This article uses the removal of English months and four-digit years in PDFs as an example to explain how to batch-process multiple PDF files using office software. The workflow includes entering the PDF keyword search and replace function, importing 1.pdf to 4.pdf, selecting formulas for fuzzy text search, inputting rules such as April|May and \d{4}, and leaving the replaced keyword list empty. After processing, the matched months and years are deleted, making it suitable for users who need to batch-clean PDF dates, report times, and sensitive fields.
Dates, years, and months in PDFs often need to be removed before publication. For example, the cover of a report might say April 13, 2017, but when sending it externally, you only want to retain part of that information; or a batch of historical PDFs all contain different years that need to be uniformly cleaned up. If you use a regular PDF reader to modify files one by one, not only are there many steps, but you also have to repeat the process of searching, deleting, and saving for each file, which is very inefficient.
A more suitable method for office batch processing is to use HeSoft Doc Batch Tool to process multiple PDFs as a group of tasks. This article uses 1.pdf, 2.pdf, 3.pdf, and 4.pdf from the screenshots as examples to demonstrate how to use the "Find and Replace Keywords in PDF" feature. By using formulas to perform a fuzzy text search, you can batch delete English months and four-digit years from PDFs. This method can also be expanded to other similar content, such as report numbers, version numbers, and batch numbers.
Applicable Scenarios: Batch Deleting PDF Dates, Years, and Regular Keywords
Fuzzy matching is particularly useful when the content you want to delete in a PDF follows a pattern. Dates are a typical example: the month might differ, and the year might differ, but they all have describable rules. For instance, April and May are both English month names, and 2017, 2020, and 2026 are all four-digit numbers. Writing them out one by one with fixed keywords would be tedious, whereas using a fuzzy rule can cover a whole category of content at once.
This operation is suitable for the following scenarios: batch deleting the publication date from PDF report covers; batch cleaning up year fields in documents; deleting certain types of numbers in contract PDFs; removing sensitive time information from external-facing documents; and cleaning up old version dates from training materials or technical documentation. For users who need to process other formats like doc, docx, xls, and xlsx, they can also select the relevant tools according to the corresponding category in the software, but this article focuses on PDF files.
It is important to emphasize that batch deletion does not mean brutally clearing a page. The approach in this article is based on keyword search and replace, which only deletes text matching the rule. For example, entering a four-digit number rule will match four-digit years; entering April|May will match April or May.
Result Preview: April and 2017 are Present in the Original PDFs
Before processing, there are four PDF files in the folder: 1.pdf, 2.pdf, 3.pdf, and 4.pdf. For batch tasks, it's more convenient to first place all target files in the same directory before importing them later.
After opening an example PDF, you can see that the cover area contains a date: April 13, 2017. The red boxes in the screenshot mark April and 2017 respectively, indicating that these two parts are the targets for deletion this time. The "13" in the middle is not a deletion target, so it should remain after processing.
If you were only processing this single file, manual deletion might seem doable. However, in a real office environment, it is rarely just one PDF, but rather a batch of reports, a batch of contracts, or a resource pack. Repeatedly opening and saving files is the easiest way to waste time, making it more suitable to use a batch processing tool for a unified execution.
Result Preview: The Month and Year in the Date Have Been Cleaned Up After Processing
Viewing the PDF again after processing, you can see that the text where "April" was originally located is gone, and the position where "2017" was is also cleared. The "13," in the middle remains on the page. This shows that the search rule took effect and the deletion scope was as expected.
This effect also demonstrates that batch find and replace can be used not only for replacing text but also for deleting text. The key is that the replacement content is empty. The interface already prompts "Leaving it blank means deletion," so when the replacement list on the right remains empty, the matched keywords will be removed.
Step 1: Open the PDF Keyword Batch Processing Portal
After running HeSoft Doc Batch Tool , click on "PDF Tools" in the left-hand category. The main interface will list multiple PDF batch processing capabilities. This time, select "Find and Replace Keywords in PDF," which is the entry point for batch finding and replacing content keywords in PDF files.
As can be seen from the interface, this software is positioned as a document batch processing tool. Besides PDF tools, the left side also lists categories for Word tools, Excel tools, PowerPoint tools, image tools, video tools, and audio tools. For the PDF date deletion task in this article, you should enter the keyword find and replace function under PDF tools.
Step 2: Add PDF Files to Create a Batch Processing Task
After entering the function, the page title is "Find and Replace Keywords in PDF." The process is divided into selecting records, setting processing options, setting a save location, and starting the process. The first step is to add the PDFs to be processed to the list. You can click "Add Files" or "Import Files from Folder."
The screenshot shows that the task list already contains four files: 1.pdf, 2.pdf, 3.pdf, and 4.pdf. Their paths, displayed as D:\test\1.pdf etc., have the pdf extension. The summary at the bottom shows the record count is 4. This list represents the scope of files for this batch process, and the rules set subsequently will be applied to these PDFs.
After confirming the file list is correct, click "Next" at the bottom. If you find that the wrong file was selected, you can delete a single record through the operation column or use "Clear" to re-import. For important files, it is recommended to keep an original backup before formal processing.
Step 3: Set Fuzzy Search Rules to Match Months and Years
After entering "Set Processing Options," locate "Set Keyword Options." In the "Search Mode," select "Use Fuzzy Formula to Search for Text." This is the core of this operation because the date content to be deleted is not necessarily perfectly uniform.
In the "Keywords to Search For" list on the left, enter the matching rules. In the screenshot, the first line is April|May, which means search for April or May; the second line is \d{4}, which means search for four consecutive digits. For date cleanup, a four-digit number can usually match a year, for example, 2017.
Keep the "Replace With Keyword" list on the right empty. There is a red prompt on the interface saying "Leaving it blank means deletion," which is exactly the setting needed to batch delete PDF keywords. In other words, the software will replace the matched April, May, and four-digit numbers found on the left with empty content.
If other months need to be deleted from your PDF, you can adjust the rules according to the actual situation. If you want to delete numbers in other formats, the matching rules should also be designed based on their structure. The more accurate the rules, the more stable the batch processing results will be.
Step 4: Set the Save Location and Execute Processing
After setting the search mode and keyword list, click "Next." The progress bar shows that "Set Save Location" and "Start Processing" remain. In batch file processing, the save location is very important. It is recommended to output the processed PDFs to a new folder, making it easy to compare with the original files and to avoid accidental overwrites.
Once in the start processing phase, the software will process the PDF files in sequence according to the task list. For each PDF, it will search for text matching April|May and \d{4} and delete it by replacing it with empty content. After processing is complete, you can open the output files to check areas like the cover date or body keywords to confirm the deletion effect.
If you find that some four-digit numbers that shouldn't have been deleted were also cleaned up, it indicates that the rule scope is too broad, and you need to go back to the processing options to adjust. Although batch processing is efficient, rule testing is a key step to ensure accuracy.
Common Questions and Precautions
1. Why choose "Use Fuzzy Formula to Search for Text"? Because dates, years, and months are often not completely fixed. Using a fuzzy search allows matching of a category of text, rather than just one fixed string.
2. What does April|May mean? In this example, it is used to match April or May. When processing multiple PDFs, if months differ between files, this method can reduce repetitive input.
3. What is \d{4} suitable for deleting? It is suitable for matching four-digit numbers, commonly used for matching years. However, if there are other four-digit codes in the PDF, they might also be matched, so testing is needed based on the actual files.
4. Is leaving the replacement list empty the same as inputting a space? No, it is not. Leaving it empty means deletion; inputting a space might replace the text with a space character. According to the interface prompt, to delete keywords, the list on the right should be left blank.
5. Why can't some text in a PDF be deleted? The PDF content might be a scanned image, or the text might not have a retrievable text layer. You can first try to select the text in a PDF reader. If you can't select it, it indicates that it might not be normal text.
6. What preparations should be made before batch processing? It is recommended to back up the original files first and use 1 to 2 samples to test the rule. After confirming the effect is correct, proceed to process the complete folder.
Summary: Batch Rules Are More Reliable Than Manual Operation for Deleting PDF Dates and Years
This article demonstrated how to use HeSoft Doc Batch Tool to batch delete date-related keywords from PDFs. The entire process included: entering PDF tools and selecting "Find and Replace Keywords in PDF"; importing multiple PDF files; selecting "Use Fuzzy Formula to Search for Text" in the processing options; entering April|May and \d{4}; leaving the replacement keyword list empty; and finally, setting the save location and starting the process.
The advantage of this method is that one set of rules can be applied to multiple PDFs at once, making it particularly suitable for batch cleaning up dates, years, months, numbers, and sensitive fields. For repetitive file processing tasks, the batch processing capabilities of office software can significantly save time and reduce manual omissions. It is recommended that you first verify the rules with a small number of PDFs and then apply the same process to the whole batch of files, thereby completing PDF keyword cleanup safely and efficiently.