# Batch Cleaning Mark down files before pasting into Obsidian folder in Windows explorer **URL:** \ **Category:** Help\ **Tags:** graph-view\ **Created:** [March 15, 2022, 9:55am UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/batch-cleaning-mark-down-files-before-pasting-into-obsidian-folder-in-windows-explorer/34036 "2022-03-15T09:55:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jerry2](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jerry2](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/Jerry2)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2022, 9:55am UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/batch-cleaning-mark-down-files-before-pasting-into-obsidian-folder-in-windows-explorer/34036/1 "2022-03-15T09:55:22Z")
Dear all, This may not fall into this category. So I just found out about Obsidian. I have a lot of notes copied from website with footnotes,etc. I copy pasted these into Obsidian folder. the problem is in the original files there are a lot of [1], [sth sth], etc which create a very crowded graph from the get-go. So I went in the file 1 by 1, and replace “[” with “(”. I have thousands of the mark down files. Does anyone know how I can replace “[” with “(” in all the files at one go, instead of changing the file 1 by 1? It does not need to be inside Obsidian. This will give me a more tidy graph. Thanks, Jerry ### Things I have tried ### What I’m trying to do ---
**Author:** ![efemkay](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/efemkay/32/26644_2.png) [@efemkay](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/efemkay)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2022, 12:03pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/batch-cleaning-mark-down-files-before-pasting-into-obsidian-folder-in-windows-explorer/34036/2 "2022-03-15T12:03:22Z")
U can use vscode (or atom) to do that in batches. Forum post below shows how to remove `[[]]`. It should be applicable to u to replace `[` with `(` > [@Is anyone aware of ANY way we can delink/unlink mentions efficiently?](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/is-anyone-aware-of-any-way-we-can-delink-unlink-mentions-efficiently/32997/6): > > on top of @unrelated suggestion on using sed, awk or grep, and if u need a solution right now, i highly suggest using [vscode](https://code.visualstudio.com/) to achieve the very same thing. once u have vscode installed u can open your vault with File \> Open Folder and choose your Obsidian vault. then use Find in Folder... to search and replace content of your notes/files. vscode is better at bulk search and replace. u can see at my screenshot below that u can choose to replace only certain links or all links it found. ---
**Author:** ![echoreflection](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/echoreflection/32/19211_2.png) [@echoreflection](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/echoreflection)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2022, 11:26pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/batch-cleaning-mark-down-files-before-pasting-into-obsidian-folder-in-windows-explorer/34036/3 "2022-03-15T23:26:09Z")
There is a program called “renamer” that might be able to do what you’re looking for. [https://www.den4b.com/products/renamer](https://www.den4b.com/products/renamer) It’s been on my to-do list for a long time now to use it to move my Notion and Evernote notes into Obsidian. ---
**Author:** ![Jerry2](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jerry2](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/Jerry2)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2022, 12:03am UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/batch-cleaning-mark-down-files-before-pasting-into-obsidian-folder-in-windows-explorer/34036/4 "2022-03-16T00:03:51Z")
Thanks @efemkay , I’ll try that soon! Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Jerry2](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jerry2](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/Jerry2)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2022, 12:04am UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/batch-cleaning-mark-down-files-before-pasting-into-obsidian-folder-in-windows-explorer/34036/5 "2022-03-16T00:04:39Z")
This only change the file names and not the file content @echoreflection ---
**Author:** ![echoreflection](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/echoreflection/32/19211_2.png) [@echoreflection](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/echoreflection)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2022, 2:46am UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/batch-cleaning-mark-down-files-before-pasting-into-obsidian-folder-in-windows-explorer/34036/6 "2022-03-16T02:46:58Z")
@Jerry2 Ah I guess I misunderstood what you were looking for. ---
**Author:** ![cobblepot](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@cobblepot](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/cobblepot)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2022, 3:57am UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/batch-cleaning-mark-down-files-before-pasting-into-obsidian-folder-in-windows-explorer/34036/7 "2022-03-16T03:57:41Z")
Notepad++ has a batch search/replace that will work on all files in a given folder. ---
**Author:** ![Jerry2](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jerry2](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/Jerry2)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2022, 6:37am UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/batch-cleaning-mark-down-files-before-pasting-into-obsidian-folder-in-windows-explorer/34036/8 "2022-03-18T06:37:33Z")
I have used a program called Grepwin. (There is another one called WinGrep). It looked like it did the work when I opened the file. But in Obsidian, i used the random plug in and got a file which still has [1]. I will revert back if can find why. ---
**Author:** ![Jerry2](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jerry2](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/Jerry2)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 3:39am UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/batch-cleaning-mark-down-files-before-pasting-into-obsidian-folder-in-windows-explorer/34036/9 "2022-03-20T03:39:26Z")
Yes Grepwin did the job. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://forum.obsidian.md/uploads/default/original/3X/b/e/bec35fbd23ab28909bb6bfe62cb32eb82dd34019.png) [@system](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/system)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2022, 3:40am UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/batch-cleaning-mark-down-files-before-pasting-into-obsidian-folder-in-windows-explorer/34036/10 "2022-03-27T03:40:05Z")
Closed on March 27, 2022, 3:40am UTC This topic was automatically closed 7 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.