How to find and replace across files in VS Code on Mac: shortcuts and steps

Find and replace across files changes the same text in every file of a project in one pass. In VS Code on Mac, it lives in the Search view. You search the folder, type the new text, read what will change, and then apply it. This guide covers the desktop app, the shortcuts that matter, and the cases where search quietly misses a file. Once you know the keys, the whole job takes less time than you expect.

Open a folder before you search

Cross-file search needs a folder. If VS Code was not opened on a folder, search only runs on the files that are open right now. That is a common reason a replace seems to miss matches. Open your project with File > Open Folder, or drag the project folder onto the VS Code icon in the Dock. The folder name then appears at the top of the Explorer sidebar.

VS Code find and replace shortcuts on Mac

Two shortcuts do most of the work. ⇧⌘F searches the folder, and ⇧⌘H adds the Replace box. The rest tune the search. The table lists each one from the official keybindings reference, along with what it does.

Notice that ⌥⌘F works on one file. It opens find and replace inside the editor you have open. For a change across the project, stay in the Search view with ⇧⌘H. The two look alike, so check which one you pressed before you type.

Preview the replace before you apply it

The Replace box is where you slow down. As soon as you type replacement text, VS Code shows a diff of the changes it plans to make. Nothing in your files changes until you apply it. Use that gap to read every match.

Watch for matches inside longer words. A search for cat also hits category, and a search for id hits width when Whole Word is off. Press ⌥⌘W to turn on Whole Word, then search again and compare the results. Press ⌥⌘C too if your code treats Name and name as different words.

Narrow the search with include and exclude patterns

Press ⇧⌘J to open Toggle Search Details. Two boxes appear, files to include and files to exclude. Both take comma-separated glob patterns. A glob is a path pattern with wildcards. These patterns work well in practice:

• `src/**` limits the search to everything under the src folder.
• `**/*.test.ts` finds test files anywhere in the project.
• `/node_modules/` in the exclude box skips installed dependencies.
• `docs/**, *.lock` in the exclude box skips the docs folder and lock files.

Glob patterns are case-sensitive on Linux and case-insensitive on Windows and macOS. On your Mac, `Src/` and `src/` match the same files. Copy the path from the Explorer sidebar so you do not have to guess at the case.

Worked example: rename a function across a project

Say you want to rename `getUser` to `fetchUser` across a project. Press ⌥⌘W first, so `getUserName` stays unchanged. Then press ⇧⌘H, type `getUser` in the search box, and type `fetchUser` in the Replace box. Read the diff. If a test file uses the old name on purpose, press ⇧⌘J and exclude that file. Then apply the change to all files and run your tests. The diff is the reason to read first, because it shows what a broad match would have touched.

Use regex in VS Code find and replace

Press ⌥⌘R to turn on regular expressions. The search box then reads patterns instead of plain text. For example, `user(\d+)` finds the word user followed by digits. Put `account$1` in the Replace box, and `user42` becomes `account42`. The `$1` pulls in the first group from the search.

Turn regex off again for ordinary text. With it on, a dot matches any character, and brackets and parentheses change the meaning of your search. A search for `v1.2` with regex on also matches `v1x2`, which is rarely what you want.

Why VS Code search misses files or runs slowly

Search in VS Code runs on ripgrep, a fast search tool. It respects your ignore rules. That is why files listed in `.gitignore` do not show up in results. The docs say to keep Use Exclude Settings and Ignore Files turned on. Turning it off makes search read more files, which can slow things down and raise CPU use.

• Add `/node_modules/` to `search.exclude` in Settings.
• Keep `search.useIgnoreFiles` enabled.
• Set `search.followSymlinks` to false if a symlinked folder loops back on itself.
• Narrow the search with include patterns, then widen it once the results look right.

Each fix trades a little coverage for speed. Exclude dependency folders when you are changing your own code, and bring them back only when you need to search a library.

Common Replace in Files mistakes on Mac

• Searching with no folder open, then assuming the whole project was covered.
• Leaving regex on, then searching for a literal dot, bracket, or plus sign.
• Replacing text inside comments, strings, or URLs without reading the diff.
• Running a large Replace All with uncommitted work and no clean way back.
• Expecting a file to appear in results when `.gitignore` hides it.

Each of these is cheap to avoid and slow to fix. Read the diff, commit before a broad change, and check the scope every time.

Replace in Files on vscode.dev

VS Code for the Web runs in a browser sandbox. It has no terminal and no debugger, and only a subset of extensions run. The web docs do not say whether cross-file search covers unopened files, or whether Replace in Files works there. Use the desktop app for project-wide replaces. On the web, ⌘N opens a new window instead of a new file, and ⌘W closes the browser tab. The docs suggest ⌥⌘N and ⇧⌥⌘N as workarounds.

Where to go next

If you still need to set up the command line, read how to install the code command in VS Code on Mac. To compare two files while you replace, see how to split the editor in VS Code on Mac. The VS Code for developers page covers Git and debugging in more depth.

If you want help on screen, Lazur is a voice assistant for the Mac. Hold ⌥⌘ and ask where a control is, and Lazur points at it. For a walk through the steps, ask it to guide you one click at a time. It does not click for you. See Lazur for VS Code on Mac for what it covers.