Tutorial for batch removing Chinese from folder names: one-click removal of Chinese characters while retaining original numbering

For folders containing Chinese labels and numeric identifiers such as "报告03, 备份1000, 会议808", if the subsequent system only accepts purely numeric directory names, renaming them one by one would involve a large amount of repetitive work. This article uses actual processing results as an example to explain how to use the folder name tool in office software to batch import directories, verify records, select the "all Chinese characters" removal rule, and set the save location and execute the task according to the workflow. After the operation is completed, the Chinese labels are removed uniformly, while the original identifiers such as 001, 004, and 03 are preserved, making it suitable for archive standardization, data migration, and directory cleaning.

After long-term accumulation of enterprise materials, folders often form a large number of Chinese-labeled names, such as “报告03”, “客户202”, “会议808”, and “照片77”. These names are intuitive and easy for employees to understand, but if the folders need to be submitted to business systems that accept only numeric identifiers, or need to correspond with Excel lists, database codes, and automation programs, Chinese names may not comply with import specifications. Manually renaming them one by one can complete the task, but it repeatedly involves locating directories, entering rename mode, selecting Chinese characters, deleting them, and confirming. The more directories there are, the higher the probability of errors.

For this situation, you can use HeSoft Doc Batch Tool to uniformly remove Chinese characters from folder names. This product is office batch-processing software whose core role is to turn repetitive file and directory operations into a unified process. This article will use examples to explain how to batch organize folders with “Chinese label + number” into numeric-only names, and will describe the before-and-after effects, specific steps, and risks that need to be checked in advance.

1. The specific problem this article solves

This article addresses the problem of having a large number of folder names containing Chinese characters and needing to remove all of them at once. The common feature of the sample directories is that Chinese is used to describe the material category, while numbers are used to identify a unique code. The processing goal is not to delete the entire name, nor to regenerate a sequence number, but to remove the Chinese part from the existing name and retain the original numbers.

For example:

• “报告03” is organized as “03”;
• “备份1000” is organized as “1000”;
• “财务606” is organized as “606”;
• “设计004” is organized as “004”;
• “项目001” is organized as “001”.

This type of batch Chinese-removal operation is especially suitable for directory standardization. Employees can still view classification information in parent directories, business forms, or management systems, while subfolders use only numeric identifiers, making the naming structure more concise and facilitating later search, matching, and importing.

2. Applicable scenarios: when you need to keep only folder numbers

Digital archive organization: After paper archives are converted into electronic materials, folders may carry Chinese descriptions such as “档案”, “项目”, and “照片”. When the archive management system requires directory names to be exactly consistent with archive numbers, Chinese text needs to be removed in batches.

Cross-system data migration: The old system may allow Chinese directory names, while the new system may require only designated numbers or English characters. Cleaning names uniformly before migration can avoid manual modification one by one.

Financial and customer material archiving: The numbers in names such as “财务606” and “客户202” may already correspond to ledger records. If classification information is already maintained in Excel, ERP, or CRM, keeping only numeric identifiers in directory names will make matching easier.

Organization of meeting, image, and project materials: When directories such as “会议808”, “照片77”, and “项目001” need to be uploaded to a shared platform or delivered to other teams, adopting numeric identifiers uniformly helps maintain naming standards.

Preparation for automated processes: Some scripts read numeric identifiers based on directory names. When names contain both Chinese and numbers, additional parsing may be required; after removing Chinese characters in advance, subsequent processes can more easily handle them by number.

If folder names do not follow a unified pattern, or if the Chinese text itself is necessary information for distinguishing directories, the same rule should not be applied directly. Batch processing emphasizes improving efficiency, but the prerequisite is that the processing objects and rules have already been confirmed.

3. Before processing: Chinese labels and numbers coexist

Below is the original directory used in this demonstration. All ten folders consist of Chinese text and numbers, and the number lengths are not completely consistent, including two-digit, three-digit, and four-digit numbers, as well as identifiers with leading zeros such as “001” and “004”.

The original names include “报告03, 备份1000, 财务606, 导出55, 归档99, 会议808, 客户202, 设计004, 项目001, 照片77”. Although the Chinese content differs, the character type planned for removal is the same: all are Chinese characters. Therefore, there is no need to create separate find-and-replace rules for each Chinese label.

This is exactly where batch tools are more efficient than manually renaming one by one: users only need to define the character type once and then apply the rule to all records. The differing Chinese prefixes in folder names do not affect the unified execution of “delete all Chinese characters”.

4. After processing: Chinese characters removed, original numbers retained

After completing the batch processing, folder names show only the original numbers. Among them, “项目001” is retained as “001”, “设计004” is retained as “004”, and “报告03” is retained as “03”. This shows that the operation did not convert numbers into ordinary numeric values, and the zeros at the beginning of identifiers are still present.

The processed list is displayed by numeric names as “001, 03, 004, 55, 77, 99, 202, 606, 808, 1000”. It should be noted that File Explorer does not necessarily sort names by numeric size, but may sort them by name characters. Therefore, the order of “03” and “004” may appear different from numeric order, which is a common display phenomenon.

When judging whether a batch operation was successful, do not only look at the sort order. Instead, check three aspects item by item: whether the total number of folders is consistent, whether each identifier is complete, and whether the materials inside the folders still exist. Only after confirming these three items should you continue with subsequent uploading, archiving, or migration work.

5. Step 1: Find the folder name processing entry

Start HeSoft Doc Batch Tool , and in the left navigation bar select “Folder Name”. The page will display multiple function cards related to directory renaming, including finding and replacing keywords, inserting text, adding prefixes and suffixes, case conversion, and deleting text from folder names.

In this case, you need to directly remove Chinese characters from the names, so click “Delete text from folder names”.

After entering this function, the page organizes the task in a step-by-step manner. From the top of the interface, you can see four stages: “Select records to process”, “Set processing options”, “Set save location”, and “Start processing”. The benefit of step-by-step operation is that you can separately verify the folders and deletion rules before formally executing, reducing errors caused by hasty operations.

It is not recommended here to choose “Find and replace keywords in folder names”, because the Chinese text in the examples consists of multiple different words such as “报告, 备份, 财务, 导出”. Creating keyword rules one by one would increase the workload, while deleting all Chinese characters by character type is more suitable for this requirement.

6. Step 2: Add the folders to be renamed in batches

After entering the first stage, click “Add Folder” in the upper right corner and select the directories to be processed. After adding, the software will list information such as folder name, path, creation time, and modification time in the table.

There are ten records in the example list, and the bottom summary shows the record count as 10. At this point, do not rush to click the next step. Instead, use the list to complete a task scope check.

Check names: Confirm that all added items are folders intended for Chinese removal. If some directories still need to retain Chinese descriptions, they should be removed from the list before formal execution.

Check paths: Directories with the same or similar names may be distributed across different drives and project paths. The screenshot shows that the examples are located under the corresponding test path. In actual operation, use your own target path as the standard.

Check quantity: Compare the number of records in the list with the number of target folders in File Explorer to prevent missing selections or duplicate interpretations.

Predict results: Write out the names after Chinese removal in your mind or in a table. For example, when seeing “客户202”, predict that the result will be “202”; when seeing “照片77”, predict that it will be “77”. If nothing remains after Chinese removal, or if there may be duplicate names with other directories, pause and adjust the plan.

For mistakenly added records, you can use the delete icon in the corresponding row operation area to remove them. If the entire list is wrong, you can also use “Clear” on the page and add again. After confirming the records are correct, click “Next” at the bottom.

7. Step 3: Choose to delete “All Chinese characters”

After entering the second stage, “Set processing options”, you can see multiple operation types. Different options correspond to different name-cleaning needs, such as deleting all numbers, all whitespace, all English letters, a certain amount of text from the far left or far right, and content within a certain range.

This tutorial needs to remove Chinese from folder names, so select “All Chinese characters”.

After selecting, confirm the meaning of the rule again: the software will delete Chinese characters from the added records, while numbers are still the components to be retained. Do not mistake “All Chinese characters” for “All content”, and do not choose “All numbers”, otherwise the result will be the opposite of the goal of retaining only numeric identifiers.

If the original name structure is “Chinese + numbers”, this rule will delete the preceding Chinese. If Chinese characters appear after the number, such as “001项目”, the goal should likewise be to delete the Chinese and retain “001”. If Chinese characters are interspersed between English letters or numbers, the rule will also process the Chinese characters in the name. Because different names may contain spaces, hyphens, or other symbols, it is best to test complex directories with copies first.

After selecting “All Chinese characters”, click “Next” to continue setting the save location.

8. Step 4: Complete save settings and execute the batch task

The third stage of the software process is “Set save location”. After entering this stage, confirm the save location or related settings for the processing result according to the actual prompts on the page. When setting, pay special attention to whether the current processing targets formal materials or test copies, and confirm that the target location has sufficient permissions.

After continuing to the “Start processing” stage, execute the batch operation. During processing, avoid modifying the same batch of directories in File Explorer at the same time, and do not let other programs occupy or continuously write to these folders. After the task ends, go to the result location to view the names, and spot-check the identifiers and folder contents one by one.

A safer method is to execute in two rounds. In the first round, add only two or three test directories, such as “项目001” and “设计004”, and verify that the results are “001” and “004”; in the second round, add the remaining folders. For hundreds or thousands of directories, you can also split batches by project, year, or parent path, which makes verification and problem location easier.

9. Name conflicts that must be noted before batch processing

After removing Chinese characters, the most easily overlooked problem is duplicate folder names. Suppose the same directory contains both “项目001” and “客户001”; after removing the Chinese characters, both would become “001”. Because two completely identical folder names usually cannot exist under the same path, such records are not suitable for direct batch processing with the same rule.

Before execution, you can first extract or manually review all numeric identifiers to determine whether there are duplicates. If duplicates exist, you can process them separately under different parent directories, or redesign the retained information to ensure that the final names are unique. Do not wait until the formal execution stage to discover conflicts.

In addition, if a folder name consists entirely of Chinese characters, such as only the two characters “报告”, there will be no recognizable name left after deleting all Chinese characters. Such directories should also be removed from the list in advance, with numbers added first or another renaming plan adopted.

10. Frequently asked questions

1. Does this function delete the folder itself?

This tutorial demonstrates deleting text from folder names, that is, batch processing of names, not actively deleting directories. However, batch renaming changes paths, so important materials should still be backed up in advance.

2. Will doc, docx, xls, xlsx, ppt, pptx, PDF, and image files inside the folders be renamed?

The objects added and processed in this case are folder records, and the results shown in the tutorial are folder name changes. Files inside the directories are not the renaming targets in this example. To be safe, you should still open several directories after processing to spot-check their contents.

3. Can the zeros before numbers be retained?

From the screenshot after processing, “001” and “004” both retained their leading zeros. This is because the rule deletes Chinese characters rather than recalculating numeric identifiers.

4. Why are the results not arranged in numeric order of 1, 2, 3?

File Explorer may sort by name characters, and numeric texts of different lengths can affect their positions. A change in sort order does not mean the identifiers have been modified, and the results can be confirmed by checking item by item.

5. Can the processing be done while a folder is being used by Word or Excel?

To avoid path occupation or abnormal material saving, it is recommended to close programs that are using documents in the target directories first, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF tools, and synchronization software that may access those directories, before executing batch renaming.

6. Can mixed names containing Chinese, English, and numbers be used?

If the goal is only to remove Chinese characters, you can first select a small number of mixed names for testing. The operation type page provides different options such as “All Chinese characters” and “All English letters”. You should choose according to the character type you actually want to delete, and not confuse the two.

11. Summary

The key to organizing a large number of folders from “Chinese label + number” into numeric-only form is not entering new names one by one, but identifying the naming pattern common to all directories. When using HeSoft Doc Batch Tool , go to “Folder Name - Delete text from folder names” in sequence, add the target folders, select “All Chinese characters” in the operation type, then complete the save location settings and start processing to uniformly remove Chinese from the names.

This batch-processing method can reduce repeated renaming operations and allow project, customer, financial, meeting, and image materials to adopt a consistent numeric identifier rule. Before formal execution, be sure to check for duplicate identifiers, names made entirely of Chinese characters, file occupation, and path reference issues. It is recommended to first copy two or three representative folders for testing, confirm that Chinese characters are removed and that identifiers such as 001 and 004 remain intact, and then batch process all directories.