# replace certain words with annotations

**URL:** <https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/replace-certain-words-with-annotations/24905>\
**Category:** Scrivener for macOS\
**Tags:** support\
**Created:** [January 9, 2014, 4:28pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/replace-certain-words-with-annotations/24905 "2014-01-09T16:28:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![dhruva](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@dhruva](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/dhruva)\
**Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 4:28pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/replace-certain-words-with-annotations/24905/1 "2014-01-09T16:28:25Z")

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Hi  
Is it possible to replace a certain word with annotations? I use scrivener for writing scientific articles, and often just note that I need a reference as (ref). I would like to replace (ref) with an annotation or highlight so that I don’t miss it later.

Thanks!

Dinesh

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**Author:** ![AmberV](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/amberv/32/13021_2.png) [@AmberV](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/AmberV)\
**Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 6:50pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/replace-certain-words-with-annotations/24905/2 "2014-01-09T18:50:39Z")

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Unfortunately Scrivener does not have any kind of search and replace for formatting. What you would need to do in this case is search for the word you want to turn into an annotation, then annotate it, find the next and so on. This can be sped up by alternating between Cmd-G which finds the next search result even with the Find panel closed, and of course Shift-Cmd-A to annotate the selection, then back to Cmd-G and so on. Using Scrivenings mode to run through multiple documents would make this even more efficient.

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**Author:** ![dhruva](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@dhruva](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/dhruva)\
**Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 7:22pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/replace-certain-words-with-annotations/24905/3 "2014-01-09T19:22:03Z")

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Thanks for the reply. I guess I could just use Cmg G one by one and replace the (ref) with the citation itself.

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**Author:** ![Rdale](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/rdale/32/15925_2.png) [@Rdale](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/Rdale)\
**Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 7:48pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/replace-certain-words-with-annotations/24905/4 "2014-01-09T19:48:59Z")

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If you’re going to do that, I assume it’s a rather long process. I suggest creating a search-based collection for (ref) called “Needs citation”. With that list of documents, you’ll also see the search term highlighted in the text for easy spotting, and once you replace them all in a given document, that document will be removed form the collection when you switch back to it from another view (such as the regular binder). Very handy for being sure you get them all, and it doesn’t require that you do the citations all in one go.

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**Author:** ![dhruva](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@dhruva](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/dhruva)\
**Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 2:09am UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/replace-certain-words-with-annotations/24905/5 "2014-01-10T02:09:30Z")

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Oh that sounds even better. Thanks!