Find and replace#

Find and replace work inside the note you are editing. To search the whole vault, use Search instead.

The panel appears at the top right of the editor. Opening it from reading view switches to editing first. If you have a selection on a single line when you open it, that text becomes the query.

Finding#

Matching is literal and case-insensitive by default, with Obsidian's two toggles on the panel, both off to start with:

• Aa — match case, making the query case-sensitive.
• .* — regex, treating the query as a regular expression.

A regex that does not parse yields no results rather than an error, so a half-typed pattern just shows nothing until it is valid.

Every match in the note is tinted, and the selected one more strongly; the panel shows how many there are. Typing selects the first match from the cursor onwards.

Next and previous wrap around the end of the note. Matches refresh after every edit, so the count stays true while you work.

Replacing#

With the replace row open:

• Replace replaces the selected match and steps to the next one.
• Replace all replaces every match, as one undo step.
• Enter in the replace field does the same as the Replace button.

With Regex on, the replacement understands captures:

Find all#

Alt + Enter — or the Find all button — selects every match in the note at once and closes the panel. You are left with one cursor per match, which is the fastest way to rename a variable, reformat a list, or add a prefix to twenty lines.

From there everything in multiple cursors applies: typing replaces every selection, movement moves every cursor, and the lot is one undo step. Escape drops back to a single cursor.

Next#

• Search — the whole vault, with a query grammar.
• Editing a note