Finding and Replacing Text in File

The standard facility helps you find and replace text strings in the active editor.

In this section:

• Search in the current file
• Replace in the current file
• Working with search results
• Search and replace options

Search in the current file

Replace in the current file

Working with search results

• To initiate a new search, do one of the following (depending on the current focus):
  • If the editor has the focus, press Ctrl+F.
  • If the search field has the focus, press Ctrl+A

  In both cases, the existing search string will be selected, and you can start typing a new one.

• To jump between occurrences, do one if the following:
  • Press Shift+F3(jump to previous selection) or F3 (jump to next selection).
  • Use or buttons in the Search pane.
  • Click the gutter stripes.
• The search pane shows the number of found occurrences. If no matches are found, the search pane is red highlighted:

  

• Use Code completion in Find and Replace panes. Start typing the search string, press Ctrl+Space, and select the appropriate word from the suggestion list.
• Use the recent history of searches: with the search pane already open, click to show the list of recent entries.
• With the search or replace pane already opened, use Ctrl+R or Ctrl+F to toggle between panes. So doing, the search and replace strings are preserved.
• To cancel operation and close the pane, press Escape.
• Use multiple selection. For example, if a certain string has been highlighted as a search result, it is possible to add an occurrence of this string to the multiple selection by clicking (Alt+J), delete an occurrence from the multiple selection using (Shift+Alt+J), or add all the found occurrences to the multiple selection using (Ctrl+Shift+Alt+J).

Search and replace options

Item	Description	Search/Replace
	Click this button to show the history of the recent entries.	Search, replace
	Click this button to clear the search field.	Search, replace
	Click these buttons to navigate through the occurrences of the search string.	Search, replace
	Click this button to add the next found occurrence to a multiple selection.	Search
	Click this button to remove the found occurrence from a multiple selection.	Search
	Click this button to create a selection that contains all the found occurrences.	Search
	Click this button to show search results in the Find tool window.	Search, replace
Match Case	If this check box is selected, IntelliJ IDEA will distinguish between upper and lowercase letters while searching.	Search, replace
Regex	If this check box is selected, the search string will be perceived as a regular expression, and the replacement preview is shown in a tooltip ( Refer to the section Example).	Search, replace
Words	if this check box is selected, IntelliJ IDEA will search for whole words only, that is, for character strings separated with spaces, tabs, punctuation, or special characters. This check box is disabled, if the Regular expressions check box is selected.	Search, replace
Preserve Case	If this check box is selected, IntelliJ IDEA retains the case of the first letter and the case of the initial string in general. For example, MyTest will be replaced with Yourtest if you specify yourtest as the replacement. This check box is disabled, if Regular expressions check box is selected.	Replace
In Selection	If this check box is selected, search and replacement will be confined to the selected text only.	Replace
Replace	Click this button to replace the current occurrence and proceed to the next one.	Replace
Replace all	Click this button the replace all found occurrences in the current file, or in the selection.	Replace
Exclude/Include	Click Exclude button to skip the current occurrence and exclude it from the Replace all operation. The button for this occurrence changes to Include.	Replace
	Click this button to reveal the list of additional options. Checking the corresponding option confines the search to the specified scope, while the other occurrences are ignored.	Search, replace