When dealing with large volumes of reports, contracts, statistical tables, and PDF documents, if you need to add the same text at the beginning of each file name, manually renaming them is often inefficient and prone to errors. This article explains how to use the "Insert text into file names" feature of HeSoft Doc Batch Tool to uniformly add content at the start of multiple file names by importing files, setting the insertion position to 0, and entering the text to be inserted. This is suitable for batch organizing and archiving of office files like Word, PDF, and Excel.
File names may seem like a minor detail, but in team collaboration, document archiving, client delivery, and financial management, whether file names are standardized directly affects search efficiency. Many users encounter this situation: a folder contains materials such as annual reports, quarterly reports, reimbursement forms, budget sheets, and tax documents, with file formats including Word, PDF, and Excel. Now you need to uniformly add a company name or project name to the beginning of every file name. If you manually change them one by one, the operation is repetitive, time-consuming, and it's easy to miss a file.
This article explains how to use HeSoft Doc Batch Tool to batch insert the same text into the beginning of multiple file names. In the example, the text to insert is Oakwood Enterprises Company_, and after processing, each file name will start with this text. This method is suitable for batch adding prefixes to file names, batch renaming office files, and uniformly organizing docx, doc, pdf, xlsx, xls, and other files.
Applicable Scenarios: What Problems Can Be Solved by Batch Inserting Text at the Beginning of File Names
Client Material Delivery: When delivering a complete set of materials to a client, you can add the client's company name to the beginning of all file names, preventing the client from being unable to identify the file source after downloading or transferring.
Project File Archiving: Project files often include proposals, budgets, reports, data sheets, and attachments. Uniformly adding a project abbreviation or project number to file names keeps their affiliation clear even when files are in different folders.
Financial File Organization: Financial departments frequently handle expense reports, cost breakdowns, budget sheets, annual reports, and tax filing documents. Adding company, department, or year information to the beginning of file names can reduce subsequent search costs.
Cross-Format Uniform Naming: Many batch renaming needs are not limited to a single file format. The example in the screenshot includes .docx, .pdf, and .xlsx files simultaneously. For common Word documents, PDF reports, Excel spreadsheets, etc., as long as the requirement is to modify file names, it can be done in batches using uniform rules.
Effect Preview: Before Processing, File Names Are Scattered and Lack Unified Identification Information
Before processing, file names are mainly based on specific content, for example, Tax_Declaration_2024.docx, Reimbursement_Form_March_2024.pdf, Quarterly_Report_Q1_2024.docx, Income_Statistics_Q1_2024.pdf, Annual_Expense_Comparison.xlsx, etc. These file names indicate the file topic, but it's impossible to tell which client or company these files belong to.
If these files only exist in one fixed folder, the problem might not be obvious; however, once they need to be sent to colleagues, uploaded to a shared drive, or archived into multiple project directories, the lack of a unified prefix creates management risks. Especially when file names from different companies or projects are similar, relying solely on the original file name can easily lead to confusion.
Effect Preview: After Processing, File Name Prefixes Are Unified and Attribution Is Clearer
After processing, Oakwood Enterprises Company_ is inserted at the beginning of all file names. As seen in the screenshot, the new file names retain the original file topic while adding unified identification information. For instance, Annual_Report_2024.pdf becomes Oakwood Enterprises Company_Annual_Report_2024.pdf, and Tax_Declaration_2024.docx becomes Oakwood Enterprises Company_Tax_Declaration_2024.docx.
This naming convention is highly suitable for batch archiving: the prefix indicates attribution, the original file name describes content, and the extension maintains the file type. For office workers, this is more reliable than manually renaming one by one, and it's also easier to establish a unified naming standard.
Steps: Use HeSoft Doc Batch Tool to Uniformly Insert File Name Prefixes
Step 1: Enter the File Name Processing Function from the Main Interface
Open HeSoft Doc Batch Tool , find and click File Name in the left navigation bar. This is the function category related to batch file name processing. Multiple function cards will appear on the right, including find and replace file name keywords, insert text into file names, add prefix and suffix to file names, etc.
This tutorial aims to achieve "inserting specified text at the beginning of file names," so choose the highlighted "Insert text into file name" option in the screenshot. Its description is "Batch insert text at a certain position in file names," which fully corresponds to the requirement of this article.
The expected result of this step is to enter the dedicated insert text processing page, preparing for importing files and setting insertion rules.
Step 2: Add Files to Create a List of Files to Process
After entering the function page, the top process flow shows that you are currently at "Select records to be processed." In the upper right area of the interface, there are two buttons: Add Files and Import Files from Folder. The main difference lies in the selection method: if you already know exactly which files to process, you can use "Add Files"; if all files in a folder need processing, "Import Files from Folder" is more convenient.
After importing, files will be displayed in the list. The list shows information such as file name, path, extension, creation time, and modification time. In the screenshot, the imported files are located in a desktop test folder, and file types include xlsx, pdf, docx, etc. Through this list, users can check if the files are correct before executing the batch process.
If files that shouldn't be processed have been imported, they should be removed before formally proceeding to the next step. The advantage of batch processing is operating on multiple files at once, but the prerequisite is that the pending list is accurate. After confirming the list is correct, click Next Step at the bottom.
Step 3: Set the Insertion Position and the Text to Insert
After entering "Set processing options," two fields need to be filled. The first field is Position, and the second is Text to insert. In the example, the Position is set to 0, and the Text to insert is set to Oakwood Enterprises Company_.
The most critical part here is the position setting. Because the goal is to insert text at the very beginning of the file name, the position should be set to 0. This tells the software to place the input content at the start of the original file name, rather than in the middle or at the end.
Another key point is the insertion text itself. The text used in the screenshot includes an underscore at the end, which separates the company name from the original file name. The resulting naming structure will be "CompanyName_OriginalFileName.extension", for example, Oakwood Enterprises Company_Expense_Details_February_2024.xlsx. This format is clear, readable, and makes it easier to search by company name later.
Step 4: Continue to Set Save Location and Execute Processing
After setting the processing options, continue by clicking Next Step at the bottom of the page. According to the top process flow, subsequent steps include "Set save location" and "Start processing." In practice, follow the interface prompts to complete the save location setting, and before starting the process, confirm again that the rules are correct.
It is recommended to test with a small number of files first when processing important documents. For example, select 2 to 3 files initially, confirm that the insertion position, prefix text, and processing results meet expectations, and then execute the batch process on the entire folder. This balances efficiency and safety.
Common Issues and Precautions
Should the Position Be Set to 0 or 1?
If the goal is to insert text at the very beginning of the file name, the example uses position 0. Position 0 represents the starting position, meaning the result adds text before the first character of the original file name. If other numbers are entered, text might be inserted into the middle of the file name, which is not suitable for "adding a prefix at the beginning" as discussed in this article.
Can the Inserted Text Contain Spaces?
The example Oakwood Enterprises Company_ includes spaces between words and uses an underscore as a separator at the end. Using spaces in file names is common practice, but for better cross-system compatibility and management stability, underscores or hyphens can also be used according to company standards. The key is to stay consistent across the same batch of files.
Does Batch Processing Affect File Content?
This article demonstrates file name processing, not modifying the content of Word, PDF, or Excel files. Based on the function names and processing results in the screenshots, changes occur at the file name level, and file extensions are retained. Therefore, it is more suitable for file management and archiving scenarios.
What If File Names Already Have a Prefix?
Before batch insertion, you should check the file list. If some files already have the same prefix, performing the insertion again could lead to duplicate prefixes. In such cases, it's recommended to organize the files first, or process files without the prefix in batches separately.
Can Files of Different Formats Be Processed at Once?
The example in the screenshot processes xlsx, pdf, and docx files simultaneously, indicating this workflow is suitable for batch processing file names of mixed formats. In practice, you can put the same batch of office files that need uniform naming into the list and process them together.
Summary: Unified File Name Prefixes Make Office Archiving More Efficient
Batch inserting text at the beginning of multiple file names is a frequent but easily underestimated office requirement. Manual renaming consumes a lot of time, while HeSoft Doc Batch Tool breaks this process down into clear steps: select function, import files, set position to 0, fill in the insertion text, continue to save and process. The entire process is suitable for non-technical users and also for administrative, financial, project, and operational staff who need to frequently organize files.
If you currently have a batch of Word, PDF, and Excel files that need unified company names, project names, or department identifiers, you can follow the steps in this article. Let batch processing tools handle the repetitive work, which reduces errors and makes file archiving more standardized.