Many folders exported from the system come with fixed prefixes, such as ABC, BCD, DEF, etc., and what really needs to be retained is the date or number that follows. This article focuses on "batch removing folder name prefixes" and uses HeSoft Doc Batch Tool to demonstrate how to select "delete text in folder names" and remove the leftmost 3 characters from multiple folders at once. The article includes applicable scenarios, before-and-after effects, detailed steps, and precautions, making it suitable for office users who need to efficiently organize directories.
When organizing office documents, whether folder naming is standardized can directly affect subsequent search efficiency. For example, suppose a directory contains a batch of folders with names like ABC20240101, BCD20241010, DEF20240202, GHI20240303, and JKL20240404. Their common feature is that they all have three English letters on the left, followed by the date code that actually needs to be kept. If these letters are only temporary prefixes or old system codes, they need to be removed in bulk during organization.
Manually modifying folder names one by one may seem simple, but when the volume is large, it becomes low-value, repetitive work. Especially in scenarios like financial archiving, project delivery, client data management, image asset organization, and contract directory cleaning, folders often appear in batches. Manually deleting prefixes is not only slow but may also lead to inconsistent names due to over-deletion or under-deletion. This article introduces a method more suitable for office scenarios: using HeSoft Doc Batch Tool and its "Delete Text from Folder Name" function to remove the leftmost characters from many folder names at once.
Applicable Scenarios: What Problems Can Batch Removal of Folder Name Prefixes Solve?
Batch deleting text from the left side of folder names is suitable for directories with "similar name structures and consistent deletion rules." That is, as long as these folders all need the same number of characters removed from the far left, they can be processed automatically with a unified rule.
For example, the following scenarios are very suitable for the method in this article:
- System-exported folders: Directory names after export have system codes at the front, while the following dates, order numbers, or project numbers are the content that needs to be kept.
- Batch material cleanup: A batch of materials had prefixes like ABC, DEF, GHI added for temporary differentiation, and these prefixes need to be removed during archiving.
- Unified directory naming format: Different colleagues have different naming habits, leaving redundant identifiers on the left side of folder names, which need to be tidied into a unified format.
- Date directory sorting: When folder names start with letters, sorting by name is not intuitive; after removing the prefix, you can view them sorted directly by date code.
- Pre-delivery organization: Before delivering to a client or another department, internal identifiers need to be cleaned up to make directory names more concise and professional.
This type of operation is different from editing the content of Word doc, docx files or processing Excel xls, xlsx spreadsheets; rather, it is a bulk rename of the folder names themselves. Using specialized office batch processing software can turn tasks that originally required a lot of manual effort into a few-step setup.
Preview of Results: Changes Before and After Deleting the Left Prefix
Before processing: Each folder name has a letter prefix at the beginning
The list of folders before processing is shown in the image below. You can see each folder name has three letters on the left, such as ABC, BCD, DEF, GHI, JKL, etc. The red marks and arrows highlight these left-side texts that need to be deleted.
If processed manually, you would need to select each folder, enter renaming mode, delete the first three characters, and confirm the name. Processing 10 folders this way might be barely manageable, but for 100 or 1000 folders, the workload increases significantly and errors are more likely to occur.
After processing: Prefix is deleted, leaving only the core code
After the process is complete, the folder names become 20240101, 20240202, 20240303, 20240404, 20240505, etc. The original 3 letters on the far left have disappeared, and the main part of the name is preserved.
This result is more suitable for sorting by date or code and makes it easier to locate folders quickly in File Explorer. For users who need to manage folders as project files, client profiles, or timeline directories, unified naming can significantly enhance future search efficiency.
Operation Steps: Deleting the Leftmost 3 Texts from Folder Names at Once
The following steps, based on the workflow in the screenshots, explain how to complete the batch process. The overall idea is: first, select the corresponding function; then add the folders to be processed; finally, set the deletion rule to "the leftmost few texts" and enter the quantity.
Step 1: Open the folder name tool and enter the text deletion function
After launching HeSoft Doc Batch Tool , find and click Folder Name in the left navigation bar. This category offers various folder name processing capabilities, suitable for office scenarios like batch find and replace, inserting text, adding prefixes/suffixes, and case conversion.
For this task of removing folder name prefixes, select the Delete Text from Folder Name function card. In the screenshot, this function is located under the "Folder Name" category, with the card description "Batch delete text from folder name."
After selecting this function, the software will enter a step-by-step processing wizard. From the page flow, you can see the overall task roughly includes "Select records to process," "Set processing options," "Set save location," and "Start processing." This step-by-step process helps step-by-step confirmation before batch renaming, reducing operational errors.
Step 2: Add folders to be renamed
After entering the function page, you first arrive at the "Select records to process" step. Click the Add Folder button in the top right corner of the page to add the folders that need processing to the list. Once added, the interface displays information such as folder name, path, creation time, and modification time.
As seen in the screenshot, 10 records were added this time, and the summary area at the bottom shows a record count of 10. The folder names in the list include ABC20240101, BCD20241010, DEF20240202, GHI20240303, JKL20240404, MNO20240505, PQR20240606, STU20240707, VWX20240808, YZA20240909.
The purpose of this step is not to modify names immediately, but to gather the objects to be processed and verify them before proceeding. Users are advised to focus on the "Name" and "Path" columns to confirm that no wrong directories have been added. If there are folders in the list that do not need processing, they can be removed using the operation buttons on the right side of each row; if reselection is needed, you can also use the clear function on the page.
After confirming the records are correct, click Next at the bottom to enter the processing rule setup.
Step 3: Set the deletion rule to the leftmost few texts
On the "Set processing options" page, you need to select which specific text type to delete. The interface provides various operation types, such as all numbers, all whitespace, the rightmost few texts, all content between two texts, all Chinese characters, all content, all content to the left of a specific text, position range, all English letters, the leftmost few texts, all content to the right of a specific text, etc.
Since this example requires deleting the first 3 characters from the beginning of the folder name, select the leftmost few texts, and then enter 3 in the Quantity input box.
This setting will cause the software to start from the first character of each folder name and delete 3 characters to the right. In this example, the processing logic is as follows:
- ABC20240101: Delete ABC, keep 20240101;
- BCD20241010: Delete BCD, keep 20241010;
- DEF20240202: Delete DEF, keep 20240202;
- GHI20240303: Delete GHI, keep 20240303;
- YZA20240909: Delete YZA, keep 20240909.
If your actual folder names require deleting not 3 characters, but 4, 5, or another quantity, you only need to modify the "Quantity" based on the actual prefix length. The key here is that all folders to be processed should ideally share the same naming pattern, otherwise a single quantity value might not apply to all of them.
Step 4: Proceed to the next step and start batch processing
After completing the settings, click the Next button at the bottom. Following the interface flow, you will then proceed to "Set save location" and "Start processing." Follow the page prompts to complete the confirmation when continuing.
Before batch renaming, it is recommended to perform another check:
- Confirm the current function is indeed "Delete Text from Folder Name";
- Confirm the selected operation type is "the leftmost few texts";
- Confirm the quantity entered is the correct value, e.g., 3 in this example;
- Confirm the folders in the list are all intended for processing;
- Confirm these folders are not locked for extended use by other programs.
After processing is complete, return to File Explorer to view the results, and you will see that the folder name prefixes have been batch deleted. Compared to manual modification one by one, using a batch processing tool is more suitable for handling a large number of folders, especially for directory cleanup tasks with clear rules and large quantities.
Frequently Asked Questions and Considerations: It's Recommended to Review These Before Batch Deleting Prefixes
1. How should the quantity be filled in?
The quantity represents the number of characters to delete from the leftmost side of the folder name. In this example, ABC, BCD, DEF are all 3 letters, so enter 3. If the folder name is AA20240101 and you want to delete AA, enter 2; if it's TEST20240101 and you want to delete TEST, enter 4.
2. Can folders with inconsistent prefix lengths be processed together?
It is not recommended to process folders with different prefix lengths in the same batch. For example, if some prefixes are 2 characters, some 3, and some 5, a uniform setting of 3 might result in incomplete deletion for some folders or accidental deletion of the intended main content. A safer practice is to process them in batches based on prefix length.
3. Will it affect the files inside the folder?
This operation modifies the folder name and will not directly edit the contents of Word, Excel, PPT, PDF files, images, or videos inside. However, when the folder name changes, the original path also changes. If there are shortcuts, spreadsheet links, script paths, or other programs dependent on the original directory name, the impact needs to be assessed in advance.
4. Why not just select "All English Letters"?
If your goal is only to delete the letter prefix at the beginning, it is preferred to use "the leftmost few texts." "All English Letters" is more suitable for scenarios where you want to clear all English characters from the name. If a folder name also has English letters in the middle or end that need to be kept, selecting "All English Letters" could delete them by mistake. Therefore, deleting by position is usually more controllable.
5. Is a backup required before batch processing?
It is recommended to back up important directories first or test on a small sample batch. Batch renaming is highly efficient, but if a rule is set incorrectly, it can also produce errors in bulk. A more prudent office habit is to verify the processing effect on a few folders first before executing on the complete directory.
6. What happens if a folder name is too short?
If some folder names are too short, or if the name could become empty after deleting the specified number of characters, extra caution is needed. Before processing, check the list to ensure all records conform to the rule. For abnormal names, they can be removed from the list first and processed separately.
Summary: Delegate Rule-Based Folder Renaming Tasks to Batch Processing Tools
Batch removing folder name prefixes is a very typical scenario for improving office efficiency. As long as folder names have a uniform structure, such as "3-letter prefix + date code," you can quickly complete this using HeSoft Doc Batch Tool . In the example in this article, we selected "Delete Text from Folder Name" under the "Folder Name" category, added 10 folders, set the operation type to "the leftmost few texts," entered 3 for the quantity, and ultimately renamed names like ABC20240101 to standard formats like 20240101 in bulk.
Compared to manual renaming one by one, the advantages of batch processing are unified rules, faster speed, reduced repetitive labor, and better suitability for organizing large directories. For office users who frequently handle files, folders, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PDF materials, and project archiving, mastering this type of batch processing method can significantly improve daily file management efficiency.
If you currently have a batch of folders that need a fixed length of text deleted from the left side of their names, it's recommended to first sort out the naming rules, confirm the number of characters to delete, then follow the steps in this article to add folders and set the processing options. Test on a small scale first, and then execute in bulk, to complete folder name standardization safely and efficiently.