How to batch remove Chinese prefixes from folder names? Batch renaming tutorial to keep the numbering

Folder names may not have the same Chinese prefix, and using ordinary find and replace often requires repeated settings. For directories that mix Chinese and numbers such as "报告03, 财务606, 客户202, 项目001", this article demonstrates how to use HeSoft Doc Batch Tool to identify and delete all Chinese characters in the names. The article covers before-and-after comparison, folder import, setting options for all Chinese characters, result verification, and risks of duplicate names and paths, helping office users quickly obtain a unified pure-number directory.

After long-term accumulation of enterprise materials, folder names can easily develop multiple writing styles: some people use "Report 03," some use "Finance 606," and others create "Customer 202," "Project 001," or "Photos 77" based on business types. These names are clear at a glance for employees, but when materials need to be imported into systems by number, generate directory lists, be processed by scripts, or correspond to ledger fields, the Chinese portions of the names may become redundant content.

The problem is that these Chinese prefixes are not uniform. Using ordinary find-and-replace requires first deleting "Report," then "Finance," and then handling words such as "Customer" and "Project"; if there are many folders, the settings must be repeated over and over. A more direct method is to batch-remove all Chinese characters by character type, leaving only the numeric codes, English letters, and other non-Chinese characters in the original names.

The following uses HeSoft Doc Batch Tool as an example to explain how to batch-remove Chinese prefixes and Chinese text from folder names. It is a tool for batch processing office files, and this tutorial uses the "Delete text in folder names" feature. The tutorial will explain the purpose of each step, the expected result, and the items that need to be checked before execution, with corresponding operation screenshots.

Applicable scenarios: different Chinese prefixes can still be processed in one batch

Processing according to the rule of "all Chinese characters" does not require folders to have exactly the same keywords. Therefore, it is especially suitable for the following types of batch renaming needs:

• Directory names use different Chinese categories such as "Report," "Backup," "Finance," and "Archive," but all need to uniformly retain the following numbers.
• Project materials are about to be migrated to a business system that accepts only numbers or English paths, and the Chinese folder names need to be cleaned up.
• Archive directories need to match codes in Excel, CSV, or databases, for example changing "Customer 202" to "202".
• A large number of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF materials are archived by folder, and currently only the outer directory names need to be modified, without changing the docx, doc, xlsx, xls, pptx, ppt, or pdf files themselves.
• You want to reduce missed changes, wrongly deleted characters, and number entry errors caused by manual renaming.

This method can handle both cases where Chinese is located on the left side of the name and cases where Chinese characters appear in the middle or other positions, because the setting targets "all Chinese characters" rather than fixed deletion of the leftmost few characters. However, whether the result after deletion meets the requirements still depends on the original naming structure, so samples must be observed before formal execution.

Effect preview: organizing mixed names into pure-number directories

Characteristics of the names before processing

The example directory contains ten folders: "Report 03," "Backup 1000," "Finance 606," "Export 55," "Archive 99," "Meeting 808," "Customer 202," "Design 004," "Project 001," and "Photos 77." Each name consists of a Chinese business description and a numeric code, but the Chinese parts are different.

If fixed-keyword find-and-replace is used, at least several separate operations would be needed for multiple Chinese words. If manual deletion is relied on, each directory would need to be entered into rename mode again. With only ten folders it may barely be manageable, but once the number reaches dozens or hundreds, both the operation time and the probability of errors will increase significantly.

Only the original numbers remain after processing

After applying the "delete all Chinese characters" rule, the directories are displayed as "001," "03," "004," "55," "77," "99," "202," "606," "808," and "1000." The Chinese descriptions in the original names have disappeared, while numeric codes of different lengths are still retained.

For example, "Meeting 808" becomes "808," "Photos 77" becomes "77," and "Backup 1000" becomes "1000." For directories that require fixed three-digit codes, "Design 004" and "Project 001" become "004" and "001" respectively, and the leading zeros are not cleared as invalid content.

The order of the names in the screenshot is not exactly the same as before processing, because after the folders are renamed they are rearranged according to the new names. When verifying, do not only compare list positions; instead, check whether each original number can be found in the new list, and also confirm that the total number of folders remains the same.

Operation steps: set the rule once and batch-remove Chinese names

Step 1: Enter the delete-text tool from the "Folder names" category

After starting HeSoft Doc Batch Tool , first find the "Folder names" category in the left navigation. After entering that category, the interface displays various batch tools for folder naming, including find and replace, insert text, add prefix or suffix, case conversion, and delete text in names.

This time there is no need to find a fixed word; instead, all Chinese characters in the names need to be cleared, so select "Delete text in folder names."

Choosing the correct function is very important. "Find and replace keywords in folder names" is more suitable for cases where the same keyword appears repeatedly; in this example, the content such as "Report, Backup, Finance, Export" is different, so deleting by character type avoids creating a separate task for each word.

Step 2: Batch-add the target folders and check the records

After entering the task page, the process first stays at "Select records to process." Click "Add folders" in the upper right corner to add the directories that need to be renamed to the list. The software will list the folder name, path, creation time, modification time, and other information for unified checking before execution.

In the example, ten records have been added, and the summary at the bottom of the list shows a record count of 10. At this point three checks should be performed:

1. Check the names: confirm that the names in the list all match the structure of "Chinese needs to be deleted, numbers need to be retained."
2. Check the paths: confirm that the folders come from the correct working directory, and especially avoid mixing in formal materials with similar names but different purposes.
3. Check the quantity: compare the record count with the number of target folders in File Explorer to avoid missing or extra selections.

If a certain folder does not need to be processed, use the operation icon on the right side of the corresponding record to exclude it from the list. If the entire batch of directories was selected incorrectly, the task list can be reorganized. After confirming everything is correct, click "Next" at the bottom of the page. The expected result of this step is that all directories that need batch renaming appear in the record table, with no unrelated folders.

Step 3: Select "All Chinese characters" as the deletion type

After entering "Set processing options," the interface provides multiple operation types. Here you can delete numbers, whitespace, English letters, or delete content by position or text range. To retain the numbers and clear the Chinese, check "All Chinese characters."

After selecting this option, the expected rule is: scan each pending folder name, identify the Chinese characters and delete them, while the numbers in the name continue to be retained. If the original name also contains English letters, those English characters usually are not part of this Chinese-character deletion target either, because "All English letters" was not selected this time.

When making the setting, pay special attention to adjacent options and do not mistakenly select "All content" instead of "All Chinese characters." "All content" is different from the goal of this tutorial and may leave the name with no characters worth keeping; "All numbers" is also not applicable, because the numbers in the example are exactly the directory codes that need to remain in the end. After completing the selection, click "Next."

Step 4: Complete the subsequent settings according to the process and start processing

The top of the interface shows the complete task flow: select records, set processing options, set save location, and start processing. After selecting "All Chinese characters," continue to the subsequent stages according to the page wizard. Before starting processing, it is recommended to confirm again the task objects and deletion type to ensure that the current operation targets folder names.

For important business materials, you can first copy two or three representative directories for testing, for example selecting "Project 001" with a leading zero and "Backup 1000" with a four-digit number. After processing, check whether they become "001" and "1000" respectively, and confirm that the files inside the folders can still be accessed normally. After the test results meet expectations, run the same task on all directories.

Step 5: Verify the results in File Explorer

After the task is complete, return to the folder location and refresh the display. When verifying, it is recommended to create a simple before-and-after comparison, for example recording "Report 03→03," "Customer 202→202," and "Design 004→004." Also check the directory count to ensure that the total number of folders before and after processing is the same.

If File Explorer automatically sorts by name, pure-number names may be rearranged. Do not mistakenly think that folders have been deleted just because their positions have changed; confirm by checking the numbers and folder contents.

Before batch processing, establish a name-retention rule first

Folder names in office scenarios are often not fully standardized. Before batch execution, first clarify "what should be deleted and what must be retained" to avoid rework after processing is completed. The rule in this example is clear: delete all Chinese characters and retain numeric codes. However, in real materials, the following names may also appear:

• "Project-A001": after deleting Chinese characters, the connector and the combination of English and numbers may be retained.
• "2026 Report 03": the name contains both a year and a number; after deleting Chinese characters, multiple numeric fragments may remain, and you need to confirm whether this meets the target format.
• "Financial Archive": if there are no numbers or English, deleting all Chinese characters may leave no valid name.
• "Project 001 Copy": both the Chinese prefix and suffix will be cleaned, leaving only the number in the end.

Therefore, the batch processing tool is responsible for efficiently executing a unified rule, while whether the rule is suitable for the entire batch of directories must be judged by the user before importing. It is recommended to first classify by naming structure, put folders to which the same rule applies into one batch, and create separate tasks for different structures.

Frequently asked questions and precautions

Does it delete the Chinese prefix, or all Chinese in the name?

This tutorial selects "All Chinese characters," so the target is not limited to the leftmost Chinese prefix. As long as Chinese characters exist in the name, they will be included in this deletion scope regardless of whether they are at the beginning, middle, or end. If you only want to delete characters at fixed positions, you should evaluate other processing types in the interface according to actual needs, rather than directly applying this tutorial.

Will processing affect the office documents inside the folders?

The operation targets folder names. Word documents, Excel workbooks, PowerPoint presentations, PDFs, images, videos, and other content inside the folders will not be automatically renamed just because the Chinese characters in the names are deleted. However, the outer directory path has changed, so shortcuts, hyperlinks, scripts, synchronization tasks, or other software configurations that depend on the old paths may become invalid and need to be evaluated in advance and updated after processing.

What if two directories would retain the same number?

Suppose "Report 03" and "Backup 03" both exist under the same path. After deleting the Chinese characters, both would need to become "03," which would cause a name conflict. Two folders with exactly the same name cannot exist in the same location, so before processing you should check whether the numbers are unique. You can first add different codes, adjust the directory levels, or separate them into different paths before processing.

Can pure-Chinese folders be added directly?

It is not recommended to process them directly without testing. After deleting all Chinese characters from a pure-Chinese name, there will be no obvious content worth keeping, and a valid new name may not be formed. A safer approach is to first add unique numbers to such directories, or exclude them from the current task list and formulate a separate renaming rule.

Why is it recommended to keep a backup?

Batch operations apply the same rule to many records quickly, and that is exactly why they improve efficiency. But if the wrong path is selected, the wrong operation type is chosen, or duplicate-name issues are ignored, the impact will also expand at the same time. For important content such as customer archives, financial materials, contracts, and project source files, you should back them up first or test on copies before processing the formal directories.

Can success be judged by the order after processing?

Do not look only at the order. After folders are changed to numeric names, the system will rearrange them according to the current sorting rules; numbers of different lengths may also appear in a different order from the original list. The correct way to accept the result is to check the name correspondence, record count, and folder contents, rather than requiring each directory to remain in its original list position.

The efficiency value of batch renaming with office software

The main cost of manual renaming is not just the number of clicks, but also the continuous checking and error correction. The operator needs to judge the Chinese range one by one, avoid accidentally deleting numbers, and confirm the result after each modification. The more directories there are, the harder it is to avoid errors caused by declining attention.

HeSoft Doc Batch Tool completes "selecting objects" and "setting rules" centrally, and then applies the same rule to multiple folder records. For office workers who need to periodically organize archives, project materials, customer directories, or delivery files, this approach reduces repetitive work and makes naming results more consistent. Especially when the Chinese words are all different, "All Chinese characters" is more suitable than word-by-word find-and-replace for establishing a unified processing task.

Summary

To batch-remove Chinese prefixes or other Chinese text from folder names while retaining numeric codes, you can open HeSoft Doc Batch Tool , enter "Folder names," open "Delete text in folder names," batch-add directories, and select "All Chinese characters" in the processing options. Complete the subsequent process and start processing, and names such as "Report 03, Finance 606, Project 001" can be organized into "03, 606, 001."

Before execution, focus on checking three aspects: whether the paths to be processed are correct, whether empty names will appear after deletion, and whether different directories will end up with the same number. It is recommended to first copy a small number of sample folders and complete a test according to the steps in this article; after confirming that the numbers, leading zeros, and internal files remain normal, add the full directories to the software for batch processing, thereby safely reducing the repetitive work caused by renaming one by one.