When the Word waybill, order form, or shipping manifest already contains a barcode number, but the file name remains a meaningless default number, manually opening each document to copy the barcode and rename it wastes a lot of time. This article uses HeSoft Doc Batch Tool as an example to demonstrate how to access the "Rename Word Files Using File Content" feature, batch import docx files, choose to recognize the first barcode image, and overwrite the result as the complete file name, allowing Word files to be automatically named according to the barcode number for easy retrieval, archiving, and handover.
Many businesses save documents such as waybills, shipping orders, outbound delivery orders, and after-sales records as Word documents. These documents often already contain barcodes and corresponding numbers, but the file names do not use these numbers simultaneously. For example, after exporting from a system, you might only see Barcode(1).docx, Barcode(2).docx, Barcode(3).docx in a folder. When you actually need to find a specific waybill number, you have to open each Word file one by one to confirm.
This type of task seems simple but is actually very time-consuming. Especially when a batch of docx files needs to be uploaded to a system, sent to clients, or archived to a shared drive, if the file names are not business numbers, subsequent communication and retrieval will become slower. Even more troublesome is that during manual renaming, it is easy to copy the barcode numbers incorrectly or apply the number from file A to file B.
This article introduces a method more suitable for office batch processing: using HeSoft Doc Batch Tool to automatically identify barcode images in Word documents and batch-set the recognized barcode numbers as file names. It is not a simple file name replacement tool but one that reads information from the content of Word files before renaming, suitable for scenarios where content and file names need to establish a corresponding relationship.
Applicable Scenario: Extracting Barcode Numbers from Word Content to Name Files
You can consider using this method if your Word documents have the following characteristics:
- There are barcode images inside the files, where the barcodes represent waybill numbers, order numbers, tracking numbers, or file numbers.
- The file names currently have no business meaning, for example, Barcode(1).docx or Export File001.docx.
- A large number of Word files need to be archived, retrieved, or uploaded by barcode number.
- You want to reduce the repetitive operations of manually opening Word, viewing the barcode, copying the number, and renaming the file.
- The document template structure for the same batch is relatively uniform, and the barcode usually appears in a fixed area or as the first barcode image.
The Word document in the screenshot is a typical example. The page has a table with fields including OrderID, Tracking Number, Shipper Name, Consignee Name, etc., where the area corresponding to Tracking Number contains a barcode. The number displayed below the barcode is the business number that the file should actually use.
Effect Preview: Before Processing, You Need to Open Word to Know the Barcode Number
Before processing, the folder displays a batch of Word files with default names. In the left file explorer, the selected file is named Barcode(1).docx; you only see the number 734589001256734 below the barcode after opening the document on the right.
This naming method is unfriendly for batch management. For instance, if a colleague asks "Where is the Word file corresponding to 734589001256734?", you cannot locate it directly from the folder and must open multiple documents to search. The more files there are, the higher the search cost.
Effect Preview: After Processing, Find Word Files Directly by Barcode Number
After processing, the file names in the folder have become the barcode numbers. For example, one file is named 734589001256734.docx, and upon opening it, you can see the number below the barcode inside the document is also 734589001256734.
After organizing this way, the file names themselves have business meaning. Whether searching in a Windows folder, or looking in a shared drive, cloud drive, or archiving system, you can directly locate the file using the barcode number, reducing secondary verification.
Operation Step 1: Find the Word Content Renaming Feature in the File Name Category
Open HeSoft Doc Batch Tool , and you can see categories on the left such as "Home", "Task Flows", "All Tools", "File Names", "Folder Names", "File Organizing", "Word Tools", etc. What this article intends to do is rename files based on Word content, so enter the "File Names" category.
In the feature cards, find "Rename Word files using file content". In the screenshot, this feature is the 6th item, and the description text shows batch setting certain text from the Word file content as the file name for that file. For the barcode scenario in this article, you can use the barcode recognition option within this feature to use the barcode content from the Word file as the file name.
The purpose of this step is to select the correct feature entry. Do not choose common functions like find and replace, add prefix/suffix, etc., as these mainly process the original file name itself; whereas this article requires reading the barcode number from the Word document content to generate a new file name.
Operation Step 2: Import the Word Documents That Need Batch Processing
After entering the "Rename Word files using file content" page, the first step is "Select the records to be processed". The top right corner of the interface provides "Add Files" and "Import Files from Folder" buttons. If you are only processing a few files, you can use "Add Files"; if all Word files are in the same folder, it is recommended to use "Import Files from Folder" for more efficient one-time importing.
After importing, the page will list the file information in a table format. In the screenshot, you can see column names including Sequence Number, Name, Path, Extension, Creation Time, Modification Time, Operation, etc. Files like Barcode(1).docx, Barcode(10).docx, Barcode(2).docx have already appeared in the list, with the extension docx.
At this step, it is recommended to carefully check two points: first, whether the imported quantity is consistent with the quantity to be processed in the folder; second, whether the path is the target folder, to avoid accidentally adding Word documents from other directories to the task. After confirming there are no errors, click "Next" at the bottom.
Operation Step 3: Set the Search Area to the First Barcode Image
After entering the second step "Set Processing Options", you can see the "Search Area" section. The interface provides options like "First Line of Text", "First Barcode Image", "Text matched by custom formula", etc. Since the goal of this article is to identify barcodes in Word documents, "First Barcode Image" should be selected.
The "First Barcode Image" here is very suitable for waybill-type Word documents with a uniform template. As long as the barcode to be used for naming in each document is the first barcode image in the document, the software can batch read them according to the same rule without manual selection for each file.
If your Word file contains other decorative barcodes, QR codes, or multiple barcodes, you need to first confirm the order of the target barcode. The template structure in the screenshot of this article is relatively clear; the barcode in the Tracking Number area is the content intended to be used as the file name.
Operation Step 4: Choose to Overwrite the Entire File Name
On the same settings page, the "Position" area provides options like "Overwrite the entire file name", "On the left of the file name", "On the right of the file name". In the screenshot, "Overwrite the entire file name" is selected. This means after processing, the original Barcode(1) will be completely replaced by the recognized barcode number, ultimately forming a file name like 734589001256734.docx.
If your management specification requires file names to keep only the waybill number, then "Overwrite the entire file name" is the cleanest; if you need to retain the original name or add other identifiers, you can consider placing it on the left or right of the file name according to the interface options. However, in the example of this article, the pre-processing file names have no actual business value, so direct overwriting is more appropriate.
After completing the settings, click "Next". According to the process displayed at the top of the interface, subsequent steps will enter "Set Save Location" and "Start Processing". Before executing the batch task, it is recommended to first select an easily identifiable output directory to facilitate comparison of the results before and after processing.
Operation Step 5: Start Processing and Verify the Output Results
After completing the save location settings, you can proceed to "Start Processing". The software will process the Word files one by one according to the import list: reading the document content, locating the first barcode image, recognizing the barcode number, and then renaming according to the "Overwrite the entire file name" rule.
After processing is complete, open the output folder to verify. You can randomly select several files to open and check whether the number in the file name is consistent with the number below the barcode inside the document. The results in the screenshot show that 734589001256734.docx corresponds to 734589001256734 in the document content, indicating the rule settings are correct.
If processing a certain type of template for the first time, it is advisable not to process all official files at the beginning. You can copy 10 samples to a test folder, confirm that the barcode recognition and file naming meet expectations, and then batch process the complete data.
Common Issues and Precautions
1. Why choose "First Barcode Image" instead of "First Line of Text"?
Because this article needs to extract the number from the barcode image, not the text from the first line of the Word body. The first line in the screenshot contains content like OrderID, which is not the target file name. Choosing "First Barcode Image" better suits the waybill number renaming requirement.
2. Will the file name retain the original Barcode(1)?
If "Overwrite the entire file name" is chosen, the main part of the original file name will be replaced by the barcode number. The extension will still be retained as the extension corresponding to the Word document, such as docx. The post-processing results in the screenshot are numbers plus .docx.
3. Will the quality of the barcode image affect recognition?
Yes. It is recommended to use clear, complete, unstretched, and undeformed barcode images. If the barcode is obscured or the resolution is too low, the recognition result may not be ideal. For Word files generated from scans or screenshots, a small batch test should be conducted first.
4. Can Word files with different templates be processed?
If the target barcode in different templates is still the first barcode image, they can usually be tested in the same batch. However, if the first barcode in some files is not the waybill number, mixing them together is not recommended; operations should be performed in batches according to the template.
5. Is a backup necessary before batch renaming?
Backup is recommended. The advantage of batch processing is speed, but if the rules are chosen incorrectly, it will also quickly affect a large number of files. Keeping the original Word files in a backup folder is a relatively safe office habit.
Summary: Automatically Aligning Word File Names with Barcode Numbers
Through HeSoft Doc Batch Tool , the first barcode image in a Word document can be recognized and batch-used as the docx file name. Compared to manually opening each Word file to copy the waybill number, this method is more suitable for office scenarios with a large number of files, uniform template structure, and a need for quick archiving.
If you are organizing logistics labels, order Word files, shipping materials, or other docx or doc documents containing barcodes, you can follow the steps in this article: enter the File Names category, select "Rename Word files using file content", import the files, choose "First Barcode Image", then choose "Overwrite the entire file name", and finally set the save location and start processing. This turns the originally repetitive, error-prone renaming task into a standard process completed in one batch operation.