How to Use Search and Replace in WordPress (Ultimate Guide)

Maintaining a WordPress website involves making frequent updates, whether you’re fixing typos, changing URLs, or updating product names. These updates can sometimes feel like a hassle, especially if you need to make the same change across multiple pages. That’s where the search and replace in WordPress function comes in! It’s a fantastic tool that can help you make these changes quickly and efficiently.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through different methods to use search and replace in WordPress, from built-in options to powerful plugins and advanced techniques. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced user, you’ll learn how to replace strings in just a few clicks and save a lot of time.

Why and When to Use Search and Replace in WordPress: A Simple Guide

Search and Replace in WordPress is a quick and efficient way to update content across your site. It saves time by allowing you to make changes in bulk. This tool ensures consistency throughout your website and helps prevent manual errors. 

Whether you’re fixing broken links after WordPress migration or updating product names, search and replace streamlines the process and keeps your site up-to-date. Search and Replace feature is primarily for:

Changing Text in Product Descriptions or Custom Fields

If your website has numerous product descriptions or uses custom fields, you may need to update certain terms across multiple products or posts. 

For example, if your company rebrands a product, search and replace allows you to update the product name in all descriptions and fields quickly. This ensures that the changes are applied consistently across the site without the need to edit each product individually.

Ultimate Guide: Advanced Custom Fields in WordPress

Updating Internal Links After Migrating from HTTP to HTTPS

When you switch your site from HTTP to HTTPS, updating all internal links to reflect the new secure URL structure is important. 

Manually changing each link can be time-consuming. So, by using search and replace, you can update all your internal links at once, ensuring that your entire site uses HTTPS. This is essential for maintaining security and SEO rankings.

Related: How to Force HTTPS on Your WordPress Site

Fixing Image URLs After Moving the WordPress Installation to a New Domain or Server

When you migrate your WordPress site to a new domain or server, the image URLs might still point to the old domain. This can result in broken images across your site. Using search and replace, you can update the old image URLs to the new ones in bulk, making sure all images load correctly on the new site.

Removing Old Shortcodes or Outdated Elements Across Multiple Pages

Over time, you may stop using certain plugins or features that rely on shortcodes, leaving behind unused or broken shortcodes across your pages. Manually removing them from every page can be tedious. With search and replace, you can remove outdated shortcodes in one go. This also applies to removing outdated elements like deprecated code or content that no longer fits your site’s design.

Important Considerations Before Using Search and Replace in WordPress

Before using Search and Replace in WordPress, it’s important to take certain precautions to avoid mistakes or damaging your site. Here are key considerations:

Backup Your Site – Always Have a Safety Net

One of the most critical steps before performing any replacement operation is creating a full backup of your WordPress site. This will allow you to restore everything to its previous state if something goes wrong during the replace function.

You can use tools like BlogVault or services like WP Umbrella to ensure your entire site, including the MySQL database, is safely backed up. Having a backup will prevent you from losing any content or data, especially if you are planning to use advanced replace MySQL queries that modify serialized data.

Know What You Want to Replace – Be Specific

Before hitting the replace button, be clear about what you’re trying to change. Whether you’re replacing URLs, special characters, or text in posts, it’s crucial to double-check everything.

If you plan to replace certain strings across your site, make sure you’re not altering critical elements by accident—such as replacing important database entries or URLs in the MySQL database. One wrong move can break your site or cause functionality issues. Always check how many fields you’re affecting.

Test Changes on a Staging Environment

Don’t make changes directly on your live site! Use a staging site first. This is a safe testing environment where you can experiment with the replace tool without worrying about breaking anything on your main website.

By testing first, you’ll have the chance to identify potential issues, especially when replacing content in your MySQL database or dealing with serialized data. This allows you to confirm that the replace script works as expected and prevents errors from creeping into your live site.

Use a Plugin or Script – Choose the Right Tool

There are various ways to perform a search and replace in WordPress, and it’s important to choose the right tool for the job. You can either use a simple plugin from the WordPress repository or write a custom MySQL query if you’re comfortable with advanced options.

For users who want something easy and powerful, a fantastic plugin like the WP Engine replace tool will allow you to easily search and replace content. Many of these plugins come with serialization support, meaning they can handle complex data like serialized arrays without causing issues.

Some plugins even offer a dry run feature, which allows you to simulate the process before applying the changes to your live site. This is especially helpful when working with dynamic URLs, special characters, or multiple pages across your entire database.

Understand the Limitations – How Much Is Affected?

Depending on the plugin or method you choose, you may have the option to select specific tables in your MySQL database to limit the scope of your changes. If you’re making updates across the entire database, you’ll want to be extra cautious, especially if dealing with serialized data or important site structures.

Many plugins have a pro version that unlocks more advanced features, like the ability to handle certain strings across multiple pages or adjust complex data like session-based URLs or dynamic content.

Be Mindful of Server Requirements

Not all plugins or operations will work on every server setup. Always check the server requirements before installing a plugin, especially if you’re running a WordPress installation with specific configurations. Some plugins might need higher server resources to perform a large replacement operation across the entire database.

Related: What Is a Staging Environment

Basic Methods to Implement Search & Replace in WordPress Seamlessly

There are several basic methods to implement Search & Replace in WordPress, each suited to different needs and expertise.

1. Built-in WordPress Methods for Search and Replace

Here are two built-in options in WordPress that you can use to search and replace text and links.

Using WordPress Block Editor (Gutenberg)

The WordPress Block Editor (Gutenberg) lets you manually search and replace content within individual posts and pages. This method is simple and works well for smaller, one-off changes. To use search and replace in the Block Editor, you need to:

• Open the post or page you want to edit.
• Use the browser’s built-in “Find” feature (Ctrl+F or Cmd+F) to locate the text.
• Manually replace the text block by block.

Pros	Cons
Easy to use for small changes.	Time-consuming for large sites with many pages.
No need for additional plugins or coding.	Cannot perform bulk updates across the entire site.
Safe since it only affects individual posts or pages.	Limited functionality compared to other methods.

Step-By-Step Guide: How to Create Custom Blocks in WordPress

Using Custom Code in Functions.php

Using custom PHP code in the functions.php file allows you to perform search and replace tasks directly in WordPress. This method is suitable for advanced users or WordPress developers who are comfortable working with code. To add custom PHP code:

• Go to Appearance ⟶ Theme Editor and open the functions.php file.
• Add a custom PHP function to perform the search and replace. For example:

function search_replace_function() {
  global $wpdb;
  $wpdb->query("UPDATE wp_posts SET post_content = REPLACE(post_content, 'old-text', 'new-text')");
}
add_action('init', 'search_replace_function');

Save the file and refresh your site to execute the function.

Pros	Cons
It allows you to make changes directly to your WordPress database, making it efficient for bulk updates.	Incorrect code can cause critical errors, potentially crashing your site.
It reduces reliance on third-party plugins.	This method requires coding knowledge, making it inaccessible for non-technical users.
You can tailor the code to perform very specific tasks based on your unique requirements.	Changes are immediate and difficult to revert unless you have a backup in place.
	Running heavy queries can temporarily slow down your site, especially on large databases.

2. Using Plugins for Search and Replace in WordPress

Plugins for Search and Replace are the preferred method for non-developers because they require no coding knowledge. They offer a simple, user-friendly interface, making it easy to perform bulk changes without risk. They also help execute tasks safely, often with built-in features like backups or previews.

Using Better Search Replace Plugin

The Better Search Replace plugin is a popular tool for performing search and replace tasks on your WordPress site without any coding. It’s perfect for bulk updates, like changing URLs, and it has a user-friendly interface.

Step-by-Step Installation Guide

• Go to your WordPress dashboard and click on Plugins ⟶ Add New.

• In the search bar, type Better Search Replace. Click Install Now and then Activate.

• After activation, go to Tools ⟶ Better Search Replace in your WordPress dashboard.

• Enter the text you want to search for in the ‘Search for‘ field, and the replacement text in the ‘Replace with‘ field.

• Choose the database tables where you want the search and replace to occur (e.g., posts, pages).

Before running the process, check the option to Run as a dry run to preview changes without applying them. If everything looks correct, uncheck the dry run option and click Run Search/Replace to apply the changes.

Once the search and replace process is done, review the changes made. If any errors occur, you can easily revert to your backup.

3. Using WP-CLI for Search and Replace

WP-CLI (WordPress Command Line Interface) allows developers to manage multiple WordPress sites using commands directly in the terminal. It speeds up bulk tasks like search and replace by bypassing the need for plugins or the WordPress dashboard. WP-CLI is ideal for advanced users or developers familiar with command-line operations.

Step-by-Step Guide on Using WP-CLI

Access your server via SSH using terminal software (e.g., Terminal on macOS or PuTTY on Windows). Go to the root directory of your WordPress installation.

• Use the following WP-CLI command to search and replace text in your database:

wp search-replace 'old-text' 'new-text'

• If you want to run the search and replace across specific tables, use:

wp search-replace 'old-text' 'new-text' --tables=wp_posts,wp_postmeta

• You can preview changes by adding the –dry-run option:

wp search-replace 'old-text' 'new-text' --dry-run

This will show the changes without actually modifying the database.

Advanced Methods You Should Know for Search and Replace in WordPress

Advanced Search and Replace methods in WordPress provide more control and efficiency, making them ideal for developers and large sites.

Using SQL Queries in phpMyAdmin

Using SQL queries in phpMyAdmin allows you to perform search and replace directly within the WordPress database. This method is useful when you need precise control or are managing a large amount of data. It is ideal for bulk updates or when plugins and WP-CLI aren’t practical. This method is recommended for developers or advanced users.

Step-by-Step Guide for Executing SQL Queries

Log in to your hosting account and navigate to phpMyAdmin (usually found under the Database section). Select your WordPress database from the left-hand sidebar.

• Use the following SQL query to replace text in your WordPress content:

UPDATE wp_posts SET post_content = REPLACE(post_content, 'old-text', 'new-text');

• Replace ‘old-text‘ with the text you want to find and ‘new-text’ with the replacement.

• Next, click on the SQL tab and paste the query. Run the query and check the number of affected rows to confirm the changes.

Note: Directly editing the database comes with risks, such as accidental deletion or corrupting data. So, always backup your database before making any changes.

Further reading: How to Repair and Fix WordPress Database

Search and Replace in Theme or Plugin Files

Performing search and replace within theme or plugin files allows you to update code directly, which can be necessary for changing hard-coded text, links, or functions. This method is useful for developers who need to edit multiple files efficiently.

To perform search and replace using a Text Editor:

• Use Sublime Text or VSCode code editor to open your theme or plugin files.
• Use the editor’s built-in search function to find specific text across multiple files.
• Replace the desired text and save the changes.

Read: Essential Web Development Tools For Website Developer

To use FTP to make changes:

• Connect to your server using an FTP client (e.g., FileZilla).
• Navigate to the theme or plugin folder within the wp-content directory.
• Download the files you want to edit, make changes in your text editor, and upload them back to the server.

Related: How to Setup an FTP Account for WordPress

To use the hosting File Manager method:

• Access the File Manager through your hosting control panel.
• Locate the relevant theme or plugin files, edit them directly in the file manager, or download and re-upload after editing.

Ultimate Guide: WordPress Development Workflow

Note: Altering core theme or plugin files can cause significant issues, such as breaking site functionality or making it difficult to apply future updates. To mitigate this risk, creating a child theme before making changes is essential. Additionally, always back up your theme or plugin files before making any edits.

Final Thoughts

Using Search and Replace in WordPress simplifies updating content across your site. Be it updating links, fixing text, or removing outdated elements, there are several methods available depending on your skill level.

Beginners can rely on user-friendly plugins, while advanced users can take advantage of WP-CLI or phpMyAdmin for more complex tasks. However, regardless of the method, always backup your site before making changes to ensure safety.

FAQs About Search and Replace in WordPress