When PDF file names are just 1.pdf, 2.pdf, 3.pdf, subsequent searching and archiving become very troublesome. This article takes HeSoft Doc Batch Tool as an example to explain how to access the "Rename PDF Files Using File Content" feature, import multiple PDF files, and use the regular expression \d{8} to match an 8-digit ID in the body, ultimately batch generating PDF files named by the ID, suitable for organizing contracts, orders, archives, and scanned documents.
In the office, you often encounter a batch of PDFs like this: they look neatly organized in the folder, but their names are just 1.pdf, 2.pdf, 3.pdf, 4.pdf. It's only when you actually need to archive them that you realize these file names have no business meaning. To know which one is a certain contract or corresponds to a specific order, you have to open each PDF individually to check its content. If there are only a few files, it's manageable, but if there are dozens or hundreds, manually viewing and renaming them becomes a very typical repetitive task.
Even more troublesome is that manual renaming is prone to errors. For instance, copying one digit less of a contract number, writing the number from file A onto file B's name, or pasting the same number repeatedly will all affect future retrieval and archiving. For office documents like contracts, orders, customer data, and project files, having the correct file name is very important. This article will introduce a more efficient method: using office software to batch-read the main text of PDFs, match numbers using wildcards/regular expressions, and then automatically set the number as the PDF file name.
The software demonstrated in this article is HeSoft Doc Batch Tool . It is positioned as batch processing software for office files, suitable for handling large volumes of PDFs, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, images, text files, etc., helping users reduce repetitive operations. Below, we will focus on how PDF files can be batch renamed through content matching.
Applicable Scenarios
If your PDF files meet the following characteristics, they are very suitable for the method described in this article:
- File names have no business meaning, such as 1.pdf, 2.pdf, scan1.pdf, download.pdf, etc.
- There is a stable number within the PDF main text, such as a contract number, order number, application number, or customer number.
- The number format is relatively uniform, for example, all are continuous 8-digit numbers.
- You need to batch process multiple PDFs, rather than just modifying one or two files.
- You want the final file names to be easy to search, sort, share, and archive.
The PDFs in the example are a set of contract files. Inside each PDF, there is an 8-digit number corresponding to "Contract No." Our goal is not simply to add a prefix or suffix to the file name, but to extract the number from the PDF content and use it as the new file name.
This method can also be applied to other office documents. For example, if purchase orders have an 8-digit order number, project reports have a project number, or approval forms have a document number, as long as the number can be identified by a rule, they can be batch named in a similar way. When dealing with Word documents, formats like doc and docx are usually involved; for Excel, it may be xls or xlsx. This article demonstrates PDF files, so the functional entry chosen relates to PDF content renaming.
Preview of Effect: From Meaningless Sequence Numbers to Searchable Identifiers
Before Processing: PDF Files with Only Numerical Sequence Names
Before processing, there are 4 PDFs in the folder, named 1.pdf, 2.pdf, 3.pdf, and 4.pdf. Such a naming convention only indicates the quantity and rough order of files, not their content.
Opening one of the PDFs reveals that the first page of the main text contains contract number information. The number "10026877" highlighted in the red box in the screenshot is the content intended for the file name. In other words, although the file is named 1.pdf, the document already contains a number more suitable as a file name.
After Processing: Each PDF is Named According to its Main Text Number
After using the batch processing feature, the file names become 10026877.pdf, 20036655.pdf, 20100511.pdf, and 33952100.pdf. The new file names directly correspond to the numbers in the PDF main text. When searching for a specific contract or order later, you only need to search for the number.
From an office management perspective, this naming convention is more standardized. It not only reduces the number of times files need to be manually checked but also makes the folder structure clearer, suitable for handing over to colleagues, uploading to systems, or preserving as long-term archives.
Operation Steps
Step 1: Select the PDF Content Renaming Feature in the File Name Category
After opening HeSoft Doc Batch Tool , the left side features a function category navigation. In the screenshot, the "File Name" category is selected, and the main area displays multiple batch processing functions related to file names.
Among these functions, select "7. Rename PDF files using file content". As the function description indicates, it is used to batch rename PDF files using certain text from their content as the file name. This is exactly the effect we want to achieve: extracting the number from the PDF main text instead of manually renaming files one by one.
The key to this step is choosing the correct function entry. If you only want to add a prefix, delete text, or replace keywords in a file name, other file name functions might suffice; but if you need to read the internal text of a PDF, you should select "Rename PDF files using file content".
Step 2: Add PDF Files and Confirm the Pending Processing List
After entering the function, the page top displays the current task name, and the progress bar shows the stages required: "Select records to process, Set processing options, Set save location, Start processing". The first stage requires adding the PDFs to be processed into the list.
At the top right of the interface, there are "Add Files" and "Import Files from Folder" buttons. For a small number of files, you can use "Add Files"; if the entire folder consists of PDFs to be processed, using "Import Files from Folder" is more efficient. The list in the screenshot already has 4 files added, named 1.pdf, 2.pdf, 3.pdf, 4.pdf, all with the pdf extension.
The list also displays information such as path, creation time, and modification time. This information helps you confirm the source of the files is correct. For example, the path in the screenshot shows they are in the test directory on the D drive, indicating the files currently being processed are PDFs from a test directory. For formal processing, it is advisable to confirm the path first to avoid mistakenly processing files in other directories.
If there are files in the list that do not need processing, you can remove them using the delete button in the action column. After confirming the number and names of files are correct, click "Next" at the bottom.
Step 3: Select Custom Formula Matching Text and Enter the Expression
After entering the second step, "Set processing options", you need to tell the software which text segment to extract from the PDF content. In the screenshot, the "Search Area" is set to "Text matched by custom formula". This means the software will search for text in the PDF main text according to the rules entered by the user.
In the "Regular Expression" input box, enter "\d{8}". This rule means matching a continuous 8-digit number. Since the contract numbers in the example PDFs are exactly 8 digits, it can automatically identify numbers like 10026877, 20036655, 20100511, 33952100.
Here, \d{8} can be understood as a type of wildcard expression used for precise matching. Ordinary wildcards often only represent "any character" or "any length", whereas regular expressions can explicitly specify "digit" and "quantity of digits". For batch renaming, this method is more suitable for extracting structured numbers from documents.
In the "Position" area on the same page, "Overwrite the entire file name" is selected. This means the matched number will replace the original file name stem. Taking 1.pdf as an example, after matching 10026877, the file name will become 10026877.pdf. If you want to keep the original file name and insert the number on the left or right side, you would need to choose another position option; but the goal of this example is to name completely according to the number, so selecting overwrite the entire file name is the most direct.
Step 4: Continue to Set the Save Location and Execute the Batch Process
After setting the expression and file name position, click "Next". According to the page flow, the next steps involve setting the save location and then entering "Start processing". Although the subsequent pages are not shown in screenshots, the progress bar clearly indicates these two steps.
It is recommended to consider the save strategy before official execution. If the original files are very important, you can output them to a new folder first, check if all file names are correct, and after confirmation, move the results to the formal archiving directory. This preserves the pre-processed files and reduces the risks associated with batch operations.
After clicking start processing, the software will read the PDF content in the list one by one, find text matching the \d{8} rule, and write the matched result into the file name. After processing is complete, you can open the output folder to see the batch-renamed PDFs.
Suggestions for Setting Expressions
This example uses \d{8} because the contract number is 8 digits. If your file number format is different, you need to adjust the rule. Common approaches are as follows:
- 6-digit number: consider using \d{6}.
- 10-digit number: consider using \d{10}.
- Variable number of digits: you need to design a more suitable rule based on the actual file content.
- Fixed text around the number: you can combine the fixed text to improve matching accuracy.
However, note that the simpler the rule, the more likely it is to match irrelevant content. For example, if a PDF contains a contract number, date, phone number, and amount code simultaneously, and there are also continuous 8-digit numbers among them, using purely \d{8} might not distinguish which one is the number needed for the file name. Therefore, before batch processing, be sure to spot-check sample PDFs to confirm that the matched result is consistent with the business number.
Common Questions and Precautions
1. Why not directly use find and replace on the file name?
Because the file names before processing are sequence numbers like 1.pdf, 2.pdf, the contract number is not in the original file names. Find and replace can only modify text already present in the filename; it cannot read numbers from within the PDF body text. For this example, you must use a content-reading function like "Rename PDF files using file content".
2. Could \d{8} match a date?
It's possible. If a PDF contains a continuous 8-digit date like 20260603, and it is recognized before the contract number, it could affect the result. Therefore, it is recommended to test a few samples first. If the document contains multiple 8-digit numbers, you need to design a more precise rule, or ensure that the position and format of the number in the PDF are sufficiently stable.
3. Can I import an entire folder at once?
Yes. The function page in the screenshot provides an "Import Files from Folder" button, which is suitable for batch importing PDFs from the same directory. For a large number of contracts, orders, or scans, this saves more time than adding files one by one.
4. Will the file extension change after processing?
Since this is PDF file renaming, the file extension remains pdf. The processed file names in the example are 10026877.pdf, 20036655.pdf, etc., indicating that only the file name stem is replaced by the number; the file format does not change.
5. Can this method be used for scanned PDFs?
If the PDF has a recognizable text layer, it can usually be matched by content. If it is purely an image scan without a text layer, the software may be unable to read the number within it directly. Before processing such files, you can first test whether the number can be selected or copied in a PDF reader; if not, OCR recognition might be needed first.
Summary
The key to batch renaming many PDFs according to their main text numbers lies in two points: first, selecting the batch rename function that can read PDF content; second, setting the correct matching rule. The "Rename PDF files using file content" function provided by HeSoft Doc Batch Tool allows users to extract text from PDF main text using an expression and automatically replace the file name.
For the contract PDFs in the example, you only need to import the files, choose "Text matched by custom formula", enter \d{8}, and set it to overwrite the entire file name. This will batch convert temporary names like 1.pdf, 2.pdf into contract number names. It is recommended that you test the rule with a small number of files first, confirm the results, and then batch process the entire folder. This approach both enhances efficiency and ensures the accuracy of office file archiving.