How to search and replace across multiple files in Word?

If you have several dozen Word files containing the same content, such as headers, footers, or specific words or numbers, and you need to replace this content across all documents, doing it manually can be time-consuming and cumbersome. Fortunately, there are more efficient ways to handle this task. This tutorial will show you tricky methods to replace the same content within multiple Word documents at once, saving you time and effort:

Find and replace texts across multiple Word documents at the same time with VBA code
Easily find and replace different texts across multiple documents at the same time with Kutools for Word

Find and replace texts across multiple Word documents at the same time with VBA code

This method explains how to use a VBA code to search for and replace text across multiple Word documents simultaneously, saving time and effort when dealing with large volumes of files.

1. Press Alt + F11 to open the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window.
2. In the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window, click Insert > Module, then copy and paste the following VBA code into the Module window.

   Sub CommandButton1_Click()
   'Updated by Extendoffice 20180625
   Dim xFileDialog As FileDialog, GetStr(1 To 100) As String '100 files is the maximum applying this code
   Dim xFindStr As String
   Dim xReplaceStr As String
   Dim xDoc As Document
   On Error Resume Next
   Set xFileDialog = Application.FileDialog(msoFileDialogFilePicker)
   With xFileDialog
       .Filters.Clear
       .Filters.Add "All WORD File ", "*.docx", 1
       .AllowMultiSelect = True
       i = 1
       If .Show = -1 Then
           For Each stiSelectedItem In .SelectedItems
               GetStr(i) = stiSelectedItem
               i = i + 1
           Next
           i = i - 1
       End If
       Application.ScreenUpdating = False
       xFindStr = InputBox("Find what:", "Kutools for Word", xFindStr)
       xReplaceStr = InputBox("Replace with:", "Kutools for Word", xReplaceStr)
       For j = 1 To i Step 1
           Set xDoc = Documents.Open(FileName:=GetStr(j), Visible:=True)
           Windows(GetStr(j)).Activate
           Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
           Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
           With Selection.Find
               .Text = xFindStr  'Find What
               .Replacement.Text = xReplaceStr  'Replace With
               .Forward = True
               .Wrap = wdFindAsk
               .Format = False
               .MatchCase = False
               .MatchWholeWord = False
               .MatchByte = True
               .MatchWildcards = False
               .MatchSoundsLike = False
               .MatchAllWordForms = False
           End With
           Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
           Application.Run macroname:="NEWMACROS"
           ActiveDocument.Save
           ActiveWindow.Close
       Next
       Application.ScreenUpdating = True
   End With
   MsgBox "Operation end, please view", vbInformation
   End Sub

3. Press F5 to run the code.
4. In the Browse window, select the documents in which you want to find and replace text, then click OK.

   

5. In the first Kutools for Word dialog box, enter the text you want to find in the Find what field and click OK.

   

6. In the second Kutools for Word dialog box, enter the text you want to replace it with and click OK.

   

7. Click OK in the final Microsoft Word dialog box to finish the process.

   

In this case, all instances of "Word" in the selected documents are replaced with "Excel" at the same time.

Easily find and replace different texts across multiple documents at the same time with Kutools for Word

Here highly recommend the Batch Find and Replace feature of Kutools for Word. With this feature, you can easily find and replace different texts across multiple Word documents as the same time. Let's see how to apply this feature to find and replace texts across documents.

1. Please click Kutools Plus > Batch Find and Replace to enable the feature.

2. In the Batch Find and Replace dialog box, please configure as follows.

• 2.1) Click the Add Row button under the Find and Replace tab;
• 2.2) In the created row fields:

• 2.3) Repeat the step 2.1 and 2.2 to add more texts you will find and replace;
• 2.4) Click the  button in the File Type section to add the Word documents in which you will find and replace texts;
• 2.5) Click the Replace or Find button. See screenshot:

3. Close the Batch Find and Replace dialog box

Click here for more information about the Batch Find and Replace feature.

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