Global search & replace

[vgqn]

Any suggestions on how to do a global search & replace on Microsoft Word docs, on a Mac? I've got over 100 files that need the same line of text replaced. I tried BBEdit, but Word didn't recognize the file afterwards.

Comments

[naomi-traveller.livejournal.com]

Word for Mac will let you do search and replace globally, but they helpfully hide the choice so as not to 'distract' you.

1. Make a backup copy of all your files. :)
2. In Finder, select all the files that you need to fix. Open them all in Word. It'll take a little while but you only have to do this once.
3. In Word, choose Edit > Replace. Notice the little arrow button next to "Replace All"? Click it to get more options.
4. You should now have an option label "Search" with a drop-down selection. Change that from "Current Document All" to "All Open Documents"
5. Replace away.

BBEdit won't work because Word expects the files to be in its format, and if you edit outside of Word's native format in a text editor, Word thinks they are corrupted. If you don't have Word for Mac, OpenOffice might work, since it can handle .doc correctly.

Good luck!

Multi-File Search and replace

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Nice. I didn't think that was possible.

B

[vgqn.livejournal.com]

Wow, cool! I'll try it out today. Thank you, thank you!

[vgqn.livejournal.com]

That worked like a charm! I did need to seek out the important corollary that shift-File brings up the hidden Save All and Close All commands, after which it was pretty easy.

The only problem was that I got this warning message towards the end of opening a really big batch of files: "This document could not be registered. It will not be possible to create links from other documents to this document."

It was annoying because I had to OK each file after that point. But the replacement process still worked. Then I closed Word, reopened, and did the rest of the files with no problem.

Thanks again!

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

You got your solution, which is fabu, but just curious: did you try splat-I on the BBEditted file and change the "opens with" application to Word? Just wondering if that would have worked.

K.

[vgqn.livejournal.com]

Nope, doesn't work. In fact, the file is still labeled "open with" Word after editing and saving with BBEdit, but Word won't do it.

Pure commentary, no technical help

[nancymcc.livejournal.com]

I wish Office apps for Mac were halfway decent, because the Mac pages on the Microsoft site are so enthusiastic, in a pathetic sorta way. Hell must be getting a job as a Mac programmer for Microsoft.