Find and replace in Excel - Real Business Scenario

Scenario Mode

👤 Your Role: You are an office assistant managing a product inventory list.

📋 Request: Your manager wants you to update the product names by replacing all occurrences of 'OldBrand' with 'NewBrand' in the product list.

📊 Data: You have a list of products with their IDs and names. Some product names contain the brand name 'OldBrand' which needs to be updated.

🎯 Deliverable: An updated product list where every 'OldBrand' in product names is replaced with 'NewBrand'.

Sample Data

Product ID	Product Name
101	OldBrand Laptop
102	OldBrand Smartphone
103	OldBrand Headphones
104	NewBrand Charger
105	OldBrand Tablet
106	Accessory Pack

1

Step 1: Select the column with product names to prepare for find and replace.

Click on the header of the 'Product Name' column to select all product names.

Expected Result

All product names are highlighted and ready for editing.

2

Step 2: Open the Find and Replace dialog box.

Press Ctrl + H on your keyboard to open the Find and Replace window.

Expected Result

The Find and Replace dialog box appears.

3

Step 3: Enter the text to find and the replacement text.

In the 'Find what' box, type 'OldBrand'. In the 'Replace with' box, type 'NewBrand'.

Expected Result

'OldBrand' is set to be replaced with 'NewBrand'.

4

Step 4: Replace all occurrences of 'OldBrand' with 'NewBrand'.

Click the 'Replace All' button in the Find and Replace dialog.

Expected Result

All 'OldBrand' texts in the product names are replaced with 'NewBrand'. A message shows how many replacements were made.

5

Step 5: Verify the changes in the product list.

Look through the 'Product Name' column to confirm all 'OldBrand' entries are now 'NewBrand'.

Expected Result

Product names like 'OldBrand Laptop' now read 'NewBrand Laptop'.

Final Result

Product ID | Product Name
-----------|-------------------
101        | NewBrand Laptop
102        | NewBrand Smartphone
103        | NewBrand Headphones
104        | NewBrand Charger
105        | NewBrand Tablet
106        | Accessory Pack

✓All product names previously containing 'OldBrand' have been updated to 'NewBrand'.

✓Products without 'OldBrand' in their names remain unchanged.

✓The inventory list is now consistent with the new branding.

Bonus Challenge

Use a formula to create a new column that automatically replaces 'OldBrand' with 'NewBrand' without changing the original data.

Show Hint

Use the SUBSTITUTE function like =SUBSTITUTE(B2, "OldBrand", "NewBrand") in a new column.