Bulk Editing Google Docs with a Script

We used Google Docs for elementary progress reports. A spreadsheet and Autocrat let me create all the files and even drop them into folders by homeroom class. But that’s not what this is about.

After teachers started entering grades, the principal noticed that the grading key was missing some information. The easy fix would have been to recreate the docs and have the teachers start over. But this would have created extra work for teachers on one of their least enjoyable tasks.

A quick Google search led to a script that would allow me to edit the documents en masse. Not surprisingly, the starter script came to me via Amit at https://labnol.org. It takes the folder path containing the docs to be edited, the “search” text and the “replace” text. Then it goes through all the docs in the folder, makes a backup and then does the search/replace in each doc.

Amit’s script is effective but limited to a basic find/replace in the body text of Google Docs in one folder.  I expanded it to allow formatting text in addition to find/replace in Google Doc headers, bodies, and footers across multiple folders. You can find my script here.

Just as I expanded Amit’s script, when you’re ready to expand mine, visit the Class Text section of Google Apps Script tutorials for more options.