When multiple PDF files contain keywords with the same structure but inconsistent content, opening and modifying them one by one is not only time-consuming but also prone to omissions. This article uses batch replacement of date fields in PDFs as an example to introduce how to use HeSoft Doc Batch Tool to process keywords in multiple PDF files at once through wildcard or formula-based fuzzy search methods. The tutorial combines before-and-after effects with software operation steps to help users quickly complete batch find and replace tasks in PDFs.
In daily office work, PDF files are often used to store formal documents such as contracts, reports, notices, manuals, and archival materials. The problem is that once these PDFs contain dates, names, numbers, or version numbers that need to be uniformly updated, manually opening each file to find and replace them becomes a highly repetitive and error-prone task. This is especially true when the keywords are not completely fixed text but rather content with certain patterns, such as "different months, different years, different numbers," where ordinary exact search is often insufficient.
The problem this article aims to solve is: how to use wildcard or formula-based fuzzy search methods to batch find and replace keywords in many PDF files. In the example, we need to uniformly update date content across multiple PDF files, such as replacing the original months and years with new content. With the office software " HeSoft Doc Batch Tool ", you can import multiple PDFs at once, set search rules and replacement results within the same task, thereby reducing repetitive work and improving the efficiency of batch file processing.
Applicable Scenarios: Which PDF Content is Suitable for Batch Replacement with Wildcards
PDF batch fuzzy search and replace is suitable for handling scenarios where "content follows a pattern but is not entirely identical." For example, dates on the covers of a batch of reports might include April 13, 2017, or May 13, 2017, or the years might vary across different files. If only exact search were used, you would need to input every possible text variation; but by using wildcards, formulas, or regex-like expressions, you can match multiple possible results with a single rule.
Common applicable scenarios include: batch replacing old company names in PDF contracts, uniformly updating dates on PDF report covers, batch modifying product version numbers in PDF manuals, replacing old URLs with new ones across multiple PDF files, and uniformly updating years or serial numbers in notification documents. These tasks are very common for roles in administration, human resources, finance, project management, and document archiving.
It is important to note that this article discusses keyword search and replacement within the content of PDF files, not modifying file names. If you need to batch modify doc, docx, xls, xlsx, ppt, pptx, or PDF file names, that falls under batch file name processing; if you need to modify the text content displayed on PDF pages, you can refer to the workflow in this article.
Preview of Effect: Keywords to be Replaced Exist in Multiple PDFs Before Processing
In this example, there are 4 PDF files in the folder: 1.pdf, 2.pdf, 3.pdf, and 4.pdf. This situation is common in practical work: a batch of files has a similar structure, all containing dates, numbers, or keywords that need to be uniformly adjusted.
Upon opening one of the PDFs, you can see date content on the cover. The example date before processing is "April 13, 2017". The screenshot highlights two parts that need to be replaced in red boxes: the month "April" and the year "2017". The day number "13," in the middle does not need to be modified, so we only replace the month and year.
If only one PDF needed processing, manual modification might be acceptable; but when the number of files increases to dozens or hundreds, opening each PDF, searching for keywords, replacing, and saving would consume a lot of time. What's more troublesome is that the month might not only be April, it could also be May, and the year could also be different numbers, which requires fuzzy search capability.
Preview of Effect: Keywords in PDFs Have Been Uniformly Updated After Processing
After completing the batch processing, open the PDF file to check. You can see that the original "April 13, 2017" has become "August 13, 2026". That is, the month was replaced with August, the year was replaced with 2026, and the "13," in the middle, which did not need modification, remains unchanged.
This result demonstrates that the software does not simply replace the entire date string but locates the month and year separately according to the search rules we set, then replaces them with the corresponding new content. For batch updating date fields in PDFs, this method is more stable and easier to reuse than manual operation.
Operation Step 1: Enter the PDF Tool and Select the Find and Replace Function
After opening HeSoft Doc Batch Tool , you can see multiple office file processing entries in the function categories on the left, such as Word Tools, Excel Tools, PowerPoint Tools, PDF Tools, Text Tools, Image Tools, etc. Since we need to process PDF file content this time, we need to enter the "PDF Tools" category.
In the PDF Tools list, select "Find and Replace Keywords in PDF". In the screenshot, this function is the first item in PDF Tools, with the description "Batch find and replace keywords in PDF file content". The purpose of this step is to enter the processing workflow specifically for PDF content find and replace.
From the product positioning, HeSoft Doc Batch Tool is a type of batch processing software for office scenarios. Its focus is not on complex editing of a single file but on putting multiple files into the same task for unified processing. For highly repetitive, rule-based PDF modification tasks, this kind of batch tool can significantly reduce manual clicking and repetitive input.
Operation Step 2: Add PDF Files to be Processed
After entering the "Find and Replace Keywords in PDF" function, the software will enter a step-by-step wizard interface. Step 1 is "Select records to process". On the upper right of the page, you can see buttons like "Add Files", "Import Files from Folder", "Clear", and "More".
If you only need to process a few PDFs, you can click "Add Files" and manually select the target files; if you need to process many PDFs in a folder, it is recommended to use "Import Files from Folder", which allows you to add PDFs from the same directory to the list more quickly. The screenshot shows 4 imported files: 1.pdf, 2.pdf, 3.pdf, 4.pdf, with the path located at D:\test\, and all extensions are pdf.
After adding, you need to confirm the file list is correct. The list will show information such as serial number, name, path, extension, creation time, modification time, and the bottom summary shows the record count is 4. The expected result here is that all PDFs requiring batch find and replace are in the list, and files that do not need processing are not added to the task. After confirming there are no errors, click "Next" at the bottom.
Operation Step 3: Set Wildcard or Formula-Based Fuzzy Search Rules
Step 2 is "Set processing options", which is also the key part of this tutorial. On the page, you can see "Set keyword options", and under "Search Method" there are two options: "Exact text search" and "Use formula for fuzzy text search". This example selects "Use formula for fuzzy text search".
Why choose fuzzy search? Because the content we want to match does not necessarily have a single fixed value. The "Keyword list to find" in the screenshot has two lines input: the first line is "April|May", and the second line is "\d{4}". "April|May" means it can match month text like April or May; "\d{4}" means it matches 4-digit numbers, suitable for locating years, such as 2017, 2024, 2026, etc.
Two lines are also entered in the "Keyword list to replace" on the right: the first line is "August", and the second line is "2026". This indicates that the month matched by the first search rule will be replaced with August, and the 4-digit year matched by the second search rule will be replaced with 2026.
From an operational logic perspective, the lists on the left and right correspond row by row: the first line on the left corresponds to the first line on the right, and the second line on the left corresponds to the second line on the right. Therefore, when batch replacing PDF keywords, you must ensure that the number of lines and the order in the search list and the replacement list are consistent. Otherwise, the replacement results may not meet expectations.
Operation Step 4: Continue to Set Save Location and Start Processing
After completing the keyword rule setup, click "Next" at the bottom of the page. According to the workflow prompts at the top of the interface, subsequent steps include "Set save location" and "Start processing". The purpose of these two steps is to determine where the processed PDF files will be saved and to formally execute the batch find and replace task.
Although the screenshot does not show the save location page, it can be reasonably inferred from the current wizard workflow that the user needs to complete the save location setting following the software prompts. It is recommended to save the processed files to a new folder and not directly overwrite the original files. This way, even if an error is found in the rule settings, you can always return to the original files to re-process, avoiding affecting the original materials.
After entering the "Start processing" step, confirm that the task files and replacement rules are correct, then execute the processing. After processing is complete, you can open one of the output PDFs to check the effect, focusing on whether the target keywords have been replaced and non-target content remains unchanged. In the example, the processed date becomes "August 13, 2026", indicating that the replacement rules took effect.
Frequently Asked Questions and Notes
1. How to choose between wildcards and exact search? If the text to find is completely fixed, for example, all PDFs contain the same company name, you can use exact text search. If the content varies, for example, the month may be different, the year is any 4-digit number, or the number format follows a pattern, it is recommended to use "Use formula for fuzzy text search".
2. Why split the replacement into multiple lines? In the example, we only wanted to replace the month and year, and did not want to change the day number in the middle, so we split the month and year into two rules. This preserves the original text structure and only updates the parts that need to change.
3. Do the search list and replacement list need a one-to-one correspondence? Yes. The rule on which line on the left will correspond to the replacement result on the same line on the right. It is recommended to check line by line before batch processing to avoid replacing a month with a year, or a year with something else.
4. Should I back up files before batch processing? Backing up is recommended. Especially for formal PDFs like contracts, reports, and archives, it is best to save the output files to a new directory, and archive or distribute them after confirming the results are correct.
5. Can all PDFs be replaced? Generally, text-based PDFs that are copyable and recognizable are more suitable for find and replace. If the PDF is a purely scanned image and the text itself is not editable text, it may require optical character recognition (OCR) or other processing methods first. The actual effect should depend on the file content structure.
Summary: Reduce Repetitive PDF Modification Work with Batch Tools
When many PDF files need to have the same type of keywords modified, manual processing is not only inefficient but also prone to missed or incorrect modifications. Through the "Find and Replace Keywords in PDF" function in HeSoft Doc Batch Tool , you can import multiple PDFs at once, use wildcards or formula-based fuzzy search rules to locate target content, and then batch replace it with new text.
This article's example demonstrated the complete approach of matching months and 4-digit years from multiple PDFs and replacing them with August and 2026. For users who frequently process office files like PDFs, Word, docx, Excel, PPT, etc., mastering this batch processing method can significantly reduce repetitive work. It is recommended to test the rules with a small number of files before formal processing, confirming the effect before executing in batch.