Can you use wildcards in Find and Replace Word?
Sarah Cherry
Published Mar 21, 2026
Can you use wildcards in Find and Replace Word?
You can use wildcards in Word to find and replace text and numbers. This is useful when you are not able to find an exact match. To use wildcards, you will need to expand the Find and Replace dialog box.
Which wildcard character can be used to replace a string of text in a search term?
Asterisk
Use an Asterisk to Specify Any Number of Characters The wildcard you’re likely to use most frequently is the asterisk. It indicates that you want to search for any number of characters. For example, to search for all words beginning with “Th,” type “Th*” in the “Find What” box, and then click the “Find Next” button.
How do you use wildcards?
To locate a specific item when you can’t remember exactly how it is spelled, try using a wildcard character in a query. Wildcards are special characters that can stand in for unknown characters in a text value and are handy for locating multiple items with similar, but not identical data.
What does wildcards do in Word?
Wildcards are used to represent the characters or sequences of characters in that string. Because different combinations of characters can be represented by a variety of wildcard combinations, there is often more than one way of identifying a particular string of text within a document.
Which wildcard is used to replace a single character?
asterisk (*)
Alternatively referred to as a wild character or wildcard character, a wildcard is a symbol used to replace or represent one or more characters. The most common wildcards are the asterisk (*), which represents one or more characters and question mark (?) that represents a single character.
How do you use wildcards in Excel Find and Replace?
How to replace with wildcard
- Press Ctrl + H to open the Replace tab of the Find and Replace dialog.
- In the Find what box, type the wildcard expression:? omel.
- In the Replace with box, type the replacement text: Homyel.
- Click the Replace All button.
How many characters does the * wildcard replace?
Asterisk (*): It is used for replacing 1 or more characters from a selector attribute.
Can Outlook rules use wildcards?
Note that the Rules Wizard supports wildcarding for e-mail addresses. By using the “with specific words in the recipient’s address” and “with specific words in the sender’s address” conditions, you can set rules for everyone from a particular domain, for example.
How do I do a wildcard search in Outlook?
Shift to the Mail view, and open the mail folder where you will search with wildcard. 2. Press Ctrl + Shift + F keys at the same time to open the Advanced Find dialog box. Note: You can also open the Advanced Find dialog box by putting cursor in the Instant Search box and clicking Search > Search Tools > Advanced Find.
Why won’t find and replace work in Excel?
Remove Password from Protected Excel Worksheet: If your find and replace feature is not working then you have to check that your worksheet is password protected. If it is protected then first you have to unprotect the worksheet.
Which symbol can represent a number of characters in a find and replace wildcard?
Like in DOS filename wildcards, question marks stand for a single character, but you can use the asterisk (*) to represent a variable number of characters.
Can I use regex in Outlook rules?
We cannot use regular expressions directly in a built-in Outlook rule, however you can use a “run a script” rule to trigger a script and the script can use regexes.
How can I use wildcard characters in replace?
Position the cursor at the location in the document where you want to start finding and replacing.
Is there a “wildcard” for outlook advanced find?
Actually, there is no directly workaround to search partial word with wildcard in all emails of a mail folder in Outlook. However, we can configure the advanced find option , and search emails containing the specified partial of keywords in Outlook. 1. Shift to the Mail view, and open the mail folder where you will search with wildcard.
How do you find and replace a wildcard character in Excel?
Use wildcard characters to find and replace text Click View > Navigation Pane. In the Navigation Pane, click the magnifying glass. Click the settings button, and then click Advanced Find & Replace. Select the Use wildcards check box. Click the Special menu, click a wildcard character, and then type any additional text in the Find what box.