This article is for people who use a screen reader program such as Windows Narrator, JAWS, or NVDA with Microsoft 365 products. This article is part of the Microsoft 365 screen reader support content set where you can find more accessibility information on our apps. For general help, visit Microsoft Support.
Use Excel with your keyboard and a screen reader to find and replace text and numbers. We have tested it with Narrator, JAWS, and NVDA, but it might work with other screen readers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques. You'll learn how to use characters, including wildcards, to search sheets, rows, columns, or entire workbooks.
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New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.
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To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft 365.
In this topic
Find text or numbers
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Press Ctrl+F to open the Find and Replace dialog box. The focus moves to the Find what text box in the Find tab.
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In the Find what text box, type the text or numbers that you want to find. You have several options:
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Type the text or numbers that you want to search for.
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Use a wildcard character, such as an asterisk (*) or a question mark (?), in your search criteria:
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Use the asterisk to find any string of characters. For example, s*d finds "sad" and "started."
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Use the question mark to find any single character. For example, s?t finds "sat" and "set."
: Even though they’re wildcard characters, you can still find asterisks, question marks, and tilde characters (~) in worksheet data by preceding them with a tilde character in the Find what text box. For example, to find data that contains a question mark, enter ~? as your search criteria.
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To define more search options, press Alt+T. You have several options:
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To select where to search for text or numbers, press the Tab key until you hear "Within," followed by the currently selected search option ("Sheet" or "Workbook"). Use the Up and Down arrow keys to move to the option you want, and press Enter to select it.
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To select whether to search by rows or by columns, press the Tab key until you hear "Search," followed by the currently selected search option ("By Rows" or "By Columns"). Use the Up and Down arrow keys to move to the option you want, and press Enter to select it.
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To select whether to search within cell formulas, values, or comments, press the Tab key until you hear "Look in," followed by the currently selected search option ("Formulas," "Values," or "Comments"). Use the Up and Down arrow keys to move to the option you want, and press Enter to select it.
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To search for case-sensitive data, press the Tab key until you hear "Match case," and then press Spacebar to select the checkbox.
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To search for cells that contain only the characters that you typed in the Find what text box, press the Tab key until you hear "Match entire cell contents," and then press Spacebar to select the checkbox.
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If you want to search for text or numbers that also have specific formatting, press Alt+M to open the Find Format dialog box. Use the Left and Right arrow keys to move to the appropriate tab (Number, Alignment, Font, Border, or Fill), and press Spacebar. Then, select the formatting that you want to include in your search. When you have defined the formatting you want, press the Tab key until you hear "OK," and then press Enter.
: If you want to find cells that only match a specific format, you can delete any text or number criteria in the Find what text box and then select a cell that contains that formatting. Press Alt+M to open the Find Format dialog box, press the Tab key until you hear "Choose Format From Cell," and press Enter. In the worksheet, use the arrow keys to select the cell that has the formatting that you want to search for. To add the formatting of the selected cell to your search criteria in the Find and Replace dialog box, press Enter.
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To start the search, press the Tab key until you hear "Find next," and then press Enter. Excel finds the first matching occurrence in the search area. Your screen reader reads the text in the cell and its location.
: When you define formatting as part of your search criteria, it is saved in the Find and Replace dialog box. If you search the worksheet for data again and cannot find characters that you know to be there, you might need to clear the formatting criteria from the previous search. Within the Find and Replace dialog box, press the Tab key until you hear: "Format." If the Format button is not available, press Alt+T, and then press the Tab key until you hear: "Format." To clear the formatting criteria, press the Down arrow key until you hear "Clear Find Format," and then press Enter.
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To find the next occurrence, press Enter.
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To cancel the search and close the dialog box, press Esc.
Find and replace text or numbers
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Press Ctrl+H to open the Find and Replace dialog box. The focus moves to the Find what text box in the Replace tab.
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In the Find what text box, type the text or numbers that you want to find and replace with something else. You have several options:
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Type the text or numbers that you want to search for.
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Use a wildcard character, such as an asterisk (*) or a question mark (?), in your search criteria:
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Use the asterisk to find any string of characters. For example, s*d finds "sad" and "started."
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Use the question mark to find any single character. For example, s?t finds "sat" and "set."
: Even though they’re wildcard characters, you can still find asterisks, question marks, and tilde characters (~) in worksheet data by preceding them with a tilde character in the Find what text box. For example, to find data that contains a question mark, enter ~? as your search criteria.
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To define more search options, press Alt+T. You have several options:
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To select where to search for text or numbers, press the Tab key until you hear "Within," followed by the currently selected search option ("Sheet" or "Workbook"). Use the Up and Down arrow keys to move to the option you want, and press Enter to select it.
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To select whether to search by rows or by columns, press the Tab key until you hear "Search," followed by the currently selected search option ("By Rows" or "By Columns"). Use the Up and Down arrow keys to move to the option you want, and press Enter to select it.
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To search for case-sensitive data, press the Tab key until you hear "Match case," and then press Spacebar to select the checkbox.
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To search for cells that contain only the characters that you typed in the Find what text box, press the Tab key until you hear "Match entire cell contents," and then press Spacebar to select the checkbox.
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To define what to replace the found text or numbers with, press the Tab key until you hear: "Replace with." In the Replace with text box, type the replacement text or numbers.
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To start the search, press the Tab key until you hear "Find next," and then press Enter. Excel finds the first occurrence of the text or number that you entered. Do one of the following:
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To replace each occurrence individually, press Shift+Tab until you hear: "Replace." Press Enter to replace the occurrence. After replacement, the focus moves to the next occurrence.
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To find and replace all occurrences, press Shift+Tab until you hear "Replace all," and then press Enter.
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To cancel the search and close the dialog box, press Esc.
See also
Use a screen reader to sort or filter a table in Excel
Basic tasks using a screen reader with Excel
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use Excel for Mac with your keyboard and VoiceOver, the built-in macOS screen reader, to find and replace text and numbers. Use characters, including wildcards, to search sheets, rows, columns, or entire workbooks.
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New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.
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This topic assumes that you are using the built-in macOS screen reader, VoiceOver. To learn more about using VoiceOver, go to VoiceOver Getting Started Guide.
In this topic
Find text or numbers
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Select the range of cells that you want to search. If you want to search the whole sheet, place the focus in any cell.
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Press Command+F. The focus moves to the search text field on the ribbon. You hear: “Search Sheet, search text field, blank.”
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Type the text or number that you want to find
: You can use wildcard characters such as the question mark (?), asterisk (*), and tilde (~) in your search criteria. Use the question mark (?) to find any single character, for example, s?t finds "sat" and "set." Use the asterisk (*) to find any number of characters, for example, s*d finds "sad" and "started." Use the tilde (~) followed by a question mark (?), asterisk (*), or tilde (~) to find question marks, asterisks, or tilde characters, for example, fy91~? finds "fy91?."
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You can now specify the range you want to search. For instructions, go to Search a sheet or a whole workbook, Search by rows or by columns, Search only for specific types of information, Search for case-sensitive content, or Search for exact matches only.
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Press Return. Excel for Mac finds and highlights the first cell in the selection area whose contents match the text.
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To find the next instance of the item that you're searching for, press Return again.
: To cancel a search in progress, press Esc.
Search a sheet or a whole workbook
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In the search text field, press Control+Option+Spacebar. The search menu opens.
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Press the Down arrow key until you hear “Search in sheet” or “Search in workbook,” and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.
Search by rows or by columns
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In the search text field, press Control+Option+Spacebar. The search menu opens.
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Press the Down arrow key until you hear “Advanced search, ellipsis,” and then press Control+Option+Spacebar. The Find & Replace dialog box opens.
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Press the Tab key until you hear: “Search, pop-up button.” Press the Down arrow key until you hear "By rows" or "By columns," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.
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Press the Tab key until you hear “Find next, button,” and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.
Search only for specific types of information
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In the search text field, press Control+Option+Spacebar. The search menu opens.
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Press the Down arrow key until you hear “Advanced search, ellipsis,” and then press Control+Option+Spacebar. The Find & Replace dialog box opens.
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Press the Tab key until you hear: “Look in, pop-up button.” Press the Down arrow key until you hear the option you want, for example "Formulas" or "Values," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.
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Press the Tab key until you hear “Find next, button,” and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.
Search for case-sensitive content
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In the search text field, press Control+Option+Spacebar. The search menu opens.
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Press the Down arrow key until you hear “Advanced search, ellipsis,” and then press Control+Option+Spacebar. The Find & Replace dialog box opens.
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Press the Tab key until you hear “Match case, unchecked, checkbox,” and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.
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Press the Tab key until you hear “Find next, button,” and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.
Search for exact matches only
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In the search text field, press Control+Option+Spacebar. The search menu opens.
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Press the Down arrow key until you hear “Advanced search, ellipsis,” and then press Control+Option+Spacebar. The Find & Replace dialog box opens.
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Press the Tab key until you hear “Find entire cells only, unchecked, checkbox,” and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.
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Press the Tab key until you hear “Find next, button,” and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.
Replace text or numbers
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Select the range of cells that you want to search. If you want to search the whole sheet, place the focus in any cell.
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Press Command+F. The focus moves to the search text field on the ribbon. You hear: “Search Sheet, search text field, blank.”
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Type the text or number that you want to find.
: You can use wildcard characters such as the question mark (?), asterisk (*), and tilde (~) in your search criteria. Use the question mark (?) to find any single character, for example, s?t finds "sat" and "set." Use the asterisk (*) to find any number of characters, for example, s*d finds "sad" and "started." Use the tilde (~) followed by a question mark (?), asterisk (*), or tilde (~) to find question marks, asterisks, or tilde characters, for example, fy91~? finds "fy91?."
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To open the search menu, press Control+Option+Spacebar.
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Press the Down arrow key until you hear “Replace, ellipses," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar. The Find & Replace dialog box opens.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "Find what," and then type your search term.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "Replace with," and then type the text or numbers you want to replace the search term with. If you want to replace the search term with nothing, do not type anything.
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You can now specify the range of what you want to search and replace. For instructions, go to Search and replace a sheet or a whole workbook, Search and replace by rows or by columns, Search and replace case-sensitive content, or Search for and replace exact matches only.
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Do one of the following:
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To replace just the next instance found, press the Tab key until you hear "Replace button," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.
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To replace all occurrences of the text you searched for, press the Tab key until you hear "Replace all button," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.
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Search and replace a sheet or a whole workbook
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In the Find & Replace dialog box, press Control+Option+Left arrow key or Control+Option+Right arrow key until you hear: “Within pop-up button.”
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Press the Down arrow key until you hear “Sheet” or “Workbook,” and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.
Search and replace by rows or by columns
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In the Find & Replace dialog box, press Control+Option+Left arrow key or Control+Option+Right arrow key until you hear: “Search pop-up button.”
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Press the Down arrow key until you hear “By Rows” or “By Columns,” and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.
Search and replace case-sensitive content
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In the Find & Replace dialog box, press Control+Option+Left arrow key or Control+Option+Right arrow key until you hear: “Match case, unchecked, checkbox,” and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.
Search for and replace exact matches only
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In the Find & Replace dialog box, press Control+Option+Left arrow key or Control+Option+Right arrow key until you hear “Find entire cells only, unchecked, checkbox,” and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.
See also
Use a screen reader to sort or filter a table in Excel
Use a screen reader to print an Excel workbook
Basic tasks using a screen reader with Excel
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use Excel for iOS with VoiceOver, the built-in iOS screen reader, to search for and replace text or numbers in a worksheet.
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New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.
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This topic assumes that you are using the built-in iOS screen reader, VoiceOver. To learn more about using VoiceOver, visit Apple accessibility.
In this topic
Find text or numbers
If your worksheet has more than a few rows and columns, you can search for the cell you want to edit to move the focus to the right cell quickly.
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In your worksheet, tap near the top of the screen with four fingers. Swipe right until you hear "Find button," and then double-tap the screen. The search bar is displayed, and the focus moves to the search text field. If you had previously searched for something, VoiceOver reads the search term you used the last time.
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Use the on-screen keyboard to type your search term. It can be text or numbers. You hear the number of matches as you type. When you're done typing, tap near the top of the screen with four fingers repeatedly until you hear: "Search options."
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To move the focus to a cell that contains a search match on the worksheet, swipe right until you hear "Next search result" or "Previous search result," and double-tap the screen. VoiceOver reads the contents and coordinates of the cell. To move to the next or previous search result, double-tap the screen.
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If necessary, to clear the contents of the search text field, swipe left or right until you hear "Search," followed by the number of matches and the current search term, and then double-tap the screen. Slide one finger across the top of the screen until you hear "Clear text," and then double-tap the screen. To start a new search, repeat steps 2 and 3.
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To close the search bar, scrub the screen with two fingers (move two fingers back and forth three times quickly).
Replace text or numbers
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In your worksheet, tap near the top of the screen with four fingers. Swipe right until you hear "Find button," and then double-tap the screen. The search bar is displayed, and the focus moves to the search text field.
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Swipe left once. You hear: "Search options, button." Double-tap the screen to open the Options menu.
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Swipe right until you hear "Find and replace" or "Find and replace all," depending on what you want to do, and then double-tap the screen. VoiceOver announces the currently active option as "Selected."
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Swipe left until you hear "Done, button," and double-tap the screen to close the Options menu. The focus returns to the search text field.
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Use the on-screen keyboard to type your search term. It can be text or numbers. You hear the number of matches as you type.
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Tap near the top of the screen with four fingers repeatedly until you hear: "Search options." Swipe right until you hear "Replace, text field" or "Replace all, text field," depending on the option selected in step 3, and then double-tap the screen.
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Use the on-screen keyboard to type the text or numbers you want to replace the search term with.
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Do one of the following depending on the option you selected in step 3:
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To replace only the currently selected match with the new text or numbers, tap near the top of the screen with four fingers repeatedly until you hear "Search options," swipe right or left until you hear "Next search result" or "Previous search result," and double-tap the screen. Swipe right until you hear "Replace button," and double-tap the screen. To navigate to and replace the next or previous matching item, double-tap the screen.
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To replace all matches with the new text or numbers, swipe right until you hear "Replace all button," and double-tap the screen.
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See also
Use a screen reader to sort or filter a table in Excel
Use a screen reader to print an Excel workbook
Basic tasks using a screen reader with Excel
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use Excel for Android with TalkBack, the built-in Android screen reader, to search for and replace text or numbers in a worksheet.
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New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.
-
This topic assumes that you are using the built-in Android screen reader, TalkBack. To learn more about using TalkBack, go to Android accessibility.
In this topic
Find text or numbers
If your worksheet has more than a few rows and columns, you can search for the cell you want to edit to move the focus to the right cell quickly.
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In your worksheet, slide a finger around the top of the screen until you hear "Find button," and then double-tap the screen. The search bar is displayed, and the focus moves to the Find text field. If you had previously searched for something, TalkBack reads the search term you used the last time.
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Use the on-screen keyboard to type your search term. It can be text or numbers. You hear the number of matching cells as you type. When you're done typing, swipe down-then-left to close the on-screen keyboard.
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To move the focus to a cell that contains a search match on the worksheet, swipe right or left until you hear "Find next button" or "Find previous button," and double-tap the screen. TalkBack reads the contents and coordinates of the cell. To navigate to the next or previous matching item, and double-tap the screen.
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If necessary, to clear the contents of the Find text field, swipe left or right until you hear "Clear button," and double-tap the screen. To start a new search, repeat steps 2 and 3.
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To close the search bar, when the on-screen keyboard is closed, slide a finger around the top of the screen until you hear "Find button," and then double-tap the screen.
Replace text or numbers
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In your worksheet, slide a finger around the top of the screen until you hear "Find button," and then double-tap the screen. The search bar is displayed, and the focus moves to the Find text field.
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Swipe left once. You hear: "Find settings button." Double-tap the screen to open the Find Settings menu.
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Swipe left until you hear "Not checked, Find and replace all, radio button" or "Not checked, Find and replace, radio button," depending on what you want to do, and then double-tap the screen.
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Swipe left until you hear "Close button," and double-tap the screen to close the Find Settings menu. The focus moves the Find text field.
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Use the on-screen keyboard to type your search term. It can be text or numbers. You hear the number of matches as you type. When you're done typing, swipe down-then-left to close the on-screen keyboard.
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Swipe right until you hear "Replace, three periods, edit box," and double-tap the screen.
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Use the on-screen keyboard to type the text or numbers you want to replace the search term with. When you're done typing, swipe down-then-left to close the on-screen keyboard.
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Do one of the following depending on the option you selected in step 3:
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To replace only the currently selected match with the new text or numbers, swipe right or left until you hear "Find next button" or "Find previous button," and double-tap the screen. Then swipe right until you hear "Replace button," and double-tap the screen. To navigate to and replace the next matching item, double-tap the screen.
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To replace all matches with the new text or numbers, swipe right until you hear "Replace all button," and double-tap the screen.
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See also
Use a screen reader to sort or filter a table in Excel
Use a screen reader to add comments to an Excel worksheet
Basic tasks using a screen reader with Excel
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use Excel for the web with your keyboard and a screen reader to search for and replace text and numbers. We have tested it with Narrator, JAWS, and NVDA in Microsoft Edge, but it might work with other screen readers and web browsers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques. You'll also learn how to use wildcard characters and search options in your searches.
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If you use Narrator with the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, you have to turn off scan mode in order to edit documents, spreadsheets, or presentations with Microsoft 365 for the web. For more information, refer to Turn off virtual or browse mode in screen readers in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update.
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New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.
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To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft 365.
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When you use Excel for the web, we recommend that you use Microsoft Edge as your web browser. Because Excel for the web runs in your web browser, the keyboard shortcuts are different from those in the desktop program. For example, you’ll use Ctrl+F6 instead of F6 for jumping in and out of the commands. Also, common shortcuts like F1 (Help) and Ctrl+O (Open) apply to the web browser – not Excel for the web.
In this topic
Find text or numbers
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Select the range of cells that you want to search. If you want to search the whole sheet, select any cell.
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With Narrator or NVDA, press Ctrl+F to open the Find dialog box. The focus moves to the Find what text box. With JAWS, you need to press Ctrl+H instead to open the Find and Replace dialog box.
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Type the text or numbers that you want to find. You can also use the following options:
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Use the asterisk wildcard character to find any string of characters. For example, s*d finds "sad" and "started."
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Use the question mark wildcard character to find any single character. For example, s?t finds "sat" and "set."
: Even though they’re wildcard characters, you can still find asterisks, question marks, and tilde characters (~) in worksheet data by preceding them with a tilde character in the Find what text box. For example, to find data that contains a question mark, enter ~? as your search criteria.
: Searching for double spaces is not possible in Excel for the web.
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To focus your search with various options, press the Tab key until you hear: "Submit, search options, button." Press Spacebar to expand the search options list. The available options are described in the following steps.
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To search for text or numbers in a worksheet or in the entire workbook, press the Tab key once to reach the Within combo box. You hear the currently selected searching option ("Selection," "Sheet," or "Workbook"). Press Spacebar, use the Up and Down arrow keys to find the option you want, and press Enter to select.
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To change the search direction, press the Tab key until you reach the Direction combo box. You hear the currently selected searching direction ("Up" or "Down"). Press Spacebar, use the Up and Down arrow keys to find the option you want, and press Enter to select.
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To search for case-sensitive data, press the Tab key until you hear "Match case, checkbox, unchecked," and press Spacebar to select.
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To search for cells that contain only the characters that you typed in the Find what text box, press the Tab key until you hear "Match entire cell contents, checkbox, unchecked," and press Spacebar to select.
: If you want to search for text or numbers that also have specific formatting, you need to use the Excel desktop app. To open the workbook in the desktop app with Narrator or NVDA, press Alt, Z, M, and then press O. With JAWS, press Alt+Windows logo key, Z, M, and then press O. To learn how to search for a specific format in the Excel desktop app, refer to Use a screen reader to find and replace data in Excel.
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To start your search, press the Tab key until you hear "Find next," and press Spacebar. Excel finds the first matching occurrence in the searching area. Your screen reader reads the text or numbers in the cell and its location.
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To find the next occurrence, press the Tab key, and press Shift+Tab. You hear: "Find next." Press Spacebar. To cancel the search or close the dialog box, press Esc.
Find and replace text or numbers
To find and replace text or numbers in Excel for the web, make sure you are in Editing mode. To check this with Narrator or NVDA, press Alt, Z, M. With JAWS, press Alt+Windows logo key, Z, M. If you hear "Editing," you are already in Editing mode. Press Esc to close the menu. If you hear "Viewing," press E to switch to Editing mode.
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Select the range of cells that you want to search. If you want to search the whole sheet, select any cell.
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Press Ctrl+H to open the Find and Replace dialog box. The focus moves to the Find what text box.
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In the Find what text box, type the text or numbers that you want to find and replace.
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Press the Tab key once to move the focus to the Replace with text box. Type the replacement text or numbers.
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Press the Tab key until you hear: "Find next." Press Spacebar to find the first occurrence of the text or numbers you entered. Do one of the following:
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To replace each occurrence individually, press the Tab key until you hear: "Replace." Then press Spacebar to replace the first occurrence. After replacement, the focus moves to the next occurrence.
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To find and replace all occurrences, press the Tab key until you hear "Replace all," and press Spacebar.
: You can also use all search options described under Find text or numbers. For example, the Match entire cell contents option might be useful to avoid replacing something you didn't mean to.
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To cancel the search or close the dialog box, press Esc.
See also
Use a screen reader to insert a table in an Excel worksheet
Use a screen reader to sort or filter a table in Excel
Basic tasks using a screen reader with Excel
Technical support for customers with disabilities
Microsoft wants to provide the best possible experience for all our customers. If you have a disability or questions related to accessibility, please contact the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk for technical assistance. The Disability Answer Desk support team is trained in using many popular assistive technologies and can offer assistance in English, Spanish, French, and American Sign Language. Please go to the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk site to find out the contact details for your region.
If you are a government, commercial, or enterprise user, please contact the enterprise Disability Answer Desk.
