Search & replace

φ answers two questions. ⌘F looks through the page in front of you, and ⇧⌘F looks through every document in the vault. Both can replace what they find, so renaming a character or fixing a spelling everywhere is one step.

Change a name everywhere

1. Press ⇧⌘F to open Search.
2. Type the old name in Find in every document….
3. Look over the matches, grouped by document.
4. Type the new name in Replace, then press Replace in all documents….
5. φ tells you how many it will change in how many documents. Press Replace everywhere to go ahead.

If versioning is on, φ saves a version of the whole vault first, named after what you replaced, so you can go back. If it's off, φ says so before you confirm, because the change can't be undone. See Versions & backup.

Find in this document

Press ⌘F (Edit → Find in Document). A bar opens above your text, starting with any words you had selected. φ highlights every match as you type.

• The counter shows where you are: 3 of 12, or No results.
• Return goes to the next match and ⇧Return to the one before; the arrow buttons do the same.
• Match case (the Aa button) makes capitals count.
• Regular expression lets you search with a pattern.
• Esc closes the bar and clears the highlights.

With no document open, ⌘F opens the Search page instead.

Replace in this document

Press Replace on the bar, or ⌥⌘F (Edit → Find & Replace in Document) to open the bar with it showing. Type the replacement, then:

• Replace changes the current match and moves to the next.
• All in document changes every match here at once.

A replacement here is an ordinary edit, so ⌘Z undoes it.

Search every document

⇧⌘F (Edit → Find in All Documents…) opens Search in the list column. A result opens on the page beside it, and the search stays put for the next one.

Type at least two characters. φ reads every document in the vault, morning pages included, and lists those that match, the busiest first, each with its matches in context. A document found by its title is marked in the name. Match case and Regular expression work as they do on the bar.

Click a document, or one of its matches, to open it with that very match selected.

Other ways to find things

To find	Use
A document, project or character by name	⌘K. See Finding your way.
Something in the list you're looking at	The search field under the list's title. It narrows by title, opening text and tags.
A command	⌘P.

See also

• Finding your way
• Organizing
• Versions & backup