Finding and Replacing

The Find and Replace Window lets you search in one or more open files, in various search scopes, so that you can make text substitutions or review your search results in a report format. You can also search without opening a window by using incremental search or the Find/Command Box.

Consider the following information when you search for or replace text and code:

• The options that are set in the Find and Replace window are global. This means they persist from one search to the next. For example, when you select Match case on the Quick Replace tab of the Find and Replace window, it remains selected for all searches until you reset it.

• After a Replace All operation, you can only use Undo on files that remain open for editing. To ensure that Undo will be available, select Keep modified files open after Replace All on the Replace in Files tab of the Find and Replace window.

• Find in Files and Replace in Files operations do not search documents that are open in design views such as Design view in the HTML Designer. Switch to Source view before you try these operations.

In This Section

• How to: Search Interactively
  Shows how to use Quick Find and Quick Replace to match or replace search strings or expressions in documents open for editing, or in the current project.

• How to: Search Using Results Lists
  Shows how to use Find in Files and Replace in Files to match or replace search strings or expressions in any accessible files, or in the entire solution. Displays matches in the Find Results windows.

• How to: Search a Document Incrementally
  Shows how to match text in the active document as you type a search string character by character.

• How to: Navigate Code and Text
  Demonstrates common ways to move through text and code in document windows.

• How to: Go To a Line of Code
  Demonstrates tools and methods for finding and moving to particular lines of code.

• How to: Search for Objects, Definitions, and References (Symbols)
  Explains how to use Object Browser, Navigate To, Find Symbol, and Go to Definition to search for objects, definitions, or references (symbols) in a solution.

Related Sections

• Customizing the Editor
  Describes options and settings that adjust the appearance and position of text and code.

• Editor Convenience Commands and Features
  Describes code editor utilities and controls to make the development process easier.

• Setting Bookmarks in Code
  Describes tools and procedures for marking code, and for creating comments that can be displayed in code comment Web reports.

• Arranging and Using Windows in Visual Studio
  Describes tools and options that help you position and move to windows in the integrated development environment (IDE).

• Find Results Windows
  Lists matches found by search and replace procedures that are run in the Find and Replace window.

• Find/Command Box
  Describes the Find/Command box, which lets you search and replace text and execute commands.

• Quick Find, Find and Replace Window
  Describes the Quick pane of the Find and Replace window, which you can use to locate and revise strings in documents currently open in code editors.

• Find Command
  Describes the options on the Quick Find tab of the Find and Replace window.

• Find in Files, Find and Replace Window
  Describes the Find in Files tab of the Find and Replace window, which you can use to locate strings in files in specified folders.

• Find in Files Command
  Describes the options on the Find in Files tab of the Find and Replace window.

• Quick Replace, Find and Replace Window
  Describes the Quick Replace tab of the Find and Replace window, which you can use to replace text in active documents.

• Replace Command
  Describes the options on the Quick Replace tab of the Find and Replace window.

• Replace in Files, Find and Replace Window
  Describes the Replace in Files tab of the Find and Replace window, which you can use to replace strings in files in specified folders.

• Replace In Files Command
  Describes the options on the Replace in Files tab of the Find and Replace window.

• Find Symbol, Find and Replace Window
  Describes the Find Symbol tab of the Find and Replace window, which you can use to search the names of objects in your code and in any libraries that it references.

• How to: Use Reference Highlighting
  Describes how to highlight all instances of a symbol in one click. Also describes how to move between highlighted symbols.