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If you’re in search of particular content material inside a doc that comprises lots of textual content, discovering what you’re in search of might be tough, at finest. Fortunately, Google Docs offers a characteristic to shortly seek for textual content on desktop and cellular.
Seek for Phrases in Google Docs on Desktop
Looking for textual content, because the identify implies, lets you shortly find textual content inside a doc. Google Docs takes it one step additional and even lets you change that textual content with different textual content utilizing the Discover and Change characteristic.
RELATED: Easy methods to Seek for Textual content in Phrase
First, launch any browser in your desktop after which open the Google Docs doc that has textual content in it. To easily seek for textual content, press Ctrl+F (Command+F on Mac), and the Search field will seem within the top-right nook of the window.
Kind the phrase or phrase you wish to seek for within the Search field. Notice that the search isn’t case-sensitive. The variety of occasions that phrase or phrase seems within the doc is exhibited to the appropriate.
If there are a number of situations of that phrase within the doc, Google Docs will spotlight which occasion of that phrase you’re presently on within the order it seems within the doc. The present occasion of the phrase that you just’re on is highlighted in darkish inexperienced, whereas the opposite situations of the phrase are highlighted in gentle inexperienced.
You possibly can click on the up or down arrow to the appropriate of the search field to navigate between the situations the phrase or phrase seems within the doc.
Now if you wish to change a phrase with one other phrase, you’ll have to open the Discover and Change device. You are able to do this by clicking the three dots to the appropriate of the search field, by going to Edit > Search and Change, or by urgent Ctrl+H (Command+H on Mac).
Within the Discover and Change window, seek for the phrase you wish to discover by typing it within the textual content field subsequent to “Discover,” after which kind the phrase you’d like to interchange it with within the “Change With” textual content field.
You possibly can change each occasion of that phrase within the doc by clicking the “Change All” button on the backside of the window. Or, you may change the currently-selected phrase by clicking “Change.” You possibly can navigate between every occasion of the phrase in Google Docs by clicking the “Earlier” or “Subsequent” buttons.
There are additionally a few choices in Discover and Change to slender your search down even additional:
Match Case: This makes the phrase or phrase entered within the Discover field case delicate. For instance, in case you kind Bear, it is not going to discover any occasion of bear.
Match Utilizing Common Expression: This lets you use RegEx along with regular phrases or phrases in your search.
Ignore Latin Diacritics: This ignores latin diacritics in your search. For instance, in case you seek for resume, it will nonetheless discover résumé if this feature is chosen.
Click on the field subsequent to every possibility to pick them.
A Notice on Common Expression (RegEx)
Common Expression, sometimes called RegEx, is a sequence of letters, numbers, and particular characters that represents a selected search question. At first look, it could appear overly sophisticated to make use of RegEx when you may simply kind within the phrase, however RegEx opens up an entire new world of search capabilities.
RELATED: How Do You Truly Use Regex?
For instance, not solely are you able to seek for particular phrases or phrases utilizing RegEx, however you may as well seek for grammar guidelines, equivalent to passive voice. So, for instance, in case you’re a instructor and wish college students to make use of energetic voice as an alternative of passive voice, you possibly can use this RegEx sample to seek for each occasion of passive voice within the doc:
b((be(en)?)|(w(as|ere))|(is)|(a(er|m)))(.+(en|ed))([s]|.)
In our doc, we’ve got three situations of passive voice.
Google will spotlight every occasion of passive voice within the doc.
Whereas this particular RegEx sample is clearly complicated, this instance is simply to focus on the capabilities of RegEx. If you wish to be taught extra about totally different RegEx patterns, a easy Google Seek for “Regex cheat sheet” will yield beneficial outcomes.
RELATED: Easy methods to Use Common Expressions (regexes) on Linux
Seek for Textual content in Google Docs on Cell
It’s also possible to seek for textual content in Google Docs utilizing the cellular app on iOS or Android. The one draw back is a number of the options you’ll discover on the desktop model are lacking from cellular, equivalent to looking out utilizing RegEx patterns.
To get began, launch the app after which faucet the doc you wish to carry out a textual content search in.
Subsequent, faucet the three dots within the top-right nook of the display.
Within the menu that seems on the right-hand aspect of the display, faucet the “Discover and Change” possibility.
Use the on-screen keyboard to kind the search time period within the textual content field on the prime of the following display. You need to use the up or down arrows to navigate between every occasion of that phrase within the doc.
Instantly above the on-screen keyboard, you’ll discover the Change With field. Kind the time period you wish to change the searched time period with, after which faucet “Change” to interchange the occasion of the time period you’re presently on, or “All” to interchange each occasion of that phrase within the doc.
Notice that, though the search isn’t case delicate, the Change With characteristic is. So in case you seek for “Bear” and change it with “Cat,” you’ll find yourself with one thing like “The Cat ate the fish.” The outcomes aren’t at all times what you anticipate, so you’ll want to double-check the whole lot.
Looking for textual content, or utilizing the Discover and Change characteristic, is among the fundamental options supplied in Google Docs that you just’ll have to know to develop into extra fluent with the appliance. Continue learning these fundamental capabilities and also you’ll be a grasp very quickly.
RELATED: The Newbie’s Information to Google Docs
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