Advanced Find & Replace

Simple text, regex with capture groups, multi-rule batch replace, and diff preview. All in your browser.

Last reviewed: April 2026
Reviewed by , software engineer · last updated April 2026

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Input Text
Output
Enter find text and paste your content to begin.

How to Use Advanced Find & Replace

To use Advanced Find & Replace, follow these steps:

1. Choose a mode: Simple for plain text, Regex for pattern matching, Multi-Rule for batch replacements, or Preview to see a diff before applying.

2. Enter your find pattern and replacement text in the fields above the input area.

3. Paste your text into the left panel.

4. Replacements apply automatically. Review the output on the right or see the highlighted diff in Preview mode.

5. Copy or download the result using the buttons above the output.

When to Use Advanced Find & Replace

Advanced Find & Replace is ideal for users who need to perform complex text replacements, such as swapping words, formatting dates, or cleaning up large texts. It is particularly useful for developers who need to refactor code or clean up documentation.

How It Works

Advanced Find & Replace uses a combination of simple text, regex with capture groups, multi-rule batch replace, and diff preview to provide a powerful and flexible text replacement tool. The tool supports various modes, including Simple, Regex, Multi-Rule, and Preview. Each mode has its own set of features and options, allowing users to perform complex text replacements with ease.

Tips, Edge Cases, or Limitations

When using Advanced Find & Replace, it is important to be aware of the limitations of the tool. For example, the tool does not support all regex features, and the diff preview may not always be accurate for very large texts. Additionally, the tool is free and runs entirely in your browser, so there are no limitations related to server resources or data storage.

Frequently Asked Questions

In Regex mode, use parentheses in your find pattern to create capture groups: (\w+). Then reference them in the replacement using $1, $2, etc. For example, find '(\w+)\s+(\w+)' and replace with '$2 $1' to swap two words.
Multi-Rule mode lets you define multiple find/replace pairs and apply them all at once in a single pass. Each rule is entered as a JSON array of [find, replace] pairs. Rules are applied in order from top to bottom.
Preview mode shows a word-level diff highlighting what will be removed (red, strikethrough) and what will be added (green). Use this mode to verify complex regex replacements before committing.
Yes, you can perform case-insensitive find and replace by enabling the 'Case Insensitive' option.
No, there is no limit to the text size you can process. The tool is designed to handle large texts efficiently.

Quick reference

Advanced Find & Replace Quick Reference
Parameter Description Default Example
Search Mode Literal or regex pattern matching Literal Use regex patterns for complex matches
Case Sensitivity Match case exactly or ignore case No Match case for precise text alignment
Replace All Replace all occurrences or stop at first match No Replace all instances in the document
Limit Maximum number of replacements to perform 100 Limit to 50 changes per session
Timeout Maximum time allowed for operation in milliseconds 5000 Set timeout to 3000 ms for faster processing
Encoding Text encoding format for input/output UTF-8 Use ASCII for legacy system compatibility