Part IV: Using Advanced Excel Features
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Note
Because the Find and Replace dialog box is modeless, you can access the worksheet and make changes without
the need to dismiss the dialog box. n
Replacing information
To replace text with other text, use the Replace tab in the Find and Replace dialog box. Enter the
text to be replaced in the Find What field and then enter the new text in the Replace With field.
Specify other options as described in the previous section.
Click Find Next to locate the first matching item and then click Replace to do the replacement.
When you click the Replace button, Excel then locates the next matching item. To override the
replacement, click Find Next. To replace all items without verification, click Replace All. If the
replacement didn’t occur as you planned, you can use the Undo button on the Quick Access tool-
bar (or press Ctrl+Z).
Tip
To delete information, enter the text to be deleted in the Find What field but leave the Replace With field
empty. n
Searching for formatting
From the Find and Replace dialog box, you can also locate cells that contain a particular type of
formatting. As an option, you can replace that formatting with another type of formatting. For
example, assume that you want to locate all cells that are formatted as bold and then change that
formatting to bold and italic. Follow these steps:
- Choose Home ➪ Editing ➪ Find & Select ➪ Replace to display the Find and
Replace dialog box (or, press Ctrl+H). - Make sure that the Replace tab is displayed.
- If the Find What and Replace With fields are not empty, delete their contents.
- Click the top Format button to display the Find Format dialog box. This dialog box
resembles the standard Format Cells dialog box. - In the Find Format dialog box, click the Font tab.
- Select Bold in the Font Style list and then click OK.
- Click the bottom Format button to display the Replace Format dialog box.
- In the Replace Format dialog box, click the Font tab.
- Select Bold Italic from the Font Style list and then click OK. At this point, the Find
and Replace dialog box resembles Figure 32.16. Notice that it displays previews of the
formatting that will be found and replaced.