Find & replace and semantic search in Zoho Writer
Overview
Find and Replace in Zoho Writer helps you quickly locate, update, and clean up content across a document. It is especially useful for bulk edits, fixing formatting issues, maintaining consistent terminology, and restructuring content copied from external sources.
Steps
How to find and replace content in Writer
- Open the document and press Ctrl + F / Cmd + F.
- Enter the text you want to find.
- Enter the replacement text in Replace With.
- Click Advanced Options for precise control.
- Choose whether to replace one instance at a time or all occurrences.
How to find spaces, line breaks, and special characters
Use Plain Text options when dealing with formatting problems such as extra spaces or broken lines. You can find:
- Any character, letter, or number
- Manual line breaks
- Paragraph breaks
- Extra spaces
- Hyphens and dashes
Real-world example
Problem: Text pasted from a PDF places every sentence on a new line.
Problem: Text pasted from a PDF places every sentence on a new line.
Find: Manual line break
Replace with: Empty paragraph
Result: Text flows as proper paragraphs instead of broken lines.
Result: Text flows as proper paragraphs instead of broken lines.
How to merge multiple paragraphs into one
Problem: Each sentence appears as a separate paragraph after copying content.
Find: ^p
Replace with: (leave empty)
Result: All paragraphs merge into a single continuous paragraph.
How to find text when you don’t know the exact word (wildcards)
Use Wildcards to search for partial matches or variations. This can be useful when:
- Finding name variations
- Matching unknown spellings
- Searching for patterns instead of exact words
To do this,
- Select Wildcards from Advanced Options.
- Enter a pattern instead of an exact word.
Examples
- J*y finds Joey, Judy, Jessy
- d*g finds dg, dog, dog running
How to find email addresses, URLs, and dates in a document
- Select Wildcards from Advanced Options.
- Choose a preset pattern:
- Email address
- Web address
- Date
This is useful during reviews, audits, or data cleanup before sharing documents.
How to find headings, tables, images, and fields in a document
Use Objects when you want to locate specific elements without searching for body text.
Steps
- Select Objects from Advanced Options.
- Choose what you want to find:
- Headings
- Bookmarks
- Fields (Autofields, Fillable fields, Merge fields)
- Tables
- Images
- Endnotes or footnotes
How to narrow down search results in Find and Replace
Use Search options when results are too broad or incomplete.
- Match case: Finds text with exact capitalization
- Whole word: Avoids matching text inside other words
- Match prefix / suffix: Matches text only at the beginning or end of words
- Include locked content: Allows Find and Replace inside locked sections (document owner only)
How to limit Find and Replace to specific parts of a document
Use Find and Replace in to control where changes apply.
You can limit actions to:
- Whole document
- Current section only
- Tables only
- Endnotes or footnotes only
This helps prevent unintended changes in large or structured documents.
Additional Note
How to review content using Semantic Find in Zoho Writer
Semantic Find helps identify content based on meaning rather than exact wording. It is useful for reviewing consistency, not for automated edits. For example, searching for “payment terms” may also highlight:
- billing conditions
- fee structure
- compensation policy
Prerequisites for Semantic Find
- The document must have 10 pages or less.
- Available only for WorkDrive users.
- Not available when accessing Writer via Zoho CRM, Zoho Contracts, or other services without WorkDrive.
- Document language must be set to English or an English variant (US, UK, IN, etc.).
Steps to use Semantic Find
- Press Ctrl + F / Cmd + F.
- Click the Semantic Search (AI) icon
or - Open Advanced Options > Find Similar Content.
- Review highlighted results manually.
Searches with three or more words highlight entire sentences.
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