# Is RegEx replacement limited on purpose?

**URL:** <https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/is-regex-replacement-limited-on-purpose/53024>\
**Category:** Development\
**Created:** [December 11, 2024, 3:18am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/is-regex-replacement-limited-on-purpose/53024 "2024-12-11T03:18:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![basehart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@basehart](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/basehart)\
**Post date:** [December 11, 2024, 3:18am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/is-regex-replacement-limited-on-purpose/53024/1 "2024-12-11T03:18:14Z")

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I’m using Anki on Macos and was excited to find the the find and replace support RegEx but as far as I can tell the replacement string is limited to $1 and literal text. I’m trying to use \L and \U in the replace strings and I just get that as a literal replacement. Is this a know bug or on purpose? I’ve googled extensively and found other complaints/questions but no firm answers. Thank you

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**Author:** ![aleks\_ya](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/aleks_ya/32/22205_2.png) [@aleks\_ya](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/aleks_ya)\
**Post date:** [December 11, 2024, 4:18am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/is-regex-replacement-limited-on-purpose/53024/2 "2024-12-11T04:18:58Z")

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[Find and Replace](https://docs.ankiweb.net/browsing.html#find-and-replace) docs refers to this detailed [regex syntax description](https://docs.rs/regex/latest/regex/index.html#syntax) where you can see all supported options.

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**Author:** ![basehart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@basehart](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/basehart)\
**Post date:** [December 11, 2024, 7:13am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/is-regex-replacement-limited-on-purpose/53024/3 "2024-12-11T07:13:50Z")

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Thank you!

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**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/anki2/original/1X/8f1279ababc5879d54e4838989f606cfe55af8c7.jpeg) [@system](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/system)\
**Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 7:14am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/is-regex-replacement-limited-on-purpose/53024/4 "2025-01-10T07:14:28Z")

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