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My Rename a Batch of Files Microsoft Word Help & Tips page provides some basic code and a practical example of using a VBA routine to process a batch of Word documents stored in a common folder. 

This  Microsoft Word Help & Tips page is the result of a collaborative effort by fellow Word MVP Doug Robbins and myself to expand and enhance the method decribed in that article.  Thanks also to fellow MVP Graham Mayor for his exhaustive assistance showing me where things where wrong or could go wrong. 

Here I will provide two Word AddIns that work in tandem to make review and processing a batch of Word files relatively effortless.  One AddIn "BatchProcessDocuments.dot" contains the VBA routines to allow the user to select a folder for processing and the processing method (Automatic or Manual).  The second AddIn "BatchProcesses.dot" contains the VBA routines to perform on the document.  Both AddIns must be loaded for the pair to function.  You can store the AddIns in your Word Templates directory and load them using the Templates and Add-ins Dialog as shown below.

The AddIns were created using Word 2003.  I used Word2003 in order to create a simple toolbar in BatchProcessDocuments.dot which includes two commands as shown on the left.  These commands will manifest as command button controls in the "Custom Toolbars" group of the Add-In tab of the Word2007 User Interface Ribbon as shown on the right.    

When the user selects either command button, a dialog appears which allows the user to select the folder containing the batch of files to process.  In the illustration shown below I have selected a folder named "Batch."  I have placed all the files that I want to process in this folder.  When the folder to process is selected then click "OK" on the bottom right of the dialog.

If the user selected Batch Auto Process, a UserForm will appear like the one shown below.  This form shows the folder selected for processing and allows the user to select one of three pre-defined processes or a user defined process.  The processes themselves are part of the "BatchProcesses.dot" AddIn which I will discuss later.  The "Convert Date Fields" process will change all {DATE} fields in a document to {CREATEDATE} fields.  "Find and Replace" performs a find and replace operations on each file in the batch of files.  You can enter multiple find and replace pairs to process.  "Convert .doc to .docx" (shown here as disabled) is only available when the AddIns are loaded in a Word2007 application and converts each file in a  batch of files from .doc format to .docx format.    

After the user has selected a process and entered other relevant data the "Begin Processing" command in enabled as shown in the  illustration below.  Users then click on "Begin Processing" to start processing.

:old:Note: the "Add F/R pair" command is used to perform multiple find and replace operations as each file is processed.  For example, say I want to update a batch of White House documents.  I would enter the first find and replace pair as shown above and click "Add Pair."  I then enter a second pair of find and replace with terms e.g., find: 43rd, replace with: 44th.  If the new pair is valid then the "Begin Processing" command is enabled and you can begin processing or add another pair.  The pair showing in the find and replace with fields are automatically part of the collection of terms to process, so only use the "Add F/R pair" command to add additional pairs. 

As the documents are processed the UserForm updates to show progress.   If the folder selected for processing contains sub-folders, the user will be presented an option to continue processing in sub-folders after the last file in selected batch folder is processed.

When the process is completed the user is presented a log file of the documents processed and the UserForm display updates accordingly.

:old:Warning:  While I have attempted to make these AddIn as comprehensive as possible, I am fairly certain that they are not foolproof or perfect.  You should be careful to "always" save a copy of the files you wish to process in  a separate folder prior to processing any files with these AddIns. 

:old:Note: If your batch folder contains open password or modify password protected files then you will need to supply the password as the AddIn attempts to open each document for processing.  

:old:Note: There are a couple of minor unresolved glitches in my code for handling invalid passwords.  One in particular manifests in Word2007 as a run-time error and crashes Word in the event you click "Cancel" in the Password dialog box of a password protected file.  You can avoid these glitches by removing passwords prior to processing or being certain of your passwords before you start.    Sorry!

If the user selected Batch Manual Process, a UserForm will appear like the one shown below. 

This process opens each document in the selected batch folder one at a time and presents it on the screen for the user to review or manually process.  In addition to performing manual processes to the open document, a command button is available for executing a user defined auto process (the auto process is defined and stored in the BatchProcesses.dot AddIn).  When the user is finished processing the document they click "Next File."  This automatically saves changes, closes the document, and presents the next document for processing.  The UserForm interface notifies the user when the last file in the batch folder is presented by changing the "Next File" command button caption to "Finished."

:old:Note:  There is no log feature or capability to continue processing in sub-folders when using the Manual Process method. 

:old:Notice the UserForm caption is "dimmed."  This is a modeless form that is displayed on the surface of the document but it doesn't have the focus.  This lets you see the form and at the same time perform document processes.   Clicking a command button in the UserForm returns the focus to the form.
Separating the code to select the batch folder and sequence through each file from the code that actually performs the process on the document was intentional to minimize unneccary access and tampering with the code in BatchProcessDocuments.dot. 
As mentioned earlier, the code for performing processes on each document is contained in the second AddIn "BatchProcesses.dot."  With this distribution BatchProcess.dot contains the three pre-defined processes "Convert Date Fields," "Find and Replace," and "Convert .doc to .docx;" and a placeholder for a user defined process.  Users can readily change the user defined process to meet varying needs.  The following two code snippets shows the existing user defined process and an example of how it code be edited for a useful purpose (e.g., change a style attribute). 
Function User_Defined(ByRef Doc As Word.Document) As String
On Error GoTo Err_Handler
'*******
'Put your document processing code here. E.g.:"
MsgBox Doc & " auto process complete."
'*******
User_Defined = Doc.Name & " processed successfully."
Err_ReEntry:
Exit Function
Err_Handler:
User_Defined = Doc.Name & " failed to process. Error summary: " & Err.Description & "."
Resume Err_ReEntry
End Function

Function User_Defined(ByRef Doc As Word.Document) As String
On Error GoTo Err_Handler
'Change the Heading 1 style font to "Tahoma"
With Doc
   .Styles("Heading 1").Font.Name = "Tahoma"
End With
User_Defined = Doc.Name & " processed successfully."
Err_ReEntry:
Exit Function
Err_Handler:
User_Defined = Doc.Name & " failed to process. Error summary: " & Err.Description & "."
Resume Err_ReEntry
End Function
That's all there is to it.  Download the AddIns here:  Batch Process AddIns
The project module and UserForms contained in these two AddIns are not protected so they are available for you to reiview or modify.  The code contains techniques and methods that you may find interesting or helpful for other projects including:

  a. Use of a modeless UserForm

   b. Use of a collection to save the existing recent files list before processing begins and then restore that original list after processing.

   c.   A recursive function to process one or more folders in the batch folder

   d.  Code to control UserForm captions and command button displays

   e.  Code to validate find and replace field entries

   f.  and several others.

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