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 100 other videos about Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat on my YouTube channel.
The images below are from Word for Microsoft 365. The steps are the same in Word 2019 and 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.
2. Select Replace in the Editing group.
3. Insert your cursor into the Find What text box in the Find and Replace dialog box.
4. Select the More button.
5. Select the Format button.
6. Select Font from the drop-down menu.
7. Select Italic (or another option) from the Font Style menu in the Find Font dialog box.
8. Select the 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.
9. Insert your cursor into the 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.
13. Select the 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.
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.
15. Select the Close button to close 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.
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.
7. Select Heading 2 (or another option) in the Find Style dialog box.
8. Select the OK button in the Find Style dialog box.
The words Style: Heading 2 should appear under the Find What text box.
9. Type the same text (or different text if desired) into the Replace With text 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.
13. Select the OK button in the Replace Style dialog box.
The words Style: Heading 3 should appear under the Replace With text 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.
Related Resources
How to Use the Format Painter in Microsoft Word (PC & Mac)
How to Find and Replace Special Characters in Microsoft Word
Updated July 11, 2021