How to use Find & Replace text

Here is a free lesson how to use Find & Replace text in AutoCAD

Use the Find command to find & replace text in drawings.

text can be in block attribute values, dimension annotations,  hyperlinks, hyperlink descriptions as well as TEXT & MTEXT.
you can restrict your search to selected objects or apply the  search to an entire drawing file.

You can use this tool to merely Find text and then use the Zoom to  button to display the drawing area where this text is found

or you can actually Replace any or all found occurrences.

You can specify whether or not to match case and find whole words only using the Options button, so for example:

if match case is unchecked “fast” would also find “FAST”
if find whole words only is unchecked “IS” would also find “THIS”

practice: using the new FIND command tutorial in AutoCAD

Close the drawing from the previous exercise if it is open.
Open the T110_8.dwg drawing in your personal folder.

You will NOT need any drafting tools in this exercise so you can turn Off all drafting related status bar buttons.

4- With no command running, right-click in the drawing area to invoke a shortcut menu and select Find.

5- Enter room in the Find text string edit box and then pick the Find button.

AutoCAD finds the first occurrence of “room” and displays the context (the other words it appears with) in the Context box

the Find button changes to Find Next.

6- Pick the Find Next button until you see POWDER ROOM in the context box then pick the Zoom to button.

You do not have to actually Replace text to use the Find tool – Zoom to is a quick way to navigate drawings.

7- Enter “RM” in the Replace with edit box and then pick the Replace button. Then pick Close.

“ROOM” is replaced with “RM” for this occurrence.

8- Pick View + Zoom + Previous to see the entire drawing.

9- Pick Edit + Find and this time pick the Select objects button. Enter ALL on the command line and then press <enter> to return to the Find dialogue box.

You search in the Entire drawing by default but when you use this option the Select All button is not available

the Select All button is only available if you select specific objects to search in and then use the Current selection.
you selected ALL objects but you can use any selection tool to search in specific objects.

10- Enter “room” in the Find text string. Pick Select All.

11- With three TEXT objects selected pick the Layer drop-down list in the Object Properties toolbar & select Renovations to move these “found” objects to this layer. Then press <Esc> twice to clear the grips of these TEXT objects.

12- Pick Edit + Find again. This time enter “room” as the Find text string, “RM” as the Replace with and pick Replace All. Then pick Close.

13- Zoom in to each of the red TEXT objects to verify that the word “ROOM” was replaced with “RM”.

14- Save the changes to this drawing and Close the file.