Java 25 (LTS) reference · String Methods

Java String replace() Method

Replace every occurrence of a character or text with another. replaceAll() uses a regular expression instead.

Java 25 (LTS) Since Java 1.0

Create a free account to save this page, take notes and track your progress. Sign in

Syntax

string.replace(target, replacement)

Parameters

Parameter	Description
`target` CharSequence	Text to find (literal).
`replacement` CharSequence	Text to put in its place.

Return value

A new String.

Examples

Literal replacement

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        String s = "2026-10-24";
        System.out.println(s.replace("-", "/"));
        System.out.println("a.b.c".replace(".", ""));
    }
}

Output

2026/10/24
abc

Run this on your computer — see “Get Started” for setup.

Regex replacement with replaceAll()

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        String messy = "too    many   spaces";
        System.out.println(messy.replaceAll("\\s+", " "));
        System.out.println("Order 12 and 345".replaceAll("\\d+", "#"));
    }
}