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Find and Replace

Find and replace performs a bulk substitution across an entire block of text, with case-sensitivity, whole-word matching and full regular-expression support including capture groups. It reports how many replacements were made.

Options
Input text 0 characters
Result

Your result will appear here.

Not sure where to start? Use Load example.

Results update automatically and are calculated on your device. Nothing you type is sent to a server.

Runs in your browser. Processing happens entirely in your browser. Nothing you enter is sent to Delimiter.live.

How to use the Find and Replace

  1. Paste your text into the input box.
  2. Type what to find and what to replace it with. Leave the replacement empty to delete matches.
  3. Pick plain text, whole words only, or regular expression matching.
  4. Check the replacement count under the result, then copy or download.

Example

Input
Smith, John
Doe, Jane
Output
Regex: ^(\w+), (\w+)$   Replace: $2 $1

John Smith
Jane Doe

Common use cases

  • Renaming a term consistently across a long document.
  • Removing a repeated prefix or boilerplate line from an export.
  • Reformatting data with a regular expression and capture groups, for example turning "Last, First" into "First Last".
  • Swapping delimiters in a pasted data block.

Limitations and things to watch for

  • Regular expressions use the JavaScript flavour, which differs slightly from PCRE — lookbehind is supported in current browsers, and there are no possessive quantifiers or recursive patterns.
  • A regular expression that can match an empty string is rejected rather than run, because it would loop indefinitely.
  • Very large inputs combined with a catastrophically backtracking pattern can make the tab unresponsive; keep patterns specific.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use capture groups in the replacement?
Yes, in regular-expression mode. Refer to groups with $1, $2 and so on, and use $& for the whole match.
What does "whole words only" do?
It wraps your search term in word boundaries, so searching for "cat" will not match "category" or "concatenate".
How do I delete text instead of replacing it?
Leave the replacement field empty. Every match is removed and the tool reports how many were deleted.
Is my text sent to a server?
No. Matching and replacement run in your browser using the native JavaScript regular-expression engine.

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