When maintaining inventory tables, product lists, personnel rosters, or business ledgers, businesses often need to uniformly replace old categories, old warehouses, or old names across multiple xlsx files with new content. This article, based on the operation interface of HeSoft Doc Batch Tool , demonstrates how to import multiple Excel files, set up the mapping between old keywords and new keywords, and enable highlighting after replacement, so that the modified cells are marked in yellow, making it easy to quickly check the results of batch modifications.
When the number of Excel files is small, manually finding and replacing seems acceptable; but when the number grows to dozens or even hundreds, repeatedly opening spreadsheets, pressing Ctrl+H, entering keywords, replacing, and saving can take up a lot of time. What's more troublesome is that after batch modifications, users often need to confirm "exactly which cells were changed". Without clear markings, they can only search again or review line by line.
This article uses multiple xlsx inventory sheets as examples to introduce how to use the office software " HeSoft Doc Batch Tool " to accomplish three things: first, batch import multiple Excel files; second, find specified keywords in Excel content and replace them with new content; third, highlight the replaced cells, achieving the common "yellow marking" effect. This approach can enhance batch processing efficiency and make the results easier to audit.
Applicable Scenarios: When Needing to Uniformly Modify Content Across Multiple Excel Files
Many enterprise documents are saved separately by time, department, project, or customer. For example, each warehouse has an inventory detail sheet, each branch has a supply list, each month has a sales report, and each salesperson has a customer follow-up sheet. As business rules change, certain field contents need uniform adjustment: old product categories need to be changed to new ones, old region names to new region names, and old warehouse codes to new warehouse codes.
If this content is scattered across multiple Excel files, manual processing creates two problems. The first is low efficiency—the same find-and-replace action must be repeated many times. The second is non-visual results; it's difficult to quickly confirm the replacement locations after making changes. Especially for data files related to inventory, finance, or procurement, users typically need to keep a trail or review, so "highlighting after replacement" becomes very practical.
From the sample files, we can see fields like Category and Location in the tables. The task is to uniformly replace "Stationery" with "Office supplies" and "Warehouse C" with "Warehouse B". This is a typical scenario involving batch keyword modification in Excel.
Effect Preview: From Scattered Old Content to Unified New Content
Before Processing: Old Keywords Scattered in Different Cells
In the pre-processing screenshot, "Stationery" appears multiple times in the Category column, and some records in the Location column show "Warehouse C". These cells, highlighted in red boxes, indicate the target content requiring batch find-and-replace. It is noticeable that the positions needing modification are discontinuous, located in both the Category column (C) and the Warehouse Location column (E).
This type of data distribution is very common in real office work. A keyword might appear dozens of times or just once or twice; it could be in the same column or spread across different sheets or files. Manual individual confirmation is prone to oversight, making it more suitable for an automated batch processing tool.
After Processing: New Keywords Replaced and Highlighted in Yellow
The post-processing screenshot shows that "Stationery" has been changed to "Office supplies", and "Warehouse C" has been changed to "Warehouse B". Simultaneously, the replaced cells have a yellow background added, creating a very clear highlighting effect. When opening the result file, users can see immediately which content was affected by this batch replacement without any extra steps.
For tasks requiring review, the yellow highlight can save significant inspection time. For instance, a manager only needs to focus on the yellow-highlighted cells to confirm that the replaced categories and warehouses comply with new rules, without having to filter the entire sheet again.
Operation Steps: Batch Find, Replace, and Highlight Yellow Excel Content
Step One: Find the Excel Find-and-Replace Function in the Software
After launching HeSoft Doc Batch Tool , you can see multiple tool categories on the left. Since the processing target is Excel spreadsheets, you need to click "Excel Tools" on the left. In the function cards on the right, select "Find and Replace Keywords in Excel". The description below this function card reads "Batch find and replace keywords in Excel file content", which meets the requirement for uniformly replacing content in multiple xlsx spreadsheets.
The key here is selecting the correct function. HeSoft Doc Batch Tool is batch processing software designed for office documents. Besides Excel tools, you can also see categories like Word tools, PDF tools, Text tools, and Image tools. You must enter the Excel-related function to perform keyword find-and-replace on spreadsheet contents.
Step Two: Import the List of XLSX Files to Process
After entering the function, the top of the page provides two entry points: "Add Files" and "Import Files from Folder". For a small number of files, you can click "Add Files" to select them manually; for a large number of spreadsheets in the same folder, "Import Files from Folder" is recommended, allowing you to import all the Excel files in the directory that need processing at once.
The screenshot shows multiple inventory sheets have been imported, with the file extension displaying as xlsx. The list includes columns for Sequence Number, Name, Path, Extension, Creation Time, Modification Time, and Actions. Using this information, users can confirm the source and quantity of files are correct. If a file doesn't need processing, it can be removed using the delete button in the Actions column.
After importing the files, it's advisable to check three points: first, whether all file names are target files; second, whether the paths are from the correct folder; third, whether the extensions match the task requirements, such as xlsx. Once confirmed, click "Next" at the bottom. Batch processing is highly efficient, but its accuracy depends on the input file list being correct.
Step Three: Select Precise Text Search and Set Matching Options
Upon entering the keyword setting page, you will first see "Search Mode". The example selects "Precise Text Search". When the old and new content are very clear, such as changing the fixed term "Stationery" to "Office supplies", precise search is easier to understand and helps control the scope of replacement.
In the "Additional Options", the screenshot shows that "Ignore Letter Case" and "Match Complete Word, Not Part of a Word" are checked. For English keywords, these two options are very practical. Ignoring case prevents missed replacements due to capitalization variations like "Stationery" vs. "stationery"; matching the whole word reduces the risk of inadvertently replacing a fragment within a longer text. If you only want to replace a complete word rather than a segment inside a longer text, pay attention to this option.
Of course, the actual settings should be based on the file content. If the keyword capitalization in your Excel spreadsheet is strictly consistent, you can also set it according to defaults or business requirements. The key is to understand how each option affects the match scope before batch processing.
Step Four: Fill in the Correspondence Between Old and New Keywords
In the middle of the page, there are two lists: on the left is the "List of Keywords to Find", and on the right is the "List of Replacement Keywords". In the example, row 1 on the left contains "Stationery", and row 1 on the right contains "Office supplies"; row 2 on the left contains "Warehouse C", and row 2 on the right contains "Warehouse B".
This row-by-row correspondence design is suitable for setting up multiple groups of replacement rules at once. Users need to ensure that the old and new content in each row corresponds one-to-one and is not misaligned. If more words need replacing, you can continue adding rows. For instance, old project names mapped to new project names, old department names to new department names, and old region names to new region names.
If an old keyword does not need replacement, it's recommended not to include it in the list. The principle of batch replacement is that the clearer the rules, the better, avoiding mixing uncertain content in the same task.
Step Five: Enable "Highlight Replaced Content"
In the "Other Settings" area, you can see the switch for "Highlight Replaced Content". The goal of this tutorial is not only batch replacement but also highlighting the results in yellow, so this option needs to be enabled. Once enabled, the software will add highlighting to the cells where replacement has been completed, making it easier for users to quickly review results after opening the output files.
As seen in the post-processing screenshot, the highlighting effect is a yellow background. For a data sheet, the yellow marking visually distinguishes this modification from unchanged content. If a batch of files needs to be reviewed by someone else, this visual result is clearer than simply replacing text.
Step Six: Set the Save Location and Execute Batch Processing
After setting up the keywords and highlight option, click "Next" at the bottom. The interface flow shows that "Set Save Location" and "Start Processing" follow. Users are advised to save the processing results to a separate directory, especially when using the tool for the first time or when the replacement rules are complex; do not overwrite the original files directly. This preserves the original Excel files and facilitates comparison of changes before and after processing.
After completing the save location settings, enter the start processing phase. The software will execute the same find-and-replace rules on each Excel file according to the imported file list. Once processing is complete, open the output files and check the yellow-highlighted cells to confirm if the batch modifications meet expectations.
Common Questions and Considerations
1. Can XLSX and XLS Files Be Processed Using the Same Approach?
The screenshot example imports xlsx files. For other Excel spreadsheet formats, such as xls, the choice to import depends on the software's support. The operational concept is generally the same: first import the files, then set the find-and-replace rules, and finally save the processing results.
2. Why Highlight Replaced Content Yellow?
The core value of yellow highlighting is ease of inspection. Batch processing is very fast, but users still need to know where modifications occurred. Highlighting makes the replacement results visible at a glance, and is particularly suitable for data auditing, inter-departmental collaboration, and pre-delivery checks to external parties.
3. What Should Be Noted When Replacing Multiple Keywords Simultaneously?
The most important thing is that the row numbers in the left and right lists correspond. Ensure the old and new keywords are not misaligned and there are no extra blank rows. It is recommended to test with a small batch of files before processing all files.
4. Do Open Excel Files Need to Be Closed Before Processing?
To avoid file occupation or save conflicts, it is recommended to close relevant Excel files before batch processing, especially the target files being processed. This can reduce exceptions caused by file status.
Summary: Making Excel Batch Modifications More Controllable
Uniformly replacing content across multiple xlsx spreadsheets seems like a simple find-and-replace task, but it actually involves multiple steps like file selection, rule correspondence, and result verification. HeSoft Doc Batch Tool consolidates these operations into a single batch task through a wizard-guided process, reducing the time spent repeatedly opening files and lowering the risk of missed modifications.
If you frequently need to uniformly modify keywords in Excel inventory sheets, product lists, customer data, or project ledgers, you can follow the method described in this article: enter Excel Tools, select the find and replace function, import files, fill in the old and new keywords, enable post-replacement highlighting, set the save location, and process. It is advisable to do a trial run with a few files first, confirm that the yellow highlighting effect and replacement content are correct, and then batch process all files.