • (): Contains a group of metacharacters and represents that sequence of characters.
  • []: Contains a set of characters and represents any of the characters inside it.
  • [^]: Contains a set of characters and represents any character not listed inside it.
  • : Used to escape a special character.

Searching and Replacing Text Starting with a Specific Letter

Suppose you want to find all names that start with ‘P’ and replace them with the word ‘classified’. You can accomplish this by using the regular expression ^P[a-zA-Z ]+$. Here’s how you can use this regular expression in the Google Sheets Search and Replace dialog box:

  1. Select the Name column (range A2:A8).
  2. Go to Edit -> Find and Replace.
  3. Enter the following details:
    • Search: ^P[a-zA-Z ]+$
    • Replace with: classified
    • Search in: Specific range
  4. Check the box next to the option “Search using regular expressions”.
  5. The box next to the option “Match case” will automatically be checked.
  6. Click the Replace All button.
  7. Once the replacements are complete, a notification will indicate the number of occurrences replaced.
  8. Click Done.

After performing these steps, all names starting with ‘P’ should be replaced with the word ‘classified’.

Searching in Formulas

By default, the Google Sheets search and replace function searches within cell contents and formula results. However, if you want to search within the actual formulas of cells, there’s an option for that too.

Suppose we have a formula-based column (E) in our example sheet. If you want to remove the word “only” from all the formulas, follow these steps:

  1. Go to Edit -> Find and Replace.
  2. Enter the following details (leave “Replace with” field empty, as we want to remove the word “only”):
    • Search: only
    • Replace with:
    • Search in: This sheet
  3. Check the box next to the option “Also search within formulas”.
  4. Click the Replace All button.
  5. Once the replacements are complete, a notification will indicate the number of occurrences replaced.
  6. Click Done.

After these steps, all instances of the word “only” should be removed from formulas, including their results.

Using the SUBSTITUTE Formula

In Google Sheets, you can also use functions to replace text. The SUBSTITUTE function is a useful tool for finding and replacing text within a single or multiple instances in Google Sheets. The formula syntax is as follows:

=SUBSTITUTE(text_to_search, search, replace_with, number_of_occurrences)
  • text_to_search: The text string in which the search will be performed.
  • search: The text or value to search for.
  • replace_with: The text or value that will replace the searched text.
  • number_of_occurrences: The number of times the search appears in the text_to_search to be replaced with replace_with.

This function works only with text values. However, if you want Google Sheets to replace numerical values, you may need to combine the VALUE function with the SUBSTITUTE function.

Using the REGEXREPLACE Function

Another text replacement function you can use in Google Sheets is the REGEXREPLACE function. This function operates based on regular expressions to find and replace specific text within a sheet. The syntax for this function is as follows:

REGEXREPLACE(text, regular_expression, replacement)
  • text: The text string in which the replacement will be performed.
  • regular_expression: The regular expression that matches the instances to be replaced.
  • replacement: The text or value that will replace the matched instances.

Similar to the SUBSTITUTE function, the REGEXREPLACE function also works with text values. If you have numerical values, you may need to combine them with the VALUE function.

Replacing Cell References in a Formula

Sometimes, you may need to modify your formulas in Google Sheets by replacing cell references. You can accomplish this either manually or by selecting the cells again. Let’s consider the following steps to replace cell references in a formula:

  1. Double-click the cell containing the formula.
  2. Delete the cell reference.
  3. Select the new cells you want to use in your formula.

Your formula will update accordingly, reflecting the new cell reference. This method eliminates errors and ensures accuracy.

Conclusion

Mastering the search and replace function in Google Sheets is essential for efficient data management and analysis. We have explored various strategies to help you effectively replace text in your spreadsheets, saving you time and effort. By utilizing the Google Sheets Search and Replace dialog box, you can perform precise searches, replace specific occurrences, and even search using regular expressions. Additionally, functions like SUBSTITUTE and REGEXREPLACE offer further flexibility in text replacement.

To further enhance your Google Sheets skills, consider exploring comprehensive courses tailored to your specific needs. Practicing and experimenting with the search and replace function in various scenarios will help you become a proficient user, improving the accuracy and efficiency of your work.

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GiGiKing

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