You may need to change a product’s price or another attribute, a dollar amount or item number, or the name or location of a vendor. You can quickly locate and change what you need in Google Sheets by using the Find and Replace feature and any necessary parameters.
It can be time-consuming to update specific data throughout your spreadsheet. However, you can use a built-in tool to find all instances of that data and replace them all at once in Google Sheets.
In Google Sheets, use Find and Replace.
- Open Google Sheets and navigate to the spreadsheet where you want to find and update your data. From the menu, select Edit > Find and Replace.
- When the Find and Replace window appears, enter the data to be found in the Find box. Then, in the Replace With field, type in what you want to replace it with.
- Select a location to look for using the Search drop-down box. You have the option of selecting All Sheets, This Sheet, or a Specific Range.
- Click “Find” to review and confirm the data before replacing it. This will highlight the first occurrence of the data you enter into the Find box. Continue to click “Find” to see the data in each subsequent instance. When all results have been found, the tool will restart, and the message “No more results found, looping around” will appear in the Find and Replace window.
- If after reviewing your data, you decide that all instances should be replaced, click “Replace All.” The number of items replaced will be displayed in the Find and Replace window, and your data will be updated.
- If you only want to update one instance rather than all of them, click “Replace” for the instance that was found and highlighted. In the Find and Replace window, you’ll see your data update and the details.
Add Search Parameters
Additional options for finding your data can be found in the Find and Replace window’s Search section. These can be useful for locating a specific item or when data is entered in different formats throughout your sheet.
Match Case: This is useful when looking for text that contains both upper and lowercase letters. You can precisely match the case, allowing you to find the correct data.
Match Entire Cell Contents: To avoid finding and replacing similar data across your sheet, you can find something specific by matching all contents within a cell.
Search Using Regular Expressions: Check this box if you want to use regular expressions to get more precise or varied results.
Also Search Within Formulas: Select this search option to include data contained within formulas rather than just cell contents.
Updating the data in your spreadsheet does not have to take a long time. Remember this Find and Replace tip for the next time you want to update your Google Sheets.
Also, if you want to find and connect data, see how to use VLOOKUP in Google Sheets.