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Replace in Files

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Note

This article applies to Visual Studio 2015. If you're looking for the latest Visual Studio documentation, see Visual Studio documentation. We recommend upgrading to the latest version of Visual Studio. Download it here

Replace in Files** allows you to search the code of a specified set of files for a string or expression, and change some or all of the matches found. The matches found and actions taken are listed in the Find Results window selected in Result options.

Note

The dialog boxes and menu commands you see might differ from those described in Help depending on your active settings or edition. To change your settings, choose Import and Export Settings on the Tools menu. For more information, see Customizing Development Settings in Visual Studio.

You can use any of the following methods to display Replace in Files in the Find and Replace window.

To display Replace in Files

  1. On the Edit menu, expand Find and Replace.

  2. Choose Replace in Files.

    — or —

    If the Find and Replace window is already open, on the toolbar, choose Replace in Files.

Find what

To search for a new text string or expression, specify it in the box. To search for any of the 20 strings that you searched for most recently, open the list, and choose the string for which you want to search. Choose the adjacent Expression Builder button if you want to use one or more regular expressions in your search string. For more information, see Using Regular Expressions in Visual Studio.

Replace With

To replace instances of the string in the Find what box with another string, enter the replacement string in the Replace With box. To delete instances of the string in the Find what box, leave this field blank. Open the list to display the 20 strings for which you searched most recently. Choose the adjacent Expression Builder button if you want to use one or more regular expressions in your replacement string. For more information, see Using Regular Expressions in Visual Studio.

Look in

The option chosen from the Look in drop-down list determines whether Replace in Files searches only in currently active files or searches all files stored within certain folders. Select a search scope from the list, type a folder path, or click the Browse (...) button to display the Choose Search Folders dialog box and choose a set of folders to search. You can also type a path directly into the Look in box.

Note

If the Look in option selected causes you to search a file that you have checked out from source code control, only the version of that file which has been downloaded to your local machine is searched.

Find options

You can expand or collapse the Find options section. The following options can be selected or cleared:

Match case When selected, the Find Results windows will only display instances of the Find what string that are matched both by content and by case. For example, a search for "MyObject" with Match case selected will return "MyObject" but not "myobject" or "MYOBJECT."

Match whole word When selected, the Find Results windows will only display instances of the Find what string that are matched in complete words. For example, a search for "MyObject" will return "MyObject" but not "CMyObject" or "MyObjectC."

Use Regular Expressions When this check box is selected, you can use special notations to define patterns of text in the Find what or Replace with text boxes. For a list of these notations, see Using Regular Expressions in Visual Studio.

Look at these file types This list indicates the types of files to search through in the Look in directories. If this field is left blank, all of the files in the Look in directories will be searched.

Select any item in the list to enter a preconfigured search string that will find files of those particular types.

Result options

You can expand or collapse the Result options section. The following options can be selected or cleared:

Find Results 1 window When selected, the results of the current search will replace the content of the Find Results 1 window. This window opens automatically to display your search results. To open this window manually, select Other Windows from the View menu and choose Find Results 1.

Find Results 2 window When selected, the results of the current search will replace the content of the Find Results 2 window. This window opens automatically to display your search results. To open this window manually, select Other Windows from the View menu and choose Find Results 2.

Display file names only When this check box is selected, the Find Results windows list the full names and paths for all files that contain the search string. However, the results don't include the line of code where the string appears. This check box is available for Find in Files only.

Keep modified files open after Replace All When selected, leaves open all files in which replacements have been made, so you can undo or save the changes. Memory constraints might limit the number of files that can remain open after a replace operation.

Caution

You can use Undo only on files that remain open for editing. If this option is not selected, files that were not already open for editing will remain closed, and no Undo option will be available in those files.

See Also

Finding and Replacing Text Find in Files Visual Studio Commands