Replace in local files
Find and replace in a folder on this PC
The same ordered rules as the SharePoint version, applied to a folder of documents on this computer. Fully offline, so it is the right tool for files you have already exported or downloaded, and for a dry run against a copy before you touch anything live.
What it does
- Every occurrence that would change, per file, before anything is written.
- Which files could not be opened, including password-protected ones.
- What was actually written.
How it runs
- Pick a local folder. No sign-in. Nothing leaves this computer.
- Write the rules. The same ordered find-and-replace pairs.
- Preview. Non-destructive, and always first.
- Apply. Files are rewritten in place. Take a copy of the folder first if you want a way back.
How it works
It walks the chosen folder and every folder below it and picks up Word, Excel and PowerPoint files (including older .xls workbooks), text files such as .txt, .html, .aspx, .xml and .css, and PDFs, which are reported as not supported rather than changed. Folder links are not followed. A folder that cannot be listed or a file that cannot be read is named in the report, and the rest of the tree is still searched.
The rules are applied exactly as in Replace in SharePoint: in order, each on the result of the one before, across differently formatted text in Office files, with link addresses in those files rewritten too. Password-protected Word, Excel and PowerPoint files are opened with the worksheet's passwords and saved with the same password.
Preview writes nothing and its matches are not kept; applying searches the folder again. A file is rewritten only when a rule actually changed it. Just before it is overwritten, its last-modified time is compared with the one it had when it was searched, and a file changed in between is skipped and reported. A file that fails is listed with the reason and the run carries on.
Nothing is backed up and a local disk has no version history, so the only way back is a copy of the folder made first. Nothing leaves this computer and nothing in SharePoint is read or changed. The report is kept in Report History.
What you need
- Write access to the folder. Nothing else, and no network.
- Passwords for any protected files you want included.
What it will not do
- Files are rewritten in place and there is no version history on a local disk. Copy the folder first if you want to be able to compare or revert.
- Password-protected documents are skipped unless you have supplied their passwords.