Title: Find And Replace Didn’t Work Last modified: May 18, 2020 --- # Find And Replace Didn’t Work * Resolved [philbertdog](https://wordpress.org/support/users/philbertdog/) * (@philbertdog) * [6 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/find-and-replace-didnt-work/) * I just did a find and replace (changing 2 URLs on 200 pages) during export. I was able to re-import the backup without problem (once I learned how to change my hosts max upload limit) but the find and replace didn’t work. * Two other find and replace plugins have also failed. Search And Replace DB changed some URLs while not changing others. * Given the number of failures my host is now a suspect. If you have any insight in to what about a host might cause all find and replace WP plugins to not work would appreciate hearing your insights. Thanks! Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total) * Plugin Author [Yani](https://wordpress.org/support/users/yaniiliev/) * (@yaniiliev) * [6 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/find-and-replace-didnt-work/#post-12853583) * Find/replace works only on the database. If your content is in the theme or plugins, it won’t be replaced. The other option is that the content is stored not as a plain string in the database but in some other format like base64 so it is not found when you search for it. * Thread Starter [philbertdog](https://wordpress.org/support/users/philbertdog/) * (@philbertdog) * [6 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/find-and-replace-didnt-work/#post-12855514) * Thanks for your reply. * > Find/replace works only on the database. * Yes, I understand this part. * > The other option is that the content is stored not as a plain string in the > database but in some other format like base64 so it is not found when you search > for it. * I can’t speak to this other than report that I’m trying to find and replace URLs in pages and posts which were created in the regular WordPress interface. * I’m moving my entire testing operation to another host to rule the host in or out as the source of the problem. Perhaps that will help. * Plugin Author [Yani](https://wordpress.org/support/users/yaniiliev/) * (@yaniiliev) * [6 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/find-and-replace-didnt-work/#post-12857556) * If the data is in the database, it should be replaced. The only reason why the data is not replaced is if the string you have entered somehow does not match the target. Hosting should play a role. If it is not sensitive, can you list the term you are searching for, what you are replacing it with, and what is the content of the post that you are replacing? * Thread Starter [philbertdog](https://wordpress.org/support/users/philbertdog/) * (@philbertdog) * [6 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/find-and-replace-didnt-work/#post-12861492) * I moved the test account to a 2nd host. No difference, All In One still won’t do find and replace. * I do an export, with two find and replace operations. Then I import that file back in. * I’m clearing my browser cache and relaunching Chrome after each attempt. * In case I didn’t make it clear, I’m trying to change a couple URLs across an entire site, about 200 posts and pages. So for example… * FIND: [http://nuke-ban.org/](http://nuke-ban.org/) REPLACE WITH: [http://nuke-ban.com/](http://nuke-ban.com/) * ============ * I just tested on the new server using another find/replace plugin. Doesn’t work either. * ============ * So maybe the database is the problem? I guess all that’s left is to start again from scratch. Create a new install of WP, and import the XML file again. My real site is on WordPress.com and the only way to export the data from there is via the XML file they provide. * ============ * If that doesn’t work then I guess it’s time to face the fact that I just wasted 6 months building a site in WordPress. * Thread Starter [philbertdog](https://wordpress.org/support/users/philbertdog/) * (@philbertdog) * [6 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/find-and-replace-didnt-work/#post-12862785) * I found one mistake I was making, searching for a URL that begins with http:// when it should have been https:// When I run the find/replace again with correct data I think it works, except… * When ever I click on one of the new links it brings up an Internal Server Error, thus killing most of the site. Luckily it’s a test site that can be discarded if needed. * Another find and replace, very carefully inspected, still does not work. * Next step, fresh install of WordPress, and a fresh import of the XML file from WordPress.com. If that doesn’t help it seems I’m out of options. * Not that this helps, but FYI, I’ve been building sites for 25 years and have coded my own CMS from scratch. This is the first time I’ve seen something as simple as a find and replace turn in to a major operation. Best I can tell, the underlying problem is WordPress’s use of mySQL as the data storage medium, which seems to complicate such simple matters as find and replace beyond reason. * Thread Starter [philbertdog](https://wordpress.org/support/users/philbertdog/) * (@philbertdog) * [6 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/find-and-replace-didnt-work/#post-12863397) * Ok, I found a solution. I’m bailing on WordPress. That should work! 🙂 * Thanks for your replies, and **good luck** with your projects. I admire and applaud the “simple is beautiful” design of your plugin, but regrettably it’s attached to a CMS that is too unreliable to merit any more of my time. * This thread can now be closed or deleted etc. Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total) The topic ‘Find And Replace Didn’t Work’ is closed to new replies. * ![](https://ps.w.org/all-in-one-wp-migration/assets/icon-256x256.png?rev=2458334) * [All-in-One WP Migration and Backup](https://wordpress.org/plugins/all-in-one-wp-migration/) * [Frequently Asked Questions](https://wordpress.org/plugins/all-in-one-wp-migration/#faq) * [Support Threads](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/all-in-one-wp-migration/) * [Active Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/all-in-one-wp-migration/active/) * [Unresolved Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/all-in-one-wp-migration/unresolved/) * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/all-in-one-wp-migration/reviews/) * 6 replies * 2 participants * Last reply from: [philbertdog](https://wordpress.org/support/users/philbertdog/) * Last activity: [6 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/find-and-replace-didnt-work/#post-12863397) * Status: resolved