When a large number of folder names have unnecessary prefixes such as project names, source names, or temporary numbers, renaming them one by one is not only time-consuming but also prone to accidental deletions or omissions. This article uses the example of "batch deleting all content to the left of a specific text in folder names" to introduce how to use HeSoft Doc Batch Tool to locate the specified text START within folder names and batch delete the content to its left, while retaining START and the information to its right. The article includes before-and-after results, detailed operation steps, and considerations, suitable for organizing project folders, archive directories, client data folders, and similar scenarios.
In daily office work, many folder names can become quite lengthy due to export systems, project archiving, multi-person collaboration, or temporary naming. For example, a folder name might start with source descriptions like Backup, Build, Client, or Data, with a unified identifier text START in the middle. The content that really needs to be kept begins with START. If there are only a few folders, manual renaming might be tolerable; but when you need to process dozens or hundreds of folders, deleting the content to the left of a specified text one by one is very inefficient and prone to problems like missed deletions, accidental deletions, and retention inconsistencies.
This article addresses just this type of issue: batch deleting all content to the left of a certain text in many folder names, ensuring the folder names are kept starting from that specified text. Using the text "START" in the folder name as the positioning text, the following demonstrates how to use the office software " HeSoft Doc Batch Tool " to complete batch processing. This tool is positioned not as a single file editor, but as batch processing software for office scenarios, suitable for batch processing files, folders, Word, Excel, PDF, images, and other material naming and organization tasks. Its core value is reducing repetitive work and improving file management efficiency.
Applicable Scenarios: When is Deleting Content to the Left of a Specified Text Appropriate
"Deleting all content to the left of a specific text" is often used in folder batch renaming scenarios. Its characteristic is that each folder name contains the same or relatively stable identifying text. The content to the left of the identifying text is no longer needed, while the identifying text itself and the content to its right need to be kept.
For example, original folder names could be Backup_START_tempFiles_END_Final, Build_START_debugInfo_END_Release, Client_START_2024Draft_END_Archive. If you want all folders to display starting from START, you can delete the Backup_, Build_, Client_, etc. content to the left of START in one batch. After processing, the names would become START_tempFiles_END_Final, START_debugInfo_END_Release, START_2024Draft_END_Archive.
Similar scenarios also include: deleting the customer ID before the customer material folder name, keeping a unified project phase identifier; deleting the system prefix before a download directory name, keeping the content after the date or version number; when organizing project archive folders, removing department codes, source codes, and temporary marks, only keeping the name starting from a fixed keyword; batch standardizing the naming structure for material folders, contract folders, report folders, docx document directories, Excel report directories, and more.
Result Preview: Changes in Folder Names Before and After Processing
Before Processing: Different Prefixes Exist on the Left Side of Folder Names
From the pre-processing screenshot, you can see that multiple folder names all contain the common text START, but the content to the left of START varies, such as Backup_, Build_, Client_, Data_, Design_, etc. If these prefixes are no longer needed, they will affect the uniformity of folder names and are not conducive to sorting and searching by key content.
In this situation, manual operation requires entering the rename state for each folder one by one and then selecting the content to the left of START for deletion. The more folders there are, the more obvious the repetitive work becomes. If the deletion positions are inconsistent, it can also cause naming format confusion.
After Processing: All Folder Names Start from START
In the post-processing screenshot, the folder names have been uniformly changed to start with START. The Backup_, Build_, Client_, etc. content originally to the left of START has been batch-deleted, while START and the content to its right are still retained. For example, Client_START_2024Draft_END_Archive becomes START_2024Draft_END_Archive after processing, and Project_START_alpha_END_Report becomes START_alpha_END_Report.
This result shows that this operation is not simply about deleting a fixed number of characters, nor is it about deleting all prefix texts. Instead, it uses the specified text START as an anchor point to delete all content to its left. This method is more flexible than deleting by character count and is especially suited for situations where the length of the left-side prefix is inconsistent across folders.
Operation Steps: Using HeSoft Doc Batch Tool to Batch Delete Content to the Left of START
Step One: Enter the "Folder Name" Tool Category and Select to Delete Text from Folder Names
After opening HeSoft Doc Batch Tool , you can see multiple office processing categories in the left navigation bar, such as File Name, Folder Name, File Organization, Word Tools, Excel Tools, PowerPoint Tools, PDF Tools, Text Tools, Image Tools, etc. Since the processing target this time is folder names, you need to first enter the "Folder Name" category.
Select "Delete Text from Folder Names" from the function cards. In the screenshot, this function card is under the Folder Name category, indicating it is used for batch deleting specified content from folder names. The purpose of choosing this function is to enter a dedicated folder batch renaming process, rather than processing file content or file names.
After entering this function, the software guides the user through the operation using a wizard-style step process. For users unfamiliar with batch renaming rules, setting up step-by-step according to the interface can reduce the probability of operational errors.
Step Two: Add the Folders to be Processed and Check the Record List
After entering the "Delete Text from Folder Names" page, the first step is "Select records to process". You can see buttons like "Add Folders", "Clear", and "More" at the top right of the interface. Click "Add Folders" to add the folders that need batch processing to the list.
After adding, the list displays the sequence number, name, path, creation time, modification time, and an operation column. In the screenshot, 10 folder records have been added, with names including Backup_START_tempFiles_END_Final, Build_START_debugInfo_END_Release, Client_START_2024Draft_END_Archive, etc. At this point, you need to focus on checking two things: first, have all folders to be processed been added; second, are there any folders in the list that should not be processed.
If you find records in the list that do not need processing, you can remove them using the delete icon in the operation column; if the entire list was added incorrectly, you can use "Clear" and then re-add. After confirming the records are correct, click the "Next" button at the bottom of the page to enter the processing options settings.
Step Three: Select "All Content to the Left of a Specific Text" and Enter the Positioning Text START
The second step is setting the processing options, which is the key to this batch renaming. The interface provides multiple operation types, such as All Digits, All Whitespace, Several Characters on the Far Right, All Content Between Two Texts, All Chinese Characters, All Content, All Content to the Left of a Specific Text, Position Range, All English Letters, All Content to the Right of a Specific Text, etc.
Since our goal is to delete all content to the left of START and keep START and the name to its right, we should select "All Content to the Left of a Specific Text". Then, fill in START in the "Text" input box. This way, the software will look for START in each folder name and treat the part to the left of START as the deletion target.
You can also see a switch for "Include this text" in the screenshot. In this example, START needs to be kept, so this switch should remain off. That is, the software only deletes the content to the left of START, not the START text itself. If your actual requirement is to delete START along with it, you can adjust the "Include this text" setting based on the interface options, but in the results demonstrated in this article, START is retained.
This setting is very suitable for folder names with inconsistent prefix lengths. For example, Backup_ is 7 characters long, Client_ is 7 characters long, and Project_ is 8 characters long; deleting by a fixed character count would be unreliable. But by using START as the positioning text to delete the left-side content, each folder can be processed according to its own actual position.
Step Four: Proceed to Save Location Settings Following the Wizard
After completing the processing option settings, click "Next". From the step bar at the top of the interface, you can see the software process includes: "Select records to process", "Set processing options", "Set save location", and "Start processing". Therefore, after completing the deletion rule settings, you need to continue following the wizard to enter the save location related settings.
For folder name batch processing, the purpose of the save location or processing location setting is to allow the user to confirm where the processing results will be applied before actually executing. Different batch processing tasks might involve processing in the original location, outputting to a specified location, or other save strategies, based on the options provided on the current software page. It is recommended to carefully confirm the path and rules when proceeding to the next step to avoid processing directories that should not be renamed.
Step Five: Start Processing and View the Results
After completing the save location settings, enter the "Start processing" step. Confirm that the pending list, deletion rules, and save location are all correct, then execute the processing. After processing is complete, go back to your file explorer to view the folder names, and you will see all target folders have been unified to start from START.
In this example, Backup_START_tempFiles_END_Final becomes START_tempFiles_END_Final, Build_START_debugInfo_END_Release becomes START_debugInfo_END_Release, Task_START_removeThis_END_Done becomes START_removeThis_END_Done. Multiple folders are renamed in one batch, avoiding the manual process of repeatedly selecting, deleting, and confirming.
Common Questions and Precautions
1. Must every folder name contain START?
It is recommended to check the list before execution to ensure that the folder names needing processing all contain the text START used for positioning. If a folder name does not contain START, it might not match the rule as expected. To avoid inconsistent results, you can filter the directories first, or only add folders that comply with the rule.
2. Will START be deleted as well?
Not in the example for this article. Because "All Content to the Left of a Specific Text" was selected, and the "Include this text" switch is off, the content to the left of START is deleted, and START itself is kept. The post-processing screenshot also confirms that the folder names still start with START.
3. What if duplicate names occur after processing?
After batch deletion of prefixes, it is possible that different folders end up with the same name. For example, both A_START_Report and B_START_Report could become START_Report after the left-side content is deleted. Before executing, you should check for potential duplicate names and, if necessary, adjust the rules first or retain more distinguishing information.
4. Can this be used for organizing file names, Word, Excel, and other materials?
This article demonstrates folder name processing. On the left side of HeSoft Doc Batch Tool , you can also see categories for File Name, Word Tools, Excel Tools, PDF Tools, etc. For batch organizing office materials like doc, docx, xls, xlsx, pdf, you can select the corresponding tool category based on the actual object, but do not confuse the folder name function with file content processing.
5. Is it necessary to back up before batch processing?
It is recommended to back up important directories first, or test the rules on a small sample of folders initially. Batch renaming is highly efficient, but if a rule is set incorrectly, it can quickly affect many objects. Testing before executing in batch is a safer office processing habit.
Summary: Using Batch Processing Tools to Reduce Repetitive Renaming Work
When many folder names contain the same positioning text, and you need to delete all content to the left of that text, using HeSoft Doc Batch Tool can significantly improve efficiency. Through the "Delete Text from Folder Names" function in the "Folder Name" category, add the target folders, select "All Content to the Left of a Specific Text", input START, and complete the subsequent settings following the wizard. This allows you to batch-rename multiple folders into a unified format.
Compared to manual one-by-one renaming, the advantages of batch processing lie in consistent rules, faster speed, and more controllable operation steps. For tasks such as project archiving, organizing customer materials, cleaning up system export directories, and standardizing office document directories, it is advisable to prioritize using batch processing tools to handle repetitive work, saving time for content that truly requires judgment and analysis.