I need to duplicate a word file and name it based on an excel list or other list format

Question

I have a base word file that I need to copy and name approximately 300 times. The content of the word file will be the same, but the file name will be different based on a column within excel (or a list of any kind, doesn't matter)

I've combed through things a bit, and can't seem to find any direction on how to do something like this. I would essentially like to batch copy the file, and then I could potentially use a file renaming utility, but I didn't know if there was a better way. Potentially even scripted.

Answer 1

Something like this could work in a Windows command shell.

Create your list of desired filenames in a simple text file:

FileNames.txt, one filename per line.

filename1.docx  
filename2.docx 
filename3.docx 
...etc

Then run the following in a command window, assuming you replace FileToCopy.docx with your actual filename.

C:\scripts>for /F %i IN (FileNames.txt) DO copy FileToCopy.docx %i

Could obviously be refined greatly, but I think this would meet your requirements. What it will do is for every line in the FileNames.txt file, it will create a copy of FileToCopy.docx with that name.