# Replace in files

**URL:** <https://forum.defold.com/t/replace-in-files/68651>\
**Category:** Questions\
**Created:** [June 17, 2021, 9:02am UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/replace-in-files/68651 "2021-06-17T09:02:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 10\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![roccosaienz](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/forum.defold.com/roccosaienz/32/19991_2.png) [@roccosaienz](https://forum.defold.com/u/roccosaienz)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 9:02am UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/replace-in-files/68651/1 "2021-06-17T09:02:30Z")

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Is it me or there is no “replace in files” in the editor?

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**Author:** ![britzl](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/forum.defold.com/britzl/32/23_2.png) [@britzl](https://forum.defold.com/u/britzl)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 10:38am UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/replace-in-files/68651/2 "2021-06-17T10:38:44Z")

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Nope, I don’t think there is!

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**Author:** ![WhiteBoxDev](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/forum.defold.com/whiteboxdev/32/36080_2.png) [@WhiteBoxDev](https://forum.defold.com/u/WhiteBoxDev)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 1:21pm UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/replace-in-files/68651/3 "2021-06-17T13:21:19Z")

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My favorite substitute for this is:

1. Highlight the text you wish to change throughout a file.
2. Press CTRL + D repeatedly (best feature to ever be implemented in any software ever).
3. Type your new text!

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**Author:** ![roccosaienz](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/forum.defold.com/roccosaienz/32/19991_2.png) [@roccosaienz](https://forum.defold.com/u/roccosaienz)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 1:23pm UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/replace-in-files/68651/4 "2021-06-17T13:23:59Z")

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Yes, thanks! I already use that! One of my best friends!

But I am looking for “replace in files”. I have to change a string in ALL files of the projects with a certain extension.

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**Author:** ![Alex\_8BitSkull](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/forum.defold.com/alex_8bitskull/32/5424_2.png) [@Alex\_8BitSkull](https://forum.defold.com/u/Alex_8BitSkull)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 2:49pm UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/replace-in-files/68651/5 "2021-06-17T14:49:00Z")

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Perhaps you want to avoid external software for this, but I keep Notepad++ solely for how much I like the replace in files functionality.

 ![5dly0e](https://forum-defold-uploads.b-cdn.net/original/3X/5/1/51f581584171e60e1cdb2bc8a55b068a6468cd8f.jpeg)

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**Author:** ![totebo](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/forum.defold.com/totebo/32/36087_2.png) [@totebo](https://forum.defold.com/u/totebo)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 3:45pm UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/replace-in-files/68651/6 "2021-06-17T15:45:23Z")

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> [@Alex\_8BitSkull](#):
>
> I keep Notepad++ solely for how much I like the replace in files functionality.

Similarly, I use Sublime Text for this. Poor Sublime Text.

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**Author:** ![roccosaienz](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/forum.defold.com/roccosaienz/32/19991_2.png) [@roccosaienz](https://forum.defold.com/u/roccosaienz)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 5:17pm UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/replace-in-files/68651/7 "2021-06-17T17:17:15Z")

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Thanks!

I have used “sed” via command line. I don’t understand very well this kind of magic, but it worked! 🙂

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**Author:** ![AbdulYKI](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/forum.defold.com/abdulyki/32/26823_2.png) [@AbdulYKI](https://forum.defold.com/u/AbdulYKI)\
**Post date:** [November 21, 2021, 8:22am UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/replace-in-files/68651/8 "2021-11-21T08:22:18Z")

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You could open the project in vscode, find all and replace all, but you should do it with your own risk, because it is treating it as plain text.

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**Author:** ![cubixpix](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/forum.defold.com/cubixpix/32/7177_2.png) [@cubixpix](https://forum.defold.com/u/cubixpix)\
**Post date:** [November 21, 2021, 10:20am UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/replace-in-files/68651/9 "2021-11-21T10:20:54Z")

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Easy. Look at this sample with two files (will work with any numbers of files, of course):

```lua
/tmp$ for i in *.lua; do echo "$i";cat "$i";echo " ****";done
titi.lua
print "it's still me"
****
toto.lua
print "It's me"
****

```

Now you want to replace _me_ by _you_ :

```lua
/tmp$ sed -i 's/me/you/' *.lua

```

The _ **-i** _ parameter of `sed` means « replaces in place » (directly in the file).

The files have to be in the same directory, but you can easily combine it with `find` to find and modify in a complex tree file structure.

Result:

```lua
/tmp$ for i in *.lua; do echo "$i";cat "$i";echo " ****";done
titi.lua
print "it's still you"
****
toto.lua
print "It's you"
****

```

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![anon95708182](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@anon95708182](https://forum.defold.com/u/anon95708182)\
**Post date:** [November 21, 2021, 6:49pm UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/replace-in-files/68651/10 "2021-11-21T18:49:40Z")

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> [@Alex\_8BitSkull](#):
>
> I keep Notepad++ solely for how much I like the replace in files functionality.

> [@totebo](#):
>
> Similarly, I use Sublime Text for this. Poor Sublime Text.

There is also [Geany](https://github.com/geany/geany) that can do this.