This article describes how to use HeSoft Doc Batch Tool , in multiple Word, docx files through the regular expression wildcard formula batch to find and replace keywords. In this example, three uppercase letters and numbers in multiple documents are replaced with specified characters, which is suitable for processing contracts, courseware, English materials, report templates, and other scenarios that require batch desensitization, unified naming, or standardized text. The article explains the key steps such as file import, formula selection fuzzy search, filling in the search and replace list, and continuing processing according to the order of screenshots, helping users to reduce the time of repeatedly opening Word for manual replacement.
In daily office, many people will encounter similar problems: there are dozens or even hundreds of Word documents in a folder, and each document is scattered with the same type of keywords, numbers, English abbreviations or digital information. If you open docx files one by one and then use Word's own find and replace function, it is not only time-consuming, but also easy to miss some locations. Especially when the content to be found is not a fixed word, but a kind of text that conforms to a certain law, ordinary replacement is not flexible enough.
The core problem to be solved in this paper is: how to use the regular expression wildcard formula in office software to replace the keywords in multiple Word files in batch. The example used is HeSoft Doc Batch Tool It is positioned as a document batch processing software for office scenarios, with a focus on batch processing of documents, reducing duplication of effort, and improving processing efficiency. Through the "Find and Replace Keywords in Word" function, you can replace the matching content in multiple docx documents according to the rules.
Application scenario: Which Word batch replacement tasks are suitable for regular expressions
If you just replace a fixed word from "party a" to "customer", the traditional search replacement can also be done. However, when there are changes in the target content, such as different English abbreviations, different numbers, and different number lengths, the regular expression wildcard formula is more appropriate. It can match the content that conforms to the law at one time and replace it with the specified result.
Common application scenarios include: batch replacement of English abbreviations in Word documents; Batch processing of number numbers in docx and doc files; Replacing sensitive numbers in contracts, papers and reports with placeholders; Unified specification of old codes, old abbreviations and old item numbers in multiple template documents; Replace a certain type of capital abbreviation with a new logo in English materials.
From the screenshot example, six Word documents with file names from 1.docx to 6.docx are to be processed. The number of such documents is not particularly large, but it is sufficient to reflect the significance of batch processing. If each file is manually searched for two types of content and then saved one by one, there will be many repeated steps. After using the batch processing tool, you only need to set the rule once to process multiple files continuously.
Effect preview: keywords in multiple docx files are scattered before processing
Before processing, the folder contains multiple Word documents. In the screenshot, you can see six docx files, namely 1.docx, 2.docx, 3.docx, 4.docx, 5.docx, and 6.docx, which are the processing objects of this batch replacement.
After opening one of the Word documents, you can see that there are many kinds of contents that need to be processed in the body. For example, "BOT" in the title, "ELA" in the text, and "60 hours" and other digital content. The red arrows in the screenshot indicate typical positions: one is an uppercase English abbreviation, the other is a number. In actual work, these contents may be distributed in different positions such as title, body, list, paragraph description, etc. Manual search is easy to miss.
This example does not replace only one fixed word, but uses two rules to process two types of text: the first type is three consecutive capital letters, such as BOT and ELA; The second type is numbers, such as 60, 2, 5, etc. Such replacement requirements are well suited to be accomplished with regular expression formulas.
Effect Preview: After processing, keywords are replaced in batch by formula rules
After batch processing is completed, open the document to view, you can see that the original content that meets the rules has become the specified new content. In the screenshot, the original three capital letters are replaced with A, and the numeric content is replaced with B. For example, the BOT position in the title becomes A, and the ELA related position in the text is also replaced with A; The original 60, 2, 5 and other numerical positions become B.
It should be noted that the yellow mark in the screenshot is mainly used to help observe the replacement position. The actual judgment effect should be based on whether the document content has become the target text. This result shows that batch replacement is not only effective for a single document, but can uniformly implement the same set of find and replace rules for multiple Word files in the import list.
Operation step 1: Enter the Word tool and select the find and replace function
Open first. HeSoft Doc Batch Tool . Select "Word Tools" in the function category on the left, and the main interface will display batch processing functions related to Word documents, such as adding watermarks, removing blanks, converting formats, and replacing pictures. This time, the first function is to be used: "find and replace keywords in Word".
This function description is to find and replace keywords in the contents of Word files in batches, which fully corresponds to the requirements of this article. The purpose of choosing this function is to enter a special batch replacement process, rather than manually operating in a single Word document. After entering the function, the software will follow the steps to guide the user through importing files, setting processing options, setting the save location, and starting processing.
Operation step 2: add Word files that need batch processing
After entering the "Find and Replace Keywords in Word" page, buttons such as "Add File", "Import File from Folder", "Empty" and "More" can be seen at the top of the interface. If you have fewer files to process, you can click "Add Files"; if all docx documents are concentrated in the same folder, it is more suitable to use "Import Files from Folder", which can import multiple Word files at once.
In the screenshot, six records have been imported. The names are 1.docx to 6.docx. The path is in the D:\test \directory and the extension is docx. The list also shows the creation time, modification time, and summary record number at the bottom of 6. The purpose of this list is to allow users to confirm the scope of documents to be processed this time and to avoid adding irrelevant Word documents to the task.
If you find that a file does not need to be processed, you can use the delete operation on the right side of the corresponding line to remove it. If you import the wrong batch of files, you can use "empty" to reselect. After confirming that the list is correct, click "Next" at the bottom to enter the keyword rule setting page.
Operation step three: choose to use the formula fuzzy search text
On the Set Processing Options page, you first need to select a search method. In the screenshot, there are two options: "Find text exactly" and "Find text with formula blur. For this example, use formula to find text blur is selected ".
The reason for choosing this option is that what we are looking for is not a fixed string, but a type of content that conforms to the law. For example, BOT and ELA are 3 capital letters; 60, 2, 5, etc. are all numbers. Once you use formulas to find text in a fuzzy manner, you can describe these patterns in the form of regular expressions or wildcards, allowing for more flexible Word batch replacements.
If your task is only to replace the fixed word "old company name" with "new company name", you can use precise search text. However, if you want to replace regular contents such as numbers, dates, codes, English capital abbreviations, continuous numbers, etc. in batches, it is recommended to use formulas to find text in a fuzzy way.
Operation step 4: fill in the list of keyword formulas to be searched
On the left side of the page is the "list of keywords to find". As can be seen from the screenshot, the example fills in two lines of rules: the first line is [A-Z]{3}, and the second line is \d.
[A-Z]{3} means matching three consecutive uppercase English letters, so it can match BOT, ELA, etc. \d means to match one or more numbers, so you can match 60, 2, 5, etc. With these two formulas, you can cover many different but identical texts in the document.
When filling in the rules, be aware that each row corresponds to a search rule. The software will follow the rules in the list to find a match in the content of the Word document. In order to reduce false substitutions, it is recommended to verify whether the formula meets expectations on a small number of sample documents before using it for batch processing of a large number of files.
Operation step 5: fill in the replaced keyword list and keep the line number corresponding
and ". Fill in A in the first line and B in the second line. This means that the content matched by the first line [A-Z]{3} on the left will be replaced by A; the content matched by the second line \d on the left will be replaced by B.
The most important thing here is the line number correspondence. The first row on the left corresponds to the first row on the right, and the second row on the left corresponds to the second row on the right. Do not write the replacement content on the wrong line, otherwise "uppercase letters are replaced with numeric placeholders" or "numbers are replaced with alphabetic placeholders" may occur.
Next to the title on the right side of the screenshot, there is also a prompt "if you do not fill in, it means delete". That is, if the replacement content corresponding to a certain search rule is empty, the effect of deleting the matching content may be achieved. The example in this article is replaced with A and B, so the two lines on the right are filled in.
Step 6: Continue to set the save location and start processing
When you have finished setting up find formulas and replace content, click Next at the bottom of the page ". According to the process above the interface, the next steps include "set save location" and "start processing". The setting of the save location is very critical. It is recommended not to directly overwrite the original file. It is best to choose a new output directory to save the processed Word document. This keeps the original file for reprocessing even if it is found that the rules need to be adjusted.
After entering the start processing step, the task can be executed according to the software flow. After the processing is completed, open the docx file in the output directory for spot checks to confirm whether the keywords in the title, body, list, etc. have been replaced according to the rules. If you process a large number of files, you can check documents that contain typical keywords first, and then check a small number of random files.
Frequently Asked Questions and Precautions
1. Why use regular expressions instead of ordinary find replacements?Because ordinary find replace is suitable for fixed text, and regular expression is suitable for regular text. For example, all three uppercase letters, all numbers, some numbering format, etc. In this example, BOT and ELA are not the same word, but can be matched by [A-Z]{3}.
2. can both doc and docx handle this?From the interface function name, it is oriented to Word file processing; the extension in the screenshot example is docx. If your file contains doc or other Word formats, it is recommended to test with a small number of files to confirm that they can be imported and processed normally before batch execution.
How to avoid false replacement?When using formula fuzzy lookup, the wider the rule range, the higher the risk of mismatching. For example, \d matches all numbers, including page numbers, sequence numbers, numbers in dates, and so on. If you only want to replace a certain type of number, you should write the formula more accurately and verify it in the sample document first.
4. What happens if the replacement content is empty?The interface prompts "If it is not filled in, it means deletion". Therefore, if a line on the right is not filled in, the corresponding match may be deleted. Be sure to check the list on the right before batch processing to avoid deleting important content due to missing fills.
5. Is backup required before batch processing?It is recommended to keep the original file or export to a new folder when setting the save location. Batch replacement Once the rules are set improperly, a batch of documents is affected, so backup is very necessary.
Summary: Use Formula Rules to Improve Word Batch Replacement Efficiency
By HeSoft Doc Batch Tool The "Find and Replace Keywords in Word" function of can replace the regular contents in multiple docx files at one time. Compared with the manual operation of opening Word one by one, this method is more suitable for handling a large number of office tasks with unified rules and strong repeatability.
This example uses the formulas [A-Z]{3} and \d to replace the three capital letters and numbers with A and B, respectively. You can adjust formulas and replacement text to your document content for batch desensitization, uniform fields, canonical templates, or clean up old numbers. It is recommended to select a small number of documents for testing before formal processing, and then execute them in batches after confirming that the results are correct, which can not only improve efficiency, but also reduce the risk of misoperation.