{"id":3941,"date":"2026-07-14T09:17:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T08:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.4uhosting.co.uk\/articles\/knowledgebase\/use-a-plugin-to-search-and-replace-wordpress-content\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T14:00:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T13:00:26","slug":"use-a-plugin-to-search-and-replace-wordpress-content","status":"publish","type":"kb_article","link":"https:\/\/www.4uhosting.co.uk\/articles\/knowledgebase\/use-a-plugin-to-search-and-replace-wordpress-content\/","title":{"rendered":"Use a Plugin to Search and Replace WordPress Content"},"content":{"rendered":"

A search and replace plugin can update repeated text, links or URLs across a WordPress site.<\/p>\n

This can be useful after changing domain name, moving from HTTP to HTTPS, replacing an old brand name or correcting repeated text across many pages.<\/p>\n

Search and replace tools can make wide changes to the WordPress database, so take a backup before you start.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Log in to your WordPress admin area.<\/li>\n
  2. Go to Plugins<\/strong> > Add New<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
  3. Search for a reputable search and replace plugin.<\/li>\n
  4. Install and activate the plugin.<\/li>\n
  5. Open the plugin from the WordPress Tools<\/strong> menu.<\/li>\n
  6. Enter the text or URL you want to search for.<\/li>\n
  7. Enter the replacement text or URL.<\/li>\n
  8. Select the database tables you want to check.<\/li>\n
  9. Run a dry run or preview first, if the plugin offers one.<\/li>\n
  10. Review the result carefully.<\/li>\n
  11. Run the replacement only when you are sure it is correct.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Plugins such as Better Search Replace or Search & Replace Everything are commonly used for this type of task, but the exact screens may vary.<\/p>\n

    Be careful with partial matches. For example, replacing cat<\/code> would also affect words such as category<\/code> if the plugin is not configured carefully.<\/p>\n

    When replacing URLs, use the exact format you want to change. For example, decide whether you need to include http:\/\/<\/code>, https:\/\/<\/code>, www<\/code> or a trailing slash.<\/p>\n

    After running the replacement, check the site carefully. Visit important pages, menus, forms and images to make sure everything still works.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    A search and replace plugin can update repeated text, links or URLs across a WordPress site. This can be useful after changing domain name,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"template":"","kb_category":[37],"class_list":["post-3941","kb_article","type-kb_article","status-publish","hentry","kb_category-wordpress"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.4uhosting.co.uk\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kb_article\/3941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.4uhosting.co.uk\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kb_article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.4uhosting.co.uk\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/kb_article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.4uhosting.co.uk\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.4uhosting.co.uk\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kb_article\/3941\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4040,"href":"https:\/\/www.4uhosting.co.uk\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kb_article\/3941\/revisions\/4040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.4uhosting.co.uk\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"kb_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.4uhosting.co.uk\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kb_category?post=3941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}