Folder names often contain status suffixes like Final, Release, Archive, Done, etc. If you need to uniformly delete all text to the right of a certain keyword, manual renaming is very inefficient. This article demonstrates through HeSoft Doc Batch Tool how to batch delete all content after END using END as the delimiter, while retaining END itself, helping users quickly complete batch folder renaming and office document organization.
When organizing office documents, you often encounter a naming problem: the main part of a folder name is useful, but a temporary suffix is appended afterward. For example, project phases, review statuses, archive statuses, or completion statuses. Over time, a large number of folders like Design_START_oldVersion_END_Approved, Photo_START_rawSet_END_Edited, Project_START_alpha_END_Report appear in the directory. If you now want to uniformly rename them to keep only up to END, deleting the Approved, Edited, Report, and other content after END, manually renaming each one would be very cumbersome.
This article introduces a method more suitable for batch office processing: using HeSoft Doc Batch Tool , locate by the specified keyword END, and batch delete all content to the right of END in folder names. This method does not require suffixes to be of consistent length, nor does it require entering new names one by one. As long as the same locating text exists in each folder name, it can be processed in batches.
Applicable Scenarios: Batch Renaming Tasks That Require Deleting Text After a Keyword
"Deleting to the right of specified text" is essentially a rule-based method for batch renaming folders. It is suitable for handling folders with similar naming structures but not completely identical suffixes. Unlike simple replacement, it deletes all content after a specific keyword, making it particularly suitable for handling suffixes of variable length.
The following scenarios can all use this method:
- Delete status suffixes: Such as _Final, _Release, _Approved, _Paid, _Done, etc.
- Unify project directory names: Project folders have various phase descriptions after them and need their main names unified.
- Clean up temporary export directories: Folders exported by the system have extra tags and need simplified names for subsequent archiving.
- Standardize team shared drives: When multiple people maintain the same batch of directories with inconsistent naming styles, they can be adjusted in batches.
- Organize multiple types of office materials: Including document directories, Word/docx/doc material directories, Excel/xlsx data directories, PDF archive directories, image material directories, etc.
In these scenarios, the key is to find a stable delimiting text. For example, END in this article. As long as it serves as a clear boundary in every folder name, the software can batch delete the content to its right.
Preview of Effect: Before and After Comparison
Before Processing: Different Suffix Texts After END
The list of folders before processing is as follows. You can see that each folder name contains END, but the content after END varies—some are Final, some are Release, some are Archive, and others are Clean, Approved, Paid, Public, Edited, Report, Done, etc. The red-marked area is the suffix to be uniformly deleted this time.
If done manually, you would need to enter the rename state for each one, select the content after END, delete it, and confirm. Maybe 10 folders is acceptable, but if there are 100 or 1000, manual processing is not only time-consuming but also makes it difficult to guarantee consistent deletion for each name.
After Processing: All Folder Names Uniformly Kept Up to END
The effect after processing is as follows. All folder names retain END and have deleted the content to the right of END. The originally inconsistent suffixes are cleaned up in one go, making the directory names more organized.
For example, Client_START_2024Draft_END_Archive becomes Client_START_2024Draft_END, and Data_START_sampleChunk_END_Clean becomes Data_START_sampleChunk_END. This indicates that the processing rule is not based on a fixed number of characters, but on the keyword END as a boundary, thus accommodating suffixes of different lengths.
Operation Steps: Batch Delete Content to the Right of Folder Names by Specified Text
Step 1: Open the Folder Name Tool and Enter the Delete Text Function
After launching HeSoft Doc Batch Tool , you can see multiple office processing categories on the left, such as File Name, Folder Name, File Organization, Word Tools, Excel Tools, PowerPoint Tools, PDF Tools, Text Tools, Image Tools, etc. As the current processing target is folder names, first enter the Folder Name category on the left.
In the function card, select Delete Text in Folder Names. This function is used for batch deleting specified content in folder names, suitable for handling naming cleanup tasks like prefixes, suffixes, fixed text, or certain ranges of text.
The expected result of this step is to enter the processing wizard for "Delete Text in Folder Names." For office workers who frequently organize large numbers of directories, choosing the correct tool type first is very important: if working with folders, enter Folder Name; if working with file names like documents, spreadsheets, PDFs, you should select the corresponding file name processing function.
Step 2: Add Pending Folders and Check the List
After entering the function page, the interface shows the current task is Delete Text in Folder Names, and is at Step 1 "Select records to be processed." Click the Add Folder button in the upper right corner to add the folders that need processing to the task list.
After adding, the software lists the records in a table format. The screenshot shows columns for Index, Name, Path, Creation Time, Modification Time, and Operations. The bottom summary shows the record count is 10, indicating 10 folders have been added. At this point, the focus should be on checking two things:
- Are all folders in the Name column the objects that need to be renamed this time?
- Do all these names contain the text END, which will be used as the boundary?
If a folder should not be processed, it can be removed using the delete icon in the Operations column; if the wrong entire batch of folders was added, you can also use the Clear button on the page and then re-add. After checking, click Next at the bottom.
Step 3: Select "All Content to the Right of a Certain Text"
After entering Step 2 "Set processing options," you can see the page provides multiple deletion types. This time, we are not deleting all numbers, nor deleting a fixed number of characters from the left or right, but rather using END as the boundary to delete all content to its right. Therefore, in the operation type, select All content to the right of a certain text.
The function of this option is: the software will search for the specified text in each folder name and delete all characters to the right of that text. It is particularly suitable for batch renaming tasks where suffix lengths are inconsistent. For example, the character counts of Release, Archive, Approved are different, but as long as they are all after END, they can be deleted by the same rule.
Step 4: Enter END in the Text Box and Confirm Whether to Keep END
Fill in END in the Text input box at the bottom of the page. This means using END as the locating text. In the screenshot, you can also see the Include this text toggle switch is in the off state. Combined with the processing results, it can be seen that when this switch is off, the software retains the END itself, only deleting the content to the right of END.
This perfectly matches the goal of this article: processing Backup_START_tempFiles_END_Final into Backup_START_tempFiles_END, rather than into Backup_START_tempFiles_. Therefore, if you also want to keep the keyword itself, keep this switch off as shown in the screenshot.
If your actual needs are different, for example, if you want to delete the END as well, you need to adjust the "Include this text" setting according to the interface. However, before formal batch processing, it is recommended to verify the effect with a few folders first, to avoid the result not meeting expectations after processing a large batch of directories at once.
Step 5: Proceed to Next, Complete Save Location Settings and Start Processing
After setting the operation type and text, click Next at the bottom. The progress bar at the top of the page shows subsequent steps including Set Save Location and Start Processing. Continue completing the settings according to the software wizard, and finally execute the batch processing.
Before starting the processing, it is recommended to re-check the following information: whether the number of folders is correct, whether the keyword is entered as END, whether END needs to be kept, and whether the pending directories are the target directories. Executing only after confirming these points correct can reduce the risk of misoperation caused by batch renaming.
Why This Method Is More Suitable for Office Batch Processing Than Manual Renaming
The core value of batch processing files and folders is to turn repetitive labor into reusable rules. With manual renaming, each folder requires individual clicking, locating, deleting, and confirming; while using office software to set rules, the software executes the same logic for all records in the list. For directories with similar naming structures, this method significantly improves efficiency.
More importantly, deleting content to the right of a keyword is more flexible than deleting by character count. In reality, folder suffixes are often of unequal length—for example, the lengths of Final, Release, Archive, Approved, Edited are all different. If processed by "deleting a few texts from the right," some might not be deleted cleanly, while others might be over-deleted; but by locating based on END, different suffixes can be uniformly cleaned up.
Common Issues and Precautions
1. Should the keyword be filled in as END or _END_?
This depends on where you want the final name to be kept. The example in this article fills in END, and with "Include this text" off, the final result keeps END, deleting the underscore and suffix to its right. If you fill in _END_, the processing boundary changes, and the result might keep or delete the underscore at different positions. It is recommended to choose the most suitable locating text based on the actual naming rules.
2. What if END appears multiple times in a folder name?
If the same keyword appears multiple times in a folder name, extra caution is needed. The software will recognize the text position according to its rules and process the content to its right. To avoid results that do not meet expectations, it is recommended to first filter folders with consistent naming rules, or test with a small sample first.
3. Can it be used for Chinese keywords?
Looking at the interface options, the input box is for filling in "text." Therefore, besides English characters like END, in actual office work you can also fill in Chinese markers, numeric markers, or other fixed texts according to naming rules. The key is that the input content must be consistent with the target text in the folder name.
4. Will batch renaming affect the files inside the folders?
This article demonstrates modifying folder names, not deleting folder contents. Usually, renaming only changes the directory name and does not delete the files within the directory. However, after the folder path changes, shortcuts, reference relationships, or external links that depend on the original path may need to be reconfirmed.
5. What preparations should be made before processing a large number of folders?
It is recommended to first organize the pending directories to ensure irrelevant folders are not added to the list; then check whether the keyword is uniform; finally, test the processing results with a small sample. The efficiency of batch processing is high, which also means incorrect rules will be quickly applied to a large number of objects, so preliminary verification is very necessary.
Summary: Batch Truncate Folder Names by Keyword to Save Time on Directory Organization
This article demonstrated how to use HeSoft Doc Batch Tool to batch delete all content to the right of END in folder names. The complete process can be summarized as: enter the Folder Name category, select Delete Text in Folder Names, add pending folders, select "All content to the right of a certain text," enter END, keep "Include this text" off, then continue following the wizard to complete processing.
This method is particularly suitable for batch renaming tasks where suffix content is inconsistent but the delimiting keyword is consistent. It helps users quickly clean up excess suffixes, unify directory naming, reduce repetitive operations, and lower the risk of missed changes during manual renaming. If you are organizing project materials, client folders, material directories, or archive directories, you can first try this rule on a small batch of folders, confirm the effect, and then apply it in batches to more folders.