Find and Replace Tool

In Albato, the Find and Replace tool allows you to find values from previous steps in a scenario and replace, delete, or modify them.

It is especially useful when incoming data is inconsistent — for example, when different sources send phone numbers, names, or IDs in slightly different formats. Instead of fixing data manually or adding complex logic, you can standardize it in one step.

The tool works similarly to the Find and Replace feature in Excel, but operates directly inside your automation flow.

How to Use

Let's say you receive leads from Google Ads and save them to Google Sheets.

One of the fields contains a phone number, but the first digit is incorrect and needs to be replaced.

This kind of issue is common when data comes from multiple sources — formats may differ, or values may be entered incorrectly.

For example, you receive:

1 (212) 563-87-16

But the correct format should start with 3:

3 (212) 563-87-16

The Find and Replace tool helps you automatically fix such issues before the data is saved or passed to the next step.

Step 1

Open the Automation Builder and add the tool between steps.

Select the tool and click Save.

Step 2

Configure the tool settings.

• Where to replace — select the field with the phone number received from Google Ads. For example: Phone number.
• What to replace — enter the value you want to find. In this case: 1
• What to use to replace — enter the replacement value. In this case: 3
• Search Mode — defines how replacements are applied when multiple matches are found.

Example:

1 (212) 563-87-16

Options:

• First occurrence only — replaces only the first digit → 3 (212) 563-87-16
• Last occurrence only — replaces only the last match → 1 (212) 563-87-36
• All occurrences — replaces all matches → 3 (232) 563-87-36

In this scenario, you need to fix only the first digit, so select First occurrence only.

Step 3

Now map the result to Google Sheets. Open the Automation Builder and click the settings icon.

In the settings window:

• click the field where you want to insert the result
• select the Albato list
• choose the Result value.

In this example, phone numbers are saved in Column Phone.

Click Save and run the automation.

Your automation will now automatically correct phone numbers before saving them. Instead of manually checking each lead, you ensure that all data follows the same format from the start.

Conclusion

The Find and Replace tool helps you keep your data clean and consistent across all steps of your automation.

You can use it not only for phone numbers, but also for:

• fixing email formats
• standardizing names
• removing unwanted characters
• adjusting IDs or codes

This makes your automations more reliable and reduces the need for manual corrections later.

If you have any questions, contact us via the chat.