When you’re working with longer presentations, it can be difficult and time consuming to locate a specific word or phrase. PowerPoint can automatically search your presentation using the Find feature, and it allows you to quickly change words or phrases using the Replace feature.
Optional: Download our practice presentation.
Watch the video below to learn more about the basics of using Find and Replace in powerpoint.
To find text:
- From the Home tab, click the Find command.
- A dialog box will appear. Enter the text you want to find in the Find what: field, then click Find Next.
- If the text is found, it will be selected.
You can also access the Find command by pressing Ctrl+F on your keyboard.
To replace text:
At times, you may discover that you’ve repeatedly made a mistake throughout your presentation—such as misspelling someone’s name—or that you need to exchange a particular word or phrase for another. You can use the Replace feature to make quick revisions.
- From the Home tab, click the Replace command.
- A dialog box will appear. Type the text you want to find in the Find what: field.
- Type the text you want to replace it with in the Replace with: field, then click Find Next.
- If the text is found, it will be selected. Review the text to make sure you want to replace it.
- If you want to replace it, select one of the replace options. Replace will replace individual instances, and Replace All will replace every instance. In our example, we’ll use the Replace option.
The selected text will be replaced.
- powerpoint will move to the next instance of the text in the presentation. When you are finished replacing text, click Close to exit the dialog box.
When it comes to using Replace All, it’s important to remember that it could find matches you didn’t anticipate and might not actually want to change. Only use this option if you’re absolutely sure it won’t replace anything you didn’t intend it to.