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Find & replace

docs/help/contents/rich-text-editor/search-and-replace.md

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How do I find and replace text in a note?

Press Ctrl+F while the editor is focused to search the note you're writing, or Ctrl+Alt+F to open the same box with a replace field. On macOS use Command instead of Ctrl. This searches inside the open note only — to search across every note, see searching and navigating.

<!-- TODO: screenshot — the find and replace popup open over a note, with the match counter visible -->

Find text in the note

  1. Click into the note, then press Ctrl+F. You can also click the search button in the editor's top bar.
  2. Type what you're looking for. Matches are highlighted as you type and the counter beside the field shows which match you're on, for example 3/12.
  3. Press Enter for the next match, Shift+Enter for the previous one — or use the {{nextMatch}} and {{previousMatch}} buttons.
  4. Press Escape, or click {{close}}, when you're done.

::: tip Start from a selection If you select some text before pressing Ctrl+F, that text is put into the search field for you.

== Mobile

  1. Tap the ⋮ menu in the editor header.
  2. Tap the magnifying glass in the row at the top of the menu.
  3. The find box opens as a sheet at the bottom of the screen. Type your search term; matches are highlighted and counted the same way.
  4. Use {{nextMatch}} and {{previousMatch}} to step through the results, and {{close}} to dismiss the sheet.

:::

Notesnook scrolls to each match as you move through them, and reveals matches that are hidden inside a collapsed heading, a collapsed callout or a collapsed outline list item.

Narrow the search with match case, whole word or regex

The three matching options are folded away until you ask for them.

  1. Click the {{expand}} chevron inside the search field.
  2. Turn on any combination of:
    • {{matchCase}} — {{note}} no longer matches note.
    • {{matchWholeWord}} — cat matches cat but not catalogue.
    • {{enableRegex}} — your search term is treated as a regular expression instead of literal text.
  3. The result count updates immediately.

::: info About regular expressions With {{enableRegex}} off, regular expression characters are escaped so the term is matched literally. With it on, the term is compiled as a JavaScript regular expression with the g, u and m flags, so patterns like \d+ or ^Chapter work and ^/$ anchor to each line. . does not match across line breaks. An expression that doesn't compile returns no matches.

:::

Replace one match or all of them

  1. Press Ctrl+Alt+F, or press Ctrl+F and then click {{toggleReplace}}.
  2. Type the search term in the first field and the replacement in the second.
  3. Click {{replace}} to replace the match you're on — Notesnook then jumps to the next match, so you can work through the note by clicking {{replace}} repeatedly.
  4. Click {{replaceAll}} to replace every match in the note in one step.

::: warning Replace all cannot be undone from the search box {{replaceAll}} rewrites every match at once. If it wasn't what you wanted, close the search box and press Ctrl+Z (Command+Z) in the editor to undo, or restore an earlier version from note history.

:::

Why is there no replace field on this note?

{{toggleReplace}}, {{replace}} and {{replaceAll}} only appear when the note can be edited. On a note in read-only mode you still get the full find experience — searching, match counting, and the matching options — but nothing can be rewritten until you turn read-only off.

Find & replace versus searching all your notes

You want to…Use
Find a word in the note you're editingCtrl+F inside the editor
Find notes by their content or titleCtrl+F outside the editor, which opens search
Jump to a heading in a long noteThe table of contents pane