When there are many folders, renaming them one by one and adding the same text at the beginning of the name is not only time-consuming, but also prone to omissions or errors. This article uses the example of batch inserting "ABC-" at the beginning of folder names to introduce how to use HeSoft Doc Batch Tool to complete batch processing of folder names. By selecting the function to insert text into folder names, adding the folders to be processed, and setting the insertion position and text content, you can quickly obtain uniformly standardized folder naming results.
When organizing project materials, course materials, customer archives, or department shared files, you often encounter this problem: you already have a batch of folders, such as 001-CourseProjects, 002-ExamPreparation, 003-KnowledgeBase, etc., and now you need to uniformly add the same text to the very beginning of each folder name, for example, ABC-, turning them into ABC-001-CourseProjects, ABC-002-ExamPreparation, ABC-003-KnowledgeBase. When the number of folders is small, manual renaming is acceptable; but once the number reaches dozens or hundreds, modifying them one by one with F2 becomes very inefficient and is prone to issues like omissions, incorrect additions, and inconsistent formatting.
This article addresses the office scenario of batch-inserting text at the beginning of many folder names. We will combine screenshots to demonstrate how to use HeSoft Doc Batch Tool to insert fixed text at a specified position in folder names. This tool belongs to the batch processing category within office software, and its core value is to help users reduce repetitive work, especially suitable for those who frequently need to organize files, folders, Word documents (.docx/.doc), Excel spreadsheets (.xlsx/.xls), PDFs, or other office materials.
Applicable Scenarios: When do you need to batch insert text at the beginning of folder names
Batch adding text to the beginning of folder names is usually used for naming standardization and data classification. For example, within a company, a batch of project folders needs to be uniformly prefixed with a client abbreviation, department code, year identifier, or archiving batch; schools or training institutions need to add a class code to course material folders; individual users organizing study materials might also need to add a uniform prefix in front of folders for easier searching and sorting.
From the example in the screenshot, the original folder names already have numbers and English descriptions, such as 001-CourseProjects, 002-ExamPreparation, 003-KnowledgeBase. The goal now is not to delete the original content, nor to replace a specific keyword, but to insert ABC- at the very beginning of the name. The characteristic of this processing method is: the original folder name is preserved unchanged, only adding a uniform text at the very front, making it very suitable for needs like batch adding prefixes, batch adding project codes, and batch adding classification labels.
If handled manually, the user needs to open the rename state for each one, move the cursor to the beginning of the name, and then type ABC-. Repeating this ten times might be tolerable, but repeating it hundreds of times wastes a lot of time. After using the batch processing tool, you only need to set the insertion position and the insertion content once, and the software can uniformly execute the processing for the added folders.
Effect Preview: Comparison of folder names before and after processing
Before the formal operation, first look at the folder list before processing. Screenshots show that the folder names range from 001-CourseProjects to 010-WritingPractice, with names starting with digits and without a uniform ABC- prefix.
The effect after processing is as follows. ABC- has been inserted at the very beginning of each folder name; for example, 001-CourseProjects becomes ABC-001-CourseProjects, and 002-ExamPreparation becomes ABC-002-ExamPreparation. The area highlighted in the red box shows the newly added text content, while the original number and English name remain completely intact.
This result indicates that this operation is not a wholesale replacement of folder names, but appending a fixed text segment at the beginning of the original name. For scenarios where you need to retain the original number, project name, or course name, and only add an extra prefix identifier, this method is safer and more in line with daily office naming conventions.
Operational Steps: Using office software to batch insert ABC- at the beginning of folder names
The complete operational flow is explained below, following the screenshot sequence. Interfaces may vary slightly between versions, but the core idea is the same: first enter the folder name processing function, then add the folders to be processed, and finally set the insertion position and text content.
Step 1: Enter the folder name tool and select Insert Text in Folder Name
After opening HeSoft Doc Batch Tool , you can see multiple office processing categories in the left-side function navigation, such as File Name, Folder Name, File Organization, Word Tools, Excel Tools, PowerPoint Tools, PDF Tools, Text Tools, Image Tools, etc. Since the target of this processing is folder names, you need to enter the Folder Name category on the left side.
Among the folder name-related functions, select Insert Text in Folder Name. The description on this function card in the screenshot says it batch inserts text at a certain position in folder names, which precisely matches the requirement of this article: inserting ABC- at the beginning of each folder name.
The purpose of this step is to let the software clarify the type of batch task to be executed currently. Under Folder Name processing, there are other functions like Find and Replace, Add Prefix and Suffix, Case Conversion, Delete Text, etc., but this example requires inserting text at a specified position, so Insert Text in Folder Name should be selected, not other functions.
Step 2: Add the folders to be processed and confirm the record list
After entering the function page, the interface top displays the current function name as Insert Text in Folder Name. The page flow is divided into several stages, including selecting records to be processed, setting processing options, setting a save location, and starting processing. The first step is to add the folders to be processed into the list.
From the screenshot, you can see an Add Folder button in the upper right corner. After clicking it, add the folders that need batch renaming to the software list. Once added, the table will display information like sequence number, name, path, creation time, modification time, and operations. In the example, 10 folders have been added, with names including 001-CourseProjects, 002-ExamPreparation, 003-KnowledgeBase, 004-LanguageLearning, etc., located in the D:\test\ corresponding directory.
For this step, it is recommended to check two points carefully: First, whether the record count is correct; the screenshot bottom shows a record count of 10, indicating 10 folders will be processed currently. Second, whether all items in the name column are the target folders to be modified, avoiding adding irrelevant folders to the batch task. If a record should not be processed, it can be removed using the delete icon in the operation column; if the entire list is wrong, it can be cleared and re-added using the clear button on the interface.
After confirming the list is correct, click Next at the bottom to enter the processing options settings.
Step 3: Set the insertion position to 0 and fill in the text to be inserted
In the second step, Set Processing Options page, the interface has two key input items: Position and Text to be inserted. In the screenshot, the position is filled as 0, and the text to be inserted is filled as ABC-.
Here, position 0 can be understood as the starting position of the folder name. That is, the software will insert the specified text before the first character of the original folder name. Therefore, when the original name is 001-CourseProjects, inserting ABC- results in ABC-001-CourseProjects; when the original name is 010-WritingPractice, processing results in ABC-010-WritingPractice.
The text to be inserted should be filled according to the actual naming rules. The example in this article is ABC-, where the hyphen is also part of the inserted text. If you want to generate ABC001-CourseProjects, do not input the hyphen; if you want to generate 2026-ABC-001-CourseProjects, you can set the text to be inserted as 2026-ABC-. Therefore, decide on a uniform naming format before filling it in.
After completing the settings, click Next, and continue setting the save location and starting processing according to the page flow. Since the interface flow explicitly includes two stages, Set Save Location and Start Processing, it is recommended to reconfirm the processing scope and naming rules before execution to avoid generating names that do not meet expectations in batch.
Common Issues and Notes: Before batch processing folder names, it's recommended to confirm these details
1. Why set the position to 0?
The current requirement is to insert text at the beginning of the folder name. According to the screenshot example, after setting the position to 0, ABC- appears at the very front of the original name, so when the goal is to batch add a prefix, the position should be set to 0. If another position is filled, the text might be inserted in the middle of the number or name, and the effect will no longer be adding text at the beginning.
2. Can the inserted text contain symbols?
From the example, you can see the inserted content is ABC-, which contains English letters and a hyphen. For daily folder naming, you can input department codes, project codes, years, underscores, hyphens, etc., according to actual specifications. However, note that folder names cannot contain special characters not allowed by the system; it's recommended to use common and safe character combinations.
3. Will the original folder name be overwritten?
The logic of this function is to insert text at a certain position in the folder name. From the post-processing screenshot, the original content like 001-CourseProjects is still retained, only with ABC- added at the front. Therefore, it is suitable for batch prefix-adding tasks that preserve the original name structure.
4. Is a backup necessary before batch processing?
Once folder names are batch modified, it might affect path references, shortcuts, or file location records in some programs. Although a batch tool can significantly improve efficiency, before processing important data, it's recommended to first test the effect with a small number of folders, and then execute in large batches after confirming the naming format is correct. For important directories like company shared drives or project databases, backing up or recording the original names is even more advisable.
5. Is this method only suitable for English-named folders?
No. The example in the screenshot uses English folder names, but the operational logic is language-independent. Chinese-named folders, numerically-named folders, and mixed-name folders can all use the same approach to insert specified text at the beginning. For example, changing 合同资料 to 2026-合同资料, or changing 客户A to 华东区-客户A.
Summary: Using a batch processing tool to unify folder naming, reducing repetitive renaming work
Batch inserting text at the beginning of folder names is a very typical office efficiency scenario. It looks like just simple renaming, but when the number of folders is large, manual processing takes up a lot of time and is prone to inconsistent formatting issues. Through the Insert Text in Folder Name function of HeSoft Doc Batch Tool , you just need to add folders, set the position to 0, and fill in the ABC- to be inserted, and you can change multiple folders into a uniform prefix format at once.
If you are organizing course materials, project archives, customer folders, or department shared directories and need to batch add prefixes to folders, it is recommended to prioritize using this type of office software to complete the task. Test with a small number of folders first, then execute in batch on the complete directory. This ensures accurate results, significantly reduces repetitive labor, and improves file organization efficiency.