How do I change a repeating word in a document to something else?

[Wayne]

I am a writer. I need to change the name of a character and it appears dozens
of times in my manuscript. To change it manually will be very laborious. Is
there a way to change the name once and have it change all othe other places
it occurs in the text?

 

[Jay Freedman]

I am a writer. I need to change the name of a character and it appears dozens
of times in my manuscript. To change it manually will be very laborious. Is
there a way to change the name once and have it change all othe other places
it occurs in the text?

Use the Replace function. In Word 2003 or earlier, it's on the Edit
menu; in Word 2007 it's on the right end of the Home ribbon. The
shortcut Ctrl+H works in all versions.

For information, press the F1 key and search for Replace.