How to Find and Replace Text in Notepad on Windows 10 and 11

Before you change the file​

This guide is for text that Notepad can edit directly, such as a .txt file. It is not a way to edit the formatted contents of a Word document or PDF. Notepad treats the text as characters; it does not understand whether a match is a name, part of a longer word, or a value another program needs.

For the example below, imagine a file repeatedly contains recieve and you want to change it to receive.

• Make sure you know where the file is saved and have permission to create another file in that folder.
• If the file is a script or configuration file, check with its owner before changing it. A replacement can alter how another program behaves.
• Allow time to review the results. The replacement itself can take seconds, but a long or important file needs more checking.

On Windows 10, Notepad still works, but Microsoft ended ordinary Windows 10 support on October 14, 2025. Extended Security Updates are available for eligible devices.

Open the file and save a working copy​

The safest approach is to leave the original file untouched and make changes in a separately named copy. If the file is already open and contains unsaved edits, the copy will contain the text currently in the Notepad window; it may not be identical to the last-saved original.

1. Open Start, type Notepad, and select Notepad.
2. Select File > Open, browse to your file, select it, and choose Open. If you do not see the file, check the file-type filter in the Open dialog; a text-based file may have an extension other than .txt.
3. Before replacing anything, select File > Save As.
4. Choose a folder you can find again. Give the working copy a different name, such as notes-edited.txt, and select Save. Do not confirm an overwrite of the original file.
5. Check the name shown in Notepad to make sure you are now working in the newly named copy. The original notes.txt remains your backup; subsequent saves in this procedure apply to notes-edited.txt.

If you need to retain a specific extension or text encoding for another program, keep those requirements when saving the copy. In particular, changing the encoding can affect how characters appear in the program that reads the file. If you are unsure what the receiving program requires, keep the original untouched and test the edited copy before using it.

Find and review the text before replacing it​

The keyboard shortcut is the same on both Windows versions. On Windows 10, you will typically see a classic Replace dialog with labeled fields and buttons. On Windows 11, Microsoft redesigned the find-and-replace interface, so controls may appear in a search bar and some actions may be represented by icons.

1. Click inside the working copy and press Ctrl+Home to move to the beginning of the text.
2. Press Ctrl+H to open Find and Replace. You can also choose Edit > Replace.
3. In Find what, enter the exact existing text: recieve. In Replace with, enter receive. Check both entries carefully, including spaces and punctuation.
4. Decide whether capitalization matters. Turn on Match case if you want matches to have exactly the same uppercase and lowercase letters as the search text. Leave it off if you also want to find other capitalization styles. Remember that the replacement is the text you typed: it will not automatically preserve the capitalization of each match.
5. Use Find Next, or the next-match arrow in the Windows 11 interface, to inspect the occurrences. Read the surrounding text as well as the highlighted match. Continue through the file, noting whether every match should change.
6. If Wrap around is available, turn it on to continue searching from the other end of the document after reaching the end. Stop when you return to a match you have already reviewed; otherwise, a wrapped search can keep cycling through the same results.

Do not choose Replace All yet if any match should remain unchanged. A match can occur inside a longer word as well as on its own. For example, a search for app can also find those letters in happy. In that situation, use a more specific search phrase if one fits all the intended changes, or replace matches individually.

Spaces can make a search more specific, but they can also exclude text next to punctuation or at the beginning or end of a line. Review those cases instead of assuming that adding spaces covers every occurrence.

Replace one match or all matches​

Change selected occurrences one at a time​

Use this method when the same text appears in different contexts and only some occurrences need changing.

1. With the old and new text still entered, use Find Next or the next-match arrow to select an occurrence.
2. Check the highlighted text and its surroundings. If it should change, choose Replace, or the corresponding single-replacement control in the Windows 11 interface.
3. If an occurrence should stay as it is, use Find Next to move past it without replacing it.
4. Repeat until you have reviewed the relevant matches. If wrapping is enabled, stop when you return to text you have already checked.

After each replacement, look at the result before continuing. This is useful for names, abbreviations and short strings that may also appear inside other words.

Change every match in the working copy​

Warning: Replace All changes matching text without asking you to approve each occurrence. It can also change matches inside longer words. Confirm that the working copy—not the original—is active and that every match you reviewed is suitable.

1. Close or leave the search control as needed, click in the document, and press Ctrl+Home. Reopen Replace with Ctrl+H if you closed it.
2. Recheck the Find what and Replace with entries and the Match case setting. If Wrap around is offered, enable it. Starting at the beginning also makes it easier to check the whole document.
3. Select Replace All—or the corresponding replace-all control in the Windows 11 interface.
4. Read the changed text before saving. If the result is wrong, use the recovery steps below instead of making additional replacements.

Replace All applies to the active document, not every file in a folder. If you have several tabs open in Windows 11, confirm the correct tab is selected before you run it.

Verify and save the result​

1. Press Ctrl+F and search for the old text, such as recieve. Search from the beginning and use wrapping if available. If matches remain, inspect them: they may be intentional, or a capitalization setting or an extra character may have caused them to be missed.
2. Search for the new text, such as receive, and inspect several results in context. Check the beginning and end of the file as well as any places where the text appeared inside a longer phrase.
3. If you changed capitalization with Match case turned off, check whether the replacement’s capitalization is correct in each context.
4. When you are satisfied, press Ctrl+S to save the working copy.
5. For an important file, reopen the saved copy and check it again. If another program will use the file, open or test the copy there too, especially if its encoding or extension matters.

Finding the new text confirms it is present; it does not by itself prove that every replacement was appropriate. The surrounding words are the important check.

Fix problems or restore the original​

• The shortcut does not open Replace. Click in the Notepad document and try Ctrl+H again, or use Edit > Replace. Make sure you are in Windows Notepad rather than another editor.
• Notepad cannot find text you can see. Check spelling, punctuation and spaces in the search field. Clear Match case if capitalization should not matter. Move to the beginning with Ctrl+Home, then search again; enable Wrap around if it is available.
• Only some occurrences changed. You may have used the single Replace action rather than Replace All, or some occurrences may differ in capitalization or spelling. Search for the remaining text and review it before deciding whether to make another bulk change.
• The wrong text changed. Stop before making further edits. Press Ctrl+Z to try to undo the replacement, then inspect the document. Undo behavior and history can differ between Notepad versions, so do not rely on it as your only recovery method.
• Undo does not restore what you need. Leave the original backup untouched. Open the original file and use File > Save As to create a fresh working copy with a new name, then repeat the search and review. If you already saved an unwanted result under the working-copy name, create the fresh copy under a different name so you can compare them.
• The edited file cannot be saved in its original location. Use File > Save As to save the working copy in a location where you have permission, such as Documents. If the file must eventually be placed in a protected or shared folder, follow the owner’s or administrator’s process rather than bypassing permissions.
• Another program displays odd characters or rejects the copy. Compare the original and edited files, including their extension and expected encoding. Keep using the original until the edited copy has been saved in the format the receiving program requires and has passed a test there.