How to replace a part of a string in PHP
Jul 13, 2025 am 02:14 AMThere are three common ways to replace some content in a PHP string. 1. Use str_replace for basic replacement, suitable for replacing fixed strings, supporting case sensitivity or ignoring; 2. Use substr_replace to replace the content at the specified position, and control the replacement range through index and length; 3. Use regular expressions to replace preg_replace, suitable for replacing content with specific patterns, powerful but attention to syntax accuracy is required.
Replacing some content in a PHP string is actually a very common operation. If you just want to simply replace a certain piece of text, you can easily do it with a few built-in functions.

Use str_replace
for basic replacement
This is the most direct and most commonly used method. The str_replace
function can find a substring in a string and replace it with new content.
For example, if you want to replace "world"
in "Hello, world!"
with "PHP"
, you can write it like this:

$string = "Hello, world!"; $new_string = str_replace("world", "PHP", $string); echo $new_string; // Output: Hello, PHP!
This method is suitable for simple, case-insensitive replacements. If you want it to be case sensitive, you can use str_ireplace
.
Applicable scenarios:

- Replace fixed string
- No regular expression required
- Can accept case sensitivity or ignore
Replace substr_replace
with contents of the specified location
Sometimes you don’t want to search based on the content, but want to start from a specific location. You can use substr_replace
at this time.
The syntax is like this:
substr_replace($original, $replacement, $start, $length)
For example, you want to replace the 3 characters in "abcdefg"
starting from the second character with "xyz"
:
$string = "abcdefg"; $result = substr_replace($string, "xyz", 1, 3); echo $result; // Output: axyzefg
Here, start with index 1 (that is, letter b), replace 3 characters (that is, bcd), and become xyz.
Note:
- The index is calculated from 0
- If
$length
is 0, it is equivalent to inserting rather than replacing - If
$length
is omitted, it will be replaced from$start
to the end
Use regular expression replacement - preg_replace
If the replaced content is not fixed, but has a certain pattern, such as replacing all numbers, strings in a specific format, etc., then regular expressions are required.
For example, you want to replace all numbers in a string with [數(shù)字]
:
$string = "user with number 12345"; $result = preg_replace('/\d /', '[number]', $string); echo $result; // Output: User whose number is [number]
This method is more powerful but also more complex. When using it, be careful whether the regular syntax is correct.
suggestion:
- Use it when it needs flexible matching
- It is useful when the replacement rules are complicated
- Pay attention to escape characters and separators (usually used
/
wrapped)
Basically these are the methods. You can choose the most suitable replacement method according to the specific situation: simply replace with str_replace
, position replace with substr_replace
, and preg_replace
with rules. Each has its applicable scenario, the key is to understand the difference between them.
The above is the detailed content of How to replace a part of a string in PHP. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!

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