Excel Find and Replace: Change Multiple Words at Once

Excel can replace multiple different words in a worksheet, but the Find and Replace dialog handles only one search-and-replacement pair at a time: press Ctrl+H, enter a word in Find what and its substitute in Replace with, then choose Replace All. Repeat for each pair. For a reusable or larger set of replacements, use a formula, Power Query, or a carefully controlled VBA macro instead.

What Excel’s Replace All Does

Find and Replace is a quick way to change every occurrence of one term to another. For example, you can replace “NY” with “New York” throughout a sheet in one operation. It does not provide a built-in list where you can enter several unrelated pairs—such as “NY” to “New York” and “CA” to “California”—and apply them all in a single click. Run Replace All once for each pair, or choose another method if you have many pairs or need to repeat the job.

To start in Excel for Microsoft 365 on Windows, select the cells you want to edit if you want to limit the operation, then press Ctrl+H. Enter the old text under Find what and the replacement under Replace with. Choose Replace All to change every match in the chosen scope, or Replace to review matches one at a time. On Mac, Control+H opens Replace; keyboard behavior can depend on the keyboard and Excel settings. In Excel for the web, use Home > Find & Select > Replace if that command is available in the ribbon, or its keyboard shortcut.

Run Several Replacements with the Dialog

For a short list of substitutions, repeating Replace All is usually the simplest and easiest-to-check approach. Keep a small mapping list so you can track which pairs have been completed. For example:

NY → New York
CA → California
WA → Washington

Run each pair separately, checking the Find what and Replace with boxes before every operation. If you need to undo a replacement, use Ctrl+Z on Windows or Command+Z on Mac immediately, before doing other work that could complicate the undo history. Replacing text can affect more cells than expected, so save a copy first when the workbook matters.

To search beyond the active sheet, open the dialog’s options and check the Within setting. Choose Workbook to search across sheets, or Sheet to stay on the current sheet. If you select a range before opening the dialog, Excel can restrict the operation to that selection. Confirm the scope before choosing Replace All: a workbook-wide change may alter labels, notes, or other content that was not part of the intended data-cleanup task.

Choose the Right Search Options

The Find and Replace options control what counts as a match. Match case distinguishes uppercase and lowercase text; Match entire cell contents prevents a search for “cat” from matching “catalog.” Without the latter option, a search can find text inside longer words. These settings are useful when replacing abbreviations, codes, or short fragments, but can also make Excel report no matches when the text appears in a different form.

Excel can also search formulas, values, and other cell content, depending on the Look in setting shown in the dialog. Be especially careful when searching formulas: replacing a word that appears inside a formula can change the formula itself. For example, a search for a text fragment may alter a formula’s text string or a sheet reference. If your aim is to edit displayed text only, inspect the Look in option and test the operation on a few cells first.

Find and Replace supports wildcard characters in searches. An asterisk (*) can stand for any number of characters, and a question mark (?) can stand for one character; precede a wildcard with a tilde (~) to search for it literally. Wildcards help identify patterns, but they do not create a list of independent replacement pairs. Use them only when the pattern is well understood, and test with Replace rather than Replace All before applying a broad change.

Use a Formula for a Reusable Result

A formula can produce cleaned text in a new column while leaving the original data intact. This is safer than editing source cells when you want to compare results before committing them. For example, suppose a cell contains an abbreviation and a street suffix that both need to change. With the original text in A2, this formula applies two substitutions:

With the source text in A2, enter =SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(A2,"NY","New York"),"St.","Street") in B2. If A2 contains “NY Main St.”, B2 returns “New York Main Street”. Fill the formula down to apply it to other rows, then check the output before copying and using Paste Special > Values if you need fixed text.

SUBSTITUTE changes every occurrence of its specified text and is case-sensitive, unlike the default Find and Replace behavior. The order of nested substitutions matters: if one replacement creates text that a later substitution also matches, the later step will change that newly created text too. A formula with many nested SUBSTITUTE functions can become hard to maintain, so it is best for a few stable pairs rather than a long changing dictionary. It returns a result in another cell; it does not overwrite the original cell by itself.

Apply a Replacement List with Power Query

Power Query is useful when you regularly import and clean the same kind of data. Convert the source range to a table, then use Data > From Table/Range to open it in the Power Query Editor. Select the relevant column and choose Transform > Replace Values. Enter one old value and one new value, then repeat the operation for each pair. Each replacement is recorded as a query step, which you can review and adjust later.

Power Query is not a one-click multi-pair dialog either, but it keeps a repeatable sequence of transformations separate from the original data. When the source changes, refresh the query to apply the steps to the updated data. This approach is particularly helpful for recurring imports, such as supplier lists with known abbreviations. Check the result after refreshing, especially if a source column’s type or layout changes. Power Query’s exact ribbon labels and availability can vary between Excel for Windows, Mac, and the web.

Automate a Long List with VBA

If you have many pairs and need to change cells in place, a VBA macro can read a two-column mapping table and apply each pair to a selected range. The example below assumes the replacement pairs are in D2:E100 on a worksheet named Sheet1, with old text in column D and new text in column E. Select the target cells first. The macro skips formula cells and applies case-insensitive text replacement to other selected cells.

Save a copy of the workbook before running a macro: macro changes cannot be undone with Ctrl+Z. Do not include the mapping table in the selected target range. Change the worksheet name or mapping range in the code if your layout differs.

Sub ReplaceFromList()
    Dim target As Range
    Dim cell As Range
    Dim ws As Worksheet
    Dim mapping As Range
    Dim lastRow As Long
    Dim i As Long
    Dim oldText As String
    Dim newText As String

    ' Use the selected cells as the target.
    If TypeName(Selection) <> "Range" Then Exit Sub
    Set target = Selection

    ' Read old and new text from columns D and E.
    Set ws = ThisWorkbook.Worksheets("Sheet1")
    lastRow = ws.Cells(ws.Rows.Count, "D").End(xlUp).Row
    If lastRow < 2 Then Exit Sub
    Set mapping = ws.Range("D2:E" & lastRow)

    For Each cell In target.Cells
        If Not cell.HasFormula And Not IsError(cell.Value) Then
            For i = 1 To mapping.Rows.Count
                oldText = CStr(mapping.Cells(i, 1).Value)
                newText = CStr(mapping.Cells(i, 2).Value)
                If Len(oldText) > 0 Then
                    cell.Value = Replace(CStr(cell.Value), oldText, newText, 1, -1, vbTextCompare)
                End If
            Next i
        End If
    Next cell
End Sub

The order of rows in the mapping table matters if one new value contains text used as an old value later in the list. Test the macro on a small selection first. It is intended for text cleanup, not for editing formulas, and any replacement that turns a text value into something Excel interprets differently should be checked in the finished range.

Common Problems and How to Avoid Them

Too many or too few matches: Check the selected range, Within scope, Match case, Match entire cell contents, and Look in settings. Try Replace on a single result before using Replace All.
Part of a word changes unexpectedly: Enable Match entire cell contents for whole-cell matches, or use a longer search term that uniquely identifies the intended text.
Results change after later replacements: Review the order of your pairs. One replacement can create a string that a subsequent search finds.
Formulas or references are affected: Check whether Excel is searching formulas, and avoid broad replacements across a workbook unless changing formulas is intended.
Nothing is found: Look for extra spaces, punctuation differences, or different capitalization. A formula using SUBSTITUTE is case-sensitive, which can explain why its result differs from the dialog.

One common misconception is that using Replace All repeatedly is the same as applying every replacement simultaneously. It is not: the second operation sees the results of the first. If “NY” becomes “New York” and a later pair searches for “York,” that later pair can change the new text too. Plan the sequence, use distinctive terms, and verify the final output.

Which Method Should You Choose?

Use the dialog when you have only a few pairs, want to inspect changes, or need to make a one-time edit. Use a formula when you want the original data preserved and the transformation is short enough to understand. Choose Power Query when you repeat the same cleanup on refreshed or imported data. Use VBA for a long mapping list that must modify cells directly, but only if you are comfortable reviewing code and making a backup.

For a one-time job, the fastest option is not always the safest. If the data includes formulas, identifiers, or text where capitalization and partial matches matter, work on a copy or a separate output column. Compare a sample of the original and changed values before treating a large replacement as complete.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Excel replace several different words at the same time?
Not with one standard Find and Replace operation. It accepts one Find what and one Replace with value per operation, so repeat Replace All for each pair or use a formula, Power Query, or VBA for a larger list.

How do I replace a word in every sheet?
Open Find and Replace, show its options, and set Within to Workbook before choosing Replace All. Check the workbook scope and search options first, because the change can affect matches on multiple sheets.

Can I replace multiple words without changing the original cells?
Yes. Put a SUBSTITUTE formula in a separate column and fill it down. Review the results, then copy and paste values elsewhere if you need a fixed version. The source column remains unchanged until you overwrite it.

Does Excel Find and Replace distinguish uppercase and lowercase?
By default, the dialog’s search is not case-sensitive. Turn on Match case in the options to distinguish capitalization. The SUBSTITUTE worksheet function is case-sensitive.

Can I use wildcards to replace a list of words?
Wildcards can match patterns in a search, but they do not let you define several unrelated old-and-new pairs in one operation. Use them for a known pattern, and test individual matches before choosing Replace All.

Try it: the Date Difference Calculator: days, months, years and weekdays between two dates, with the DATEDIF formulas.

More in How-to basics

Sources: Function behaviour and menu paths: Microsoft Support documentation for Excel. Method & sources

Spotted an error in this guide? Let us know.