Find and replace in text

Frequently asked questions

Can I replace with line breaks or tabs?

Yes. Tick “Read \n and \t as a line break and a tab” and type \n in the replacement. For example, find a comma and replace it with \n to turn a comma-separated line into a list.

How do regular expressions work here?

Patterns follow JavaScript syntax. In the replacement, $1 is the first group, $& the whole match and $<name> a named group. If a pattern is not valid, the error is shown instead of a result.

What if my pattern freezes?

Some patterns can take enormously long on certain text. Regular expressions run in a background worker with a time limit of two seconds; if it is passed, the worker is stopped and you are told, and the page stays usable.

Does “whole words only” work for all languages?

It treats letters and digits of any alphabet, and the underscore, as part of a word. It does not know where words start in languages written without spaces.

What happens to Windows (CRLF) and Mac line endings?

Windows, Mac and Linux breaks are all read as ordinary line breaks. A file you open with “Open file” keeps its style in the result, so a CRLF file stays CRLF. Browsers turn the breaks of text you type or paste into plain LF, so that text gets LF results. If a file mixes styles, the commonest one is used and the tool says so.

Is my text uploaded anywhere?

No. Everything runs in your browser; your text is never sent to a server and is not saved on this device. Only your option choices are remembered. (If you switch to another operation, your text is held in this tab's session storage for up to a minute so it can carry over, then discarded.) It is free, with no sign-up and no watermark.