Better Search Replace

About Better Search Replace

Better Search Replace is a plugin for WordPress that allows you to easily search and replace text in your database when moving your site to a new domain or server. It includes features such as serialization support for all tables, the ability to select specific tables, and the ability to run a "dry run" to see how many fields will be updated. The Pro version offers additional time-saving features such as viewing exactly what changed during a search/replace and backup and import functionality.

Screenshots

Frequently asked questions

What features does this plugin have?

Serialization support for all tables, the ability to select specific tables, the ability to run a 'dry run' to see how many fields will be updated, no server requirements aside from a running installation of WordPress, and WordPress Multisite support.

What time-saving features are available in the Pro version?

View exactly what changed during a search/replace, backup and import the database while running a search/replace, priority email support from the developer of the plugin, save or load custom profiles for quickly repeating a search/replace in the future, and support and updates for 1 year.

What is the search and replace functionality based on?

The search and replace functionality is heavily based on interconnect/it's great and open-source Search Replace DB script, modified to use WordPress native database functions to ensure compatibility.

What languages are supported?

English, French, German, and Spanish.

How can I contribute to the plugin?

Feel free to open an issue or submit a pull request on GitHub.

Changelog

1.4.10 – January 14, 2025

Fix: Improved security and stability

1.4.9 – October 4, 2024

Security: The plugin now uses its own update mechanism from WP Engine servers
New: Dependencies have been updated

1.4.8 – September 3, 2024

No changes as this was a pro-only release for Better Search Replace Pro

1.4.7 – May 30, 2024

Fix: The case-insensitive setting once again allows case-insensitive strings to be matched within serialized data, fixing a regression introduced in version 1.4.6

1.4.6 – April 17, 2024

Changed: Serialized text strings are now only deserialized when containing a match, resulting in faster performance
Security: Table names are now escaped when displaying search results

1.4.5 – January 18, 2024

Security: Unserializing an object during search and replace operations now passes 'allowed_classes' => false to avoid instantiating the object and potentially running malicious code stored in the database (thanks to Wordfence for responsible disclosure on December 18, 2023 followed by development and testing of the fix by WP Engine)
Fix: A regression in version 1.4.4 which caused some search results to be skipped has been fixed to ensure only numeric keyed objects are skipped

1.4.4 – December 14, 2023

Fix: Objects with numerical properties are now skipped to avoid causing errors

1.4.3 – September 5, 2023

New: Links to plugin documentation, support, feedback, and changelog are now available in the footer of WP Admin
Improvement: PHP 8.2 and Better Search Replace are now compatible

1.4.2 – January 11, 2023

Security: Arbitrary tab templates in the templates directory can no longer be loaded using a query parameter.

1.4.1 – July 25, 2022

Security: Selected tables are now confirmed to exist before processing the request

1.4 – April 7, 2022

New: Better Search Replace has a brand new user interface
Improvement: Default capability required to use the plugin has changed from “install_plugins” to “manage_options” for compatibility with DISALLOW_FILE_MODS

1.3.4 – December 7, 2020

Improvement: WordPress 5.6 and PHP 8 compatible
Fix: Strings that have been serialized twice showing up as false-positives

1.3.3 – February 26, 2019

Fix: Some special characters interfering with search/replace
Security: Pass template filenames through sanitize_file_name()
Security: Verify nonce when downloading diagnostic info

1.3.2 – January 3, 2018

Fix: Only one table searched on some environments (props @Ov3rfly)
Tweak: Update text in sidebar

1.3.1 – September 14, 2017

Security: Check if data is serialized before unserializing it
Improvement: Increased size of table select

1.3 – November 10, 2016

Improvement: Updated sidebar and added pro version discount
Fix: Outdated links to old website
Fix: Prevent requests to invalid tabs

1.2.10 – June 2, 2016

Fix: CSS not loaded on details page

1.2.9 – December 8, 2015

Fix: Bug with case-insensitive searches in serialized objects
Fix: Bug with early skip due to lack of primary key

1.2.8 – November 25, 2015

Fix: Bug with report details

1.2.7 – November 24, 2015

Fix: Untranslateable string
Tweak: Check BSR_PATH instead of ABSPATH to be consistent
Tested with 4.4

1.2.6

Removed unused code/small cleanup

1.2.5

Improved progress bar info and styles
Small cleanup

1.2.4

Added “Settings saved” notice when saving settings
Fixed bug with wp_magic_quotes interfering with some search strings

1.2.3

Fixed bug with searching for backslashes
Fixed potential bug with getting tables in large multisites
Fixed potential notice in append_report
Improved handling of missing primary keys

1.2.2

Fixed AJAX conflict with WooCommerce
Fixed a few issues with translations
Tweaked “System Info” to use get_locale() instead of WP_LANG constant
Updated German translation (props @Linus Ziegenhagen)

1.2.1

Fixed minor issue with display of progress bar
Updated translation file

1.2

Switched to AJAX bulk processing for search/replaces
Decreased minimum “Max Page Size” to 1000
Added “Help” tab with system info for easier troubleshooting

1.1.1

Added ability to change max page size
Decreased default page size to prevent white screen issue on some environments

1.1

Added ability to change capability required to use plugin
Small bugfixes and translation fixes

1.0.6

Added table sizes to the database table listing
Added French translation (props @Jean Philippe)

1.0.5

Added support for case-insensitive searches
Added German translation (props @Linus Ziegenhagen)

1.0.4

Potential security fixes

1.0.3

Fixed issue with searching for special characters like ‘’
Fixed bug with replacing some objects

1.0.2

Fixed untranslateable strings on submit button and submenu page.

1.0.1

Fixed issue with loading translations and added Spanish translation (props Eduardo Larequi)
Fixed bug with reporting timing
Updated to use “Dry Run” as default
Added support for WordPress Multisite (see FAQs for more info)

1.0

Initial release