• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Erin Wright Writing

Writing Tips for the Real World

  • Microsoft Word Tutorials
  • Adobe Acrobat Tutorials
  • Writing Tips
  • Editing Tips
  • YouTube Videos
  • Contact

How to Find and Replace Formatting in Microsoft Word

By Erin Wright Leave a Comment

Document formatting can include anything from italics and fonts to heading styles. Format issues can be difficult to locate with the naked eye, so today’s tutorial shows two methods to find and replace formatting in Microsoft Word:

1. Find and Replace Formatting Applied Anywhere in a Word Document

2. Find and Replace Formatting Applied to Specific Text in a Word Document

We’ll close with five tips that may make your next formatting session a little easier.

This tutorial is also available as a YouTube video showing all the steps in real time.

Watch more than fifty other videos about Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat on my YouTube channel.

The images below are from Word for Office 365, which is currently the same as Word 2019. The steps are the same in Word 2016 and are similar for Word 2013 and Word 2010. However, your interface may look slightly different in older versions of the software.

Find and Replace Formatting Applied Anywhere in a Word Document

For this example, we’ll find all text formatted in italics and replace that text with regular font. Please modify these steps according to your own needs.

1. Select the Home tab in the ribbon.

Image of Word 365 / Word 2019 Home Tab
Figure 1. Home tab

2. Select Replace in the Editing group.

Image of Word 365 / Word 2019 Replace in the Ribbon
Figure 2. Replace in the Editing group

3. Insert your cursor into the Find What text box in the Find and Replace dialog box.

Image of Word 365 / Word 2019 Find What Text Box in the Find and Replace Dialog Box
Figure 3. Find What text box in the Find and Replace dialog box

4. Select the More button.

Image of Word 365 / Word 2019 More Button in the Find and Replace Dialog Box
Figure 4. More button in the Find and Replace dialog box

5. Select the Format button.

Image of Word 365 / Word 2019 Format Button in the Find and Replace Dialog Box
Figure 5. Format button in the Find and Replace dialog box

6. Select Font from the drop-down menu.

Image of Word 365 / Word 2019 Font Format Option in the Find and Replace Dialog Box
Figure 6. Font option in the Find and Replace dialog box

7. Select Italic (or another option) from the Font Style menu in the Find Font dialog box.

Image of Word 365 / Word 2019 Italic Option in the Find Font Dialog Box
Figure 7. Italic option in the Find Font dialog box

8. Select the OK button in the Find Font dialog box.

Image of Word 365 / OK Button in the Find Font Dialog Box
Figure 8. OK button in the Find Font dialog box

The words Font: Italic should appear under the Find What text box in the Find and Replace dialog box.

Image of Word 365 / Word 2019 Italic Font Format Selected in the Find and Replace Dialog Box
Figure 9. Italic font format selected in the Find and Replace dialog box

9. Insert your cursor into the Replace With text box in the Find and Replace dialog box.

Image of Word 365 / Word 2019 Replace With Text Box in the Find and Replace Dialog Box
Figure 10. Replace With text box in the Find and Replace dialog box

10. Select the Format button (see figure 5).

11. Select Font from the drop-down menu (see figure 6).

12. Select Regular (or another option) from the Font Style menu in the Replace Font dialog box.

Image of Word 365 / Word 2019 Regular Option in the Replace Font Dialog Box
Figure 11. Regular option in the Replace Font dialog box

13. Select the OK button in the Replace Font dialog box.

 Image of Word 365 / Word 2019 OK Button in the Replace Font Dialog Box
Figure 12. OK button in the Replace Font dialog box

The words Font: Not Bold, Not Italic should appear under the Replace With text box in the Find and Replace dialog box.

Image of Word 365 / Word 2019 Replace with Not Bold, Not Italic Font Format in the Find and Replace Dialog Box
Figure 13. Not Bold, Not Italic font format selected in the Find and Replace dialog box

14. Select the Replace All button to make all the replacements at once. Or, select the Find Next and Replace buttons to make one replacement at a time.

Image of Word 365 / Word 2019 Replace, Replace All, and Find Next Buttons in the Find and Replace Dialog Box
Figure 14. Replace, Replace All, and Find Next buttons in the Find and Replace dialog box

15. Select the Close button to close the Find and Replace dialog box.

Image of Word 365 / Word 2019 Close Button in the Find and Replace Dialog Box
Figure 15. Close button in the Find and Replace dialog box

16. Save the file in order to save your format replacements.

Find and Replace Formatting Applied to Specific Text in a Word Document

For this example, we’ll find specific text with the Heading 2 style and replace that text with the Heading 3 style. Please modify these steps according to your own needs.

1. Select the Home tab in the ribbon (see figure 1).

2. Select Replace in the Editing group (see figure 2).

3. Type the text you want to find into the Find What text box.

Image of Word 365 / Word 2019 Find What Text Box in the Find and Replace Dialog Box
Figure 16. Find What text box in the Find and Replace dialog box

4. Select the More button in the Find and Replace dialog box (see figure 4).

5. Select the Format button (see figure 5).

6. Select Style from the drop-down menu.

 Image of Word 365 / Word 2019 Style Format in the Find and Replace Dialog Box
Figure 17. Style option in the Find and Replace dialog box

7. Select Heading 2 (or another option) in the Find Style dialog box.

Image of Word 365 / Word 2019Heading 2 in the Find Style Dialog Box
Figure 18. Heading 2 in the Find Style dialog box

8. Select the OK button in the Find Style dialog box.

Image of Word 365 / Word 2019 OK Button in the Find Style Dialog Box
Figure 19. OK button in the Find Style dialog box

The words Style: Heading 2 should appear under the Find What text box.

Image of Word 365 / Word 2019 Find and Replace Dialog Box with Heading 2 Selected in the Find What Section
Figure 20. Heading 2 style selected in the Find and Replace dialog box

9. Type the same text (or different text if desired) into the Replace With text box.

Image of Word 365 / Word 2019 Replace With Text Box in the Find and Replace Dialog Box
Figure 21. Replace With text box in the Find and Replace dialog box

10. Select the Format button (see figure 5).

11. Select Style from the drop-down menu (see figure 17).

12. Select Heading 3 (or another option) in the Replace Style dialog box.

Image of Word 365 / Word 2019 Heading 3 in the Replace Style Dialog Box
Figure 22. Heading 3 in the Replace Style dialog box

13. Select the OK button in the Replace Style dialog box.

Image of Word 365 / Word 2019 OK Button in the Replace Style Dialog Box
Figure 23. OK button in the Replace Style dialog box

The words Style: Heading 3 should appear under the Replace With text box.

Image of Word 365/ Word 2019 Heading 3 in the Replace With Section of the Find and Replace Dialog Box
Figure 24. Heading 3 style selected in the Find and Replace dialog box

14. Select the Replace All button to make all the replacements at once. Or, use the Find Next button and Replace buttons to make one replacement at a time (see figure 14).

15. Select the Close button to close the Find and Replace dialog box (see figure 15).

16. Save the file in order to save your format replacements.

Tips for Format Editing in Microsoft Word

Format editing can be messy. Here are five “Believe me because I learned the hard way” tips to consider before your next formatting session.

Tip 1: Explore the Find and Replace tool.

Word’s Find and Replace tool has a lot of helpful options—many more than can be covered in a blog tutorial—so take some time to explore the Find and Replace dialog box to see if it can help you automate any of the replacement tasks that you would normally do manually.

Tip 2: Use the No Formatting button to clear formatting.

When you add formatting to the Find and Replace dialog box, Word will normally keep that selection in the dialog box until you close the software. If you want to clear previously selected formatting from the Find and Replace dialog box before closing the software, place your cursor in the affected text box (Find What or Replace With) and then select the No Formatting button.

Tip 3: Experiment with multiple replacement sequences.

Occasionally, the formatting options entered into the Replace With text box don’t replace the options in the Find What text box; instead, they are added to the options in the Find What text box. When this occurs, experiment with multiple replacement sequences to reach the formatting you need.

For example, if you put the bold format into the Find What text box and put the italic format into the Replace With text box, Word won’t replace the bold text with italic text as you might expect. Instead, it will add italics to the bold words! But you can still remove the bold format if you do a second replacement sequence, this time replacing the bold format with the Not Bold format option. (See my YouTube tutorial at 4:37 for a full demonstration.)

Tip 4: Perform a test run.

Word’s Find and Replace methods can get a bit complex, and this complexity can sometimes create unexpected results (as mentioned in Tip 3 above). So, always do a test run on a secondary copy of your document when performing a replacement procedure that you haven’t done before.

Tip 5: Talk to the writer before editing formatting.

When you’re editing someone else’s writing—whether a client’s, coworker’s, or fellow student’s—always ask how much format editing you should do. Some writers want you to edit as many formatting issues as possible, while others want you to concentrate solely on the writing and may become grumpy if you unexpectedly change their bold text to italics. In addition, you don’t want to accidentally step on the toes of any typesetters, book designers, or other formatters involved in the project.

Further Reading: How to Find and Replace Special Characters in Microsoft Word

Leave a Comment Filed Under: Microsoft Word Tagged With: formatting, structure, Word 2010, Word 2013, Word 2016, Word 2019, Word 365

Home » How to Find and Replace Formatting in Microsoft Word

Meet the Author

Technical Writer and Editor Erin WrightHello! My name is Erin. I am a technical writer and editor who shares step-by-step software tutorials and writing tips for the real world on this blog and YouTube

You can also connect with me on Facebook and Twitter.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Never Miss a Tutorial!

Enter your email address to receive notifications of new posts.

Recent Blog Posts

How to Create a Cover Page in Microsoft Word (Built-In and Custom)

How to Insert and Modify Image Watermarks in Microsoft Word

How to Open Links in Separate Tabs in Adobe Acrobat and Acrobat Reader

How to Create Newspaper-Style Columns in Microsoft Word

How to Insert and Modify Text Watermarks in Microsoft Word

Tags

Acrobat Standard Adobe Acrobat DC Adobe Acrobat Reader AMA style APA style AP style blogging book review business editing business writing capitalization Chicago style copyediting CSE Style dictionaries editing tips figures and tables formatting Google Docs grammar marketing Microsoft 365 MLA style proofreading punctuation readability spelling structure style guides substantive editing Track Changes Turabian style usability usage Word 365 Word 2010 Word 2013 Word 2016 Word 2019 writing resources writing tips

Footer

  • Resources
  • About Me
  • Microsoft Word Tutorials
  • Adobe Acrobat Tutorials
  • Writing Tips
  • Editing Tips
  • YouTube Videos
  • Contact
Email: erin@erinwrightwriting.com
Phone: 708-669-9503

Privacy Policy | Terms of Use

© Erin Wright, 2012–2021. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this website’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Erin Wright with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.