Search & Replace

Codex Editor includes a dedicated Search Passages panel designed for translation projects. Unlike a standard text editor search, it understands the structure of your project — searching across source and target cells, showing results with their cell labels, and letting you pin passages for reference.

Accessing Search

In-Tab Search (Current File)

Press Ctrl+F (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+F (Mac) while in the cell editor to open a floating search bar scoped to the current file.

• Type your query and press Enter or click the search icon
• Navigate between matches with the up/down arrows
• Click the expand button to open the full Search Passages sidebar with your current query

Search Passages Sidebar (All Files)

Open the full project-wide search in any of these ways:

• Click the Eye icon in the activity bar (left sidebar)
• Press Ctrl+Shift+F (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+Shift+F (Mac)
• From the in-tab search bar, click the expand button to transfer your query

Search with Replace

• Press Ctrl+Shift+R (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+Shift+R (Mac) to open the sidebar with the replace section already expanded

Search Options

Search Scope

Control where your search looks using the scope toggle:

• Both — Search in source and target cells (default)
• Source — Search only in source (original) cells
• Target — Search only in target (translation) cells

Complete Only

When enabled, results only include cells that have both source and target content. This is useful for reviewing completed translations.

File Filter

By default, search covers all project files. Use the file selector to narrow your search to specific source or target files.

Search Results

Each result displays:

• Cell label (e.g., GEN 1:1, or a subtitle timestamp)
• Source text with the match highlighted
• Target text with the match highlighted
• A pin button to keep the result for reference

Click on the source or target text of any result to navigate directly to that cell in the editor.

Recent Searches

The search panel remembers your last 5 searches. Click the dropdown arrow next to the search input to quickly re-run a previous query.

Pinning Results

Pin results you want to keep visible while working:

• Click the pin icon on any individual result
• Use Pin All to pin every result in the current search
• Toggle the pinned filter to show only pinned results
• Pinned results persist even when you run a new search

This is particularly useful for comparing parallel passages across different books or documents.

Find and Replace

Opening Replace Mode

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+R / Cmd+Shift+R, or
2. Click the Replace toggle in the Search Passages sidebar

Replacing Text

1. Enter your search query
2. Type the replacement text in the "Replace with" field
3. Choose one of:
   • Replace on an individual result to replace just that cell
   • Replace All to replace all matches at once

The replace count shows how many matches can be replaced.

Retain Validations

Enable the Retain my validations checkbox to keep your validation status intact when replacing text. This prevents validations from being cleared after a replace operation.

HTML-Aware Replacement

Codex is aware of formatting in your cells. If a search match spans across HTML tags (e.g., bold or italic formatting), that match will be skipped during replacement. The system reports how many matches were skipped so you can review them manually.

Tips

• Start with in-tab search (Ctrl+F) for quick lookups in the current file, then expand to all files if needed
• Use scope filters to search only source or only target text when checking consistency
• Pin parallel passages from different books to compare translations side by side
• Use "Complete only" when reviewing finished work to skip untranslated cells