When a batch of Word, PDF, PPT, or Excel filenames contains multiple keywords that need to be modified simultaneously—such as year, month, and status—renaming them one by one is not only time-consuming but also prone to omissions. Using HeSoft Doc Batch Tool as an example, this article demonstrates how to use the "Find and Replace Keywords in File Names" feature of office software to batch replace 2024, 12, and Draft in filenames with 2025, 05, and Completed in one go, suitable for scenarios such as project archiving, monthly data updates, and contract document organization.
In daily office work, file names often contain information such as project year, month, version status, department name, and customer name. For example, a batch of materials originally used for the draft stage in December 2024 would have file names uniformly containing 2024, 12, Draft; when it comes time for a new round of archiving or delivery, these need to be changed to 2025, 05, Completed. If there are only two or three files, manual renaming is acceptable; but if multiple formats like PDF, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel are involved simultaneously, modifying them one by one is not only inefficient but also prone to issues like omissions, incorrect changes, and inconsistent order.
This article addresses this type of "batch replacement of multiple keyword lists in many file names" problem. We will combine screenshots to demonstrate how to use the file name processing function in the office software " HeSoft Doc Batch Tool " to replace multiple keywords in multiple file names by corresponding rows. In the example, 2024 in file names will be replaced with 2025, 12 with 05, and Draft with Completed, thereby completing the update of multiple file name rules at once.
Applicable Scenarios: Which File Names Are Suitable for Batch Replacement with Multiple Keywords
Batch replacement with multiple keywords is suitable for all office scenarios where "file name structures are similar and require a unified renaming rule." Common situations include: changing annual materials from 2024 to 2025, changing the month from 12 to 05; changing file status from Draft to Completed; uniformly replacing project codes, customer abbreviations, department names; and uniformly adjusting the naming rules for Word documents docx, doc, PDF files, PPT or PPTX presentations, Excel spreadsheets xlsx, xls.
The core of this type of operation is not modifying file content, but modifying file names. HeSoft Doc Batch Tool is a batch document processing tool in office software, with its key value lying in reducing repetitive work. Users do not need to open each file or press F2 to rename them individually; they just need to list the keywords to find and the replacement keywords, and the software can batch process them according to the rules.
Especially in scenarios like project material delivery, monthly report archiving, training courseware organization, contract scan naming, and financial voucher attachment organization, whether file names are standardized directly affects subsequent retrieval and collaboration. Batch replacement of file names can help teams quickly unify naming standards, avoiding mixed naming like "Draft," "draft," "草稿," "Final Version" within the same project.
Effect Preview: File Names Containing Old Year, Old Month, and Draft Status Before Processing
From the before-processing screenshot, you can see the file list includes multiple file types, including pdf, docx, pptx, xlsx, etc. Their file names share the same naming structure: starting with 2024_12, followed by different document topics in the middle, such as Budget_Proposal, Financial_Report, Marketing_Strategy, and ending uniformly with Draft. This means this batch of files needs to replace three keywords simultaneously: year, month, and status.
If processed manually, the user would need to open the rename state one by one, find 2024 to change to 2025, then find 12 to change to 05, and finally change Draft to Completed. For 8 files, this is already quite tedious; if expanded to dozens or hundreds of files, the manual operation cost would increase rapidly. More importantly, manual operation is prone to errors like only changing the year and forgetting the status, or accidentally typing an extra character in a specific file.
Effect Preview: Multiple Keywords Uniformly Replaced with New Naming After Processing
In the after-processing screenshot, the file names have been uniformly changed to the 2025_05_..._Completed format. The original 2024 has been replaced with 2025, the original 12 with 05, and the original Draft with Completed. The file extensions have not been changed; pdf remains pdf, docx remains docx, and pptx, xlsx also remain in their original formats.
This indicates that the goal of this processing is "keyword replacement in file names," not file format conversion, nor modification of document content. This is important for office scenarios: batch renaming should only affect naming rules and must not destroy the original file type. In this way, users can complete unified naming of cross-format files in a short time.
Operation Step 1: Enter the File Name Tool and Select Find and Replace Keywords Function
After opening HeSoft Doc Batch Tool , find "File Name" in the left function navigation. From the screenshot, you can see that the software's left side not only has File Name, but also includes Folder Name, File Organization, Word Tools, Excel Tools, PowerPoint Tools, PDF Tools, Text Tools, Image Tools, etc., indicating it is software oriented towards batch processing of office documents.
Under the "File Name" category, select the first function, "Find and Replace Keywords in File Names." The description of this function card is "Batch find and replace keywords in file names," which perfectly matches the requirement of this article. The purpose of selecting this function is to enter the batch renaming workflow, allowing the software to perform uniform replacement on file names based on the user's inputted find-and-replace lists.
Upon completing this step, the expected result is to enter a wizard-style processing page. Subsequently, the task will be completed following the flow of "Select records to process," "Set processing options," "Set save location," and "Start processing." The advantage of the wizard-style flow is that users are less likely to miss key settings and can confirm the file list and replacement rules before processing.
Operation Step 2: Add Files for Batch Renaming or Import from Folder
After entering the function page, you first need to select the records to process. In the screenshot, at the top of the page, there are two main buttons: "Add Files" and "Import Files from Folder." If you only need to process scattered files, you can click "Add Files"; if the files are centrally located in the same folder, you can click "Import Files from Folder" to import the materials within the folder into the list at once.
After importing, the page table will list file information, including sequence number, name, path, extension, creation time, modification time, and an operation column. In the example, 8 records have been imported, with extensions including pdf, docx, pptx, xlsx, etc. The table bottom shows a record count of 8, which users can use to confirm if the import is complete.
At this step, it is recommended to focus on checking two things. First, confirm whether the file list contains all files that need renaming; second, confirm whether any files that do not need processing have been mixed in. If you find that incorrect files have been imported, you can use the delete icon in the operation column to remove the corresponding record; if you need to re-select, you can also clear the current list based on the "Clear" button on the page and then re-import. This can prevent files that should not be renamed from being processed together.
Operation Step 3: Set Exact Text Search and Fill in Keyword Correspondence Row by Row
Click "Next Step" to enter the Set Processing Options page. In the screenshot, you are currently on step 2 "Set Processing Options," and in the "Search Mode" area, "Exact Text Search" has been selected. For scenarios like this article where you clearly know which characters to replace, exact search is more intuitive and safer. For instance, if you are searching specifically for 2024, 12, Draft, there is no need for more complex fuzzy search methods.
At the bottom of the page, there are two input areas: on the left is "Keywords to find (one per line)", and on the right is "Keywords to replace with (one per line)". The key point here is the one-to-one correspondence by line. In the example, line 1 on the left contains 2024, and line 1 on the right contains 2025; line 2 on the left contains 12, line 2 on the right contains 05; line 3 on the left contains Draft, line 3 on the right contains Completed. The software will use this correspondence to replace old keywords matched in file names with the new keywords on the same row.
This list-based replacement is more suitable for batch office work than replacing only one term at a time. For example, if project file names simultaneously contain year, month, and version status, the user does not need to run the process three times; they can simply fill in the three sets of rules at once. For Word documents docx, doc, PDF files, PPTX presentations, and XLSX spreadsheets, as long as their file names contain these keywords, they can be processed together according to the rules.
Operation Step 4: Confirm Additional Options as Needed, Then Proceed to Next Step
Below the search mode, the page also provides "Additional Options," including "Ignore case of letters" and "Match complete word instead of part of the word." In the example, these options are not checked, so the software will process based on the currently input text rules. Whether or not to check them depends on the actual file name situation.
If file names may contain different case forms like Draft, draft, DRAFT, and you want them all replaced, you can consider using "Ignore case of letters." If you are worried that a keyword is just part of another word and don't want an incorrect replacement, you can pay attention to the "Match complete word instead of part of the word" option. Before actual operation, it is recommended to judge based on file naming habits to avoid excessive replacement.
After completing the settings, click "Next Step" at the bottom of the page. According to the progress bar, the subsequent steps will go to "Set Save Location" and then to "Start Processing." The screenshot does not show the specific fields of the Set Save Location page, so button names that do not exist are not expanded here. Users just need to follow the software page prompts to complete the save location settings and start processing after final confirmation.
Common Questions and Considerations
1. When replacing multiple keywords, the number of lines on the left and right sides must correspond. The keyword on a line on the left will be replaced with the content on the same line on the right. For example, if line 1 on the left is 2024, line 1 on the right should be 2025. If the line numbers are misaligned, the replacement result may not meet expectations.
2. It is not recommended to use file extensions as replacement targets. In the example in this article, only the main part of the file name is replaced; the pdf, docx, pptx, xlsx extensions remain unchanged. In general office scenarios, extensions represent file types and should not be casually modified, as this could affect how the system recognizes the file.
3. Check the file list before processing. When importing files from a folder, other materials from the same directory might be imported together. It is recommended to check the name, path, and extension in the table during step 1 and confirm they are correct before proceeding.
4. Exact search is more suitable for renaming tasks with clear rules. If you already know clearly that you want to change 2024 to 2025 and Draft to Completed, choosing "Exact Text Search" is usually clearer. Fuzzy search suits more complex text matching needs but requires setting rules more cautiously.
5. Maintain consistency when replacing status-related terms. For example, status terms like Draft, Final, Completed, Reviewed should ideally be standardized internally within the team first. Batch replacing file names is not just a technical operation; it is also a consolidation of naming conventions.
Summary: Using Batch File Name Replacement to Reduce Repetitive Work
Batch replacing multiple keywords in many file names is essentially about solving the problem of repetitive work in office file management. Through the "Find and Replace Keywords in File Names" function of HeSoft Doc Batch Tool , users can list multiple old keywords and multiple new keywords row by row to complete the unified renaming of files across PDF, Word, PPT, Excel, etc., at once.
From the example in this article, it can be seen that the 2024, 12, Draft in the original file names were batch replaced with 2025, 05, Completed, with file types remaining unchanged and the naming structure becoming more unified. For users who frequently need to organize project materials, monthly reports, contract attachments, and training documents, this type of office software can significantly reduce manual renaming time and lower the risk of omissions and incorrect changes.
If you also have a batch of files where you need to simultaneously replace year, month, project name, status term, or department name, it is recommended to first organize the "find keyword list" and "replace keyword list," then follow the steps in this article to import files, set exact search, fill in the correspondence, and execute the process. This way, you can achieve more standardized file naming with fewer operations.