Removing Pictures from Multiple Files

by Allen Wyatt (last updated January 8, 2011)

Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Removing Pictures from Multiple Files.

Rosario has a huge number of documents (about 44,000 of them), each of which contains a graphic in the header. She is looking for a way to remove all those graphics without the necessity of opening and modifying each document manually.

Fortunately this can be handled by creating a macro. All you need to do is put all the documents in a folder and then use the macro to search through the folder, open each document, remove the graphic, and save each document. This can be done with a macro like the following:

Sub StripGraphics()
    Dim oShape As Shape
    Dim oIShape As InlineShape
    Dim I As Integer
    Dim J As Integer

    With Application.FileSearch
        .LookIn = "C:\MyStuff\"     ' where to search
        .SearchSubFolders = True    ' search the subfolders
        .FileName = "*.doc"         ' file pattern to match

        ' if more than one match, execute the following code
        If .Execute() > 0 Then
            MsgBox "Found " & .FoundFiles.Count & " file(s)."

            ' for each file you find, run this loop
            For I = 1 To .FoundFiles.Count
                ' open the file based on its index position
                Documents.Open FileName:=.FoundFiles(I)

                ' document is now active, check all sections
                For J = 1 To ActiveDocument.Sections.Count
                    With ActiveDocument.Sections(J).Headers(wdHeaderFooterPrimary)
                        ' remove floating graphics from header
                        If .Shapes.Count > 0 Then
                            For Each oShape In .Shapes
                                oShape.Delete
                            Next oShape
                        End If
                        ' remove inline graphics from header
                        If .Range.InlineShapes.Count > 0 Then
                            For Each oIShape In .Range.InlineShapes
                                oIShape.Delete
                            Next oIShape
                        End If
                    End With
                    With ActiveDocument.Sections(J).Headers(wdHeaderFooterFirstPage)
                        ' remove floating graphics from header
                        If .Shapes.Count > 0 Then
                            For Each oShape In .Shapes
                                oShape.Delete
                            Next oShape
                        End If
                        ' remove inline graphics from header
                        If .Range.InlineShapes.Count > 0 Then
                            For Each oIShape In .Range.InlineShapes
                                oIShape.Delete
                            Next oIShape
                        End If
                    End With
                Next J

                ' save and close the current document
                ActiveDocument.Close wdSaveChanges
            Next I
        Else
            MsgBox "No files found."
        End If
    End With
End Sub

This macro makes the assumption that you want to remove all the graphics (both floating and inline) in the header. These are removed, and each file is resaved. The macro doesn't affect any other graphics in the document.

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