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Find and Replace Text in PDFs: A Comprehensive Guide

While editing research papers, researchers may need a special feature to let them find and replace certain words in one go. Many PDF editors have introduced this specific "Find and Replace" feature in their toolset for easy replacements of words in PDF documents. Anyone can utilize this feature to replace words in PDF documents to carry out an in-depth review of the content written by them.

In this article, we will discuss a few online and offline methods, including the best AI-powered PDF editor - UPDF to perform this search and replace function (Click the button below to download it in the first place). After taking guidance from this article, you will be able to find and replace text in PDF.

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Why You Need to Find and Replace Text in PDFs?

Researchers and students can especially make use of this PDF editing feature to make their revisions easy. Professionals can also find and replace text in PDFs while reviewing the files of their teammates. This feature finds such a vast application for the following reasons.

  • Save Your Time: You can use this feature to quickly locate specific words you want to highlight and replace in PDF format. It saves up so much of your time as compared to if you manually start editing it.
  • Provide More Accuracy: This feature can replace words in PDF with great accuracy throughout your document. It replaces any word from your PDF without missing anything.
  • Prevent Error: Users can prevent errors in editing that are possible if human reviewers search and replace text in the PDF document.
  • Standardization: The find and replace text feature can standardize PDF documents with the right capitalization of words. You can find the words with the wrong capitalization and replace them with the optimized content.    

Method 1: How to Find and Replace Text in PDF with Adobe Acrobat

Adobe Acrobat allows you to directly find and replace words in the PDF with a single command. You don't have to access any other feature to search and replace the content in the document. Moreover, this tool will allow you to turn on the case-sensitive feature for optimized Word replacement.

Users can even search for words in the Bookmark panel with the help of this efficient PDF editor. Now that you know about the functionality of this PDF word replace tool, it is time to learn about its workings. You can follow these simple steps to carry out word replacement operations.

Step 1: After importing your PDF on the Adobe Acrobat interface, click on the "Search" icon present on the top toolbar. Now, you will see the "Find" search bar where you can write the word you want to replace.

replace words in pdf search in adobe

Step 2: On this new search bar, type the word you want to search in the PDF for replacement. Now, tap the "Replace Text" option by accessing the "Three Dot" menu option to access a new text box. Here, type the word or phrase you want to add in place of the previously written word.

pdf word replace in adobe

Step 3: Once you have written words in both text boxes, hit the "Replace" button to find and replace text in the PDF. Afterward, you can click on the "Next" button and then the "Replace Next" button to keep replacing this particular word throughout the PDF.

pdf editor word replace in adobe

Limitations of Using Adobe Acrobat to Replace Words in PDF:

  • You cannot replace a specific word from the whole PDF with just a single "Replace All" button. You'll have to replace text one by one.
  • It may cost you a fortune to find and replace text in the PDF using this costly tool.
  • The user interface is old-fashioned and also complicated. New users find it very difficult to set properties.

Method 2: How to Find and Replace Text in PDF Online

If you want to use online PDF text replace editor free, we have selected the best PDF tool for you. PDFdu can help you in this regard to perform PDF word replacement in a few simple steps. Let's delve into a step-by-step guide on how you can easily find and replace specific text in PDF documents.

Step 1: First and foremost, open the PDFdu.com website on your window to replace words in PDF. Afterward, click on the "PDF Converter" tab at the top of your screen. Then, hit the "PDF Replace Text" option in the "PDF Edit" section to find and replace text in PDF.

Step 2: Once you access the "PDF Replace Text" window, press the "Select File" button to upload the PDF you want to edit. Then, click to choose the "Exactly Find the Specified Content" option to perform an optimized search operation.

pdf editor word replace in pdfdu

Step 3: Now, you can write the targeted word you want to replace in the "Find text" box. Afterward, write the text in the "Replace With" text box to perform the word replacement function. Finally, click the "Replace Text" button to complete the process of replacing your word in the PDF file. Once the process is completed, you can download your PDF document from the server.

pdf word replace icon

Limitations of Replacing Text in PDF Online:

  • This website is very slow, and it takes a lot of time to find and replace text in PDF.
  • It does not support offline editing, and you need an internet connection to be able to search and replace in PDF.

The Best AI-Powered and Cost-Friendly PDF Toolkit For All Users

UPDF is a multi-purpose PDF editor that allows you to replace words in PDFs with a few simple steps. All you need to do is enter its "Search" feature to find and replace text in PDF without any problem. In addition, you can also turn on the "Case Sensitive" and "Whole Words Only" features for an optimized text replacement process.

After searching for a particular word in the PDF, you can simply use the "Edit PDF" feature to replace this text. With the help of these simple steps, you can efficiently perform the PDF word replacement function.

Step 1: Search Text in the PDF Document

First of all, download UPDF on your device (Please note that the search feature is available on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android versions.)

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Once you upload the PDF to UPDF, hit the "Search" icon on the top-right toolbar present on your device. Then, write the word you want to find in the PDF in the text box. Additionally, you can turn on the filters to search and find the exact text in the document.

replace words in pdf search in updf

Step 2: Replace the Word Using Edit Mode

Now that you have found the word you want to replace, you have to access the "Edit PDF" mode and double-click on that particular word. Once you double-click on this word, you will be able to delete the text and add new content. This tool provides you with extensive editing options like adding, customizing, and replacing text. It also helps you change the text font, style, and color.

replace words in pdf edit in updf

If you want a seamless experience while searching and replacing the incorrect words in the document, we recommend downloading UPDF using the "Free Download" provided below. Moreover, if you become satisfied with its editing tools, upgrade to the Pro version to use all advanced features without any interruption.

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FAQs about Replacing Text in PDF

Q1. Is there a way to replace text in PDF?

Yes, you can replace text in your PDF document using the proper PDF editors we introduced in this article. Some tools allow you to replace text one by one, and others allow you to replace all the same text in the document with one click.

Q2. How do I bulk-replace words in a PDF with the same font?

It is hard to find and replace multiple words in the same font, especially when your PDF is written in multiple fonts. The good news is that you can choose reliable software like Adobe Acrobat and UPDF, which have the font matching feature. Even when the software can't find the same font, it will utilize a similar font. However, Adobe Acrobat is too expensive for users, so the best choice would always be UPDF.

Q3. What is the best PDF editor to replace text?

UPDF is one of the best PDF editors, with multiple tools to edit or annotate your PDF document for easy revisions. Also, this tool is easy to use and gives you an accurate editing experience to find and replace text in PDF with precision. So, get access to this tool now for easy content replacement.

Conclusion

As discussed throughout the article, you can easily replace words in PDF with the help of these simple methods. All these methods can prove to be effective in carrying out this PDF word replacement function. However, if you want to use the best PDF tool to perform this, UPDF is the best choice for you. UPDF also provides a more elegant and user-friendly interface along with blazing-fast algorithms for managing documents. So, hit the "Free Download" button below to optimize the PDF content replacement process.

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