WordPress Better Search Replace Plugin

To find and replace any entry on WordPress, you can use the Better Search Replace plugin. For example, you can remove 404 links or change 301 redirections in the content.

How Does Better Search Replace Plugin Work?

The plugin searches within the databases that make up WordPress to find the entered input and replaces it with the desired text. It could be link, heading, content etc.

To using better search replace go to Tools > Better Search Replace on WordPress dashboard.

Search for and Replace With

Enter the input to be replaced in the ‘Search for’ box and the new data to replace it with in the ‘Replace with’ box.

Then select the database where the input to be replaced is located (links added to the content fields are usually found in the wp_posts database).

Select multiple tables with Ctrl + Click for Windows or Cmd + Click for Mac.

Additional Settings for Better Search Replace Action

• Searches are case-sensitive by default. If you want to disable this function, check this box.
• By default, databases with GUIDs will be skipped. If you want to change this, check the box.
• If the “Run as dry run” box is checked, the action will only perform a test and nothing will be changed (at the end of the process, the plugin will show how many databases include entries). So, if you are sure about the “Search for” and “Replace with” boxes, uncheck this box.”

When everything ready click the “Run Search/Replace” button.

Processing

The plugin searches every table; the process takes a few seconds.

Processing Done

After everything is done, the Better Search Replace plugin shows how many tables were searched and the count of changes.

The plugin saves content editors time by changing all the data at once, rather than modifying the entries individually.