How to Import Search and Replace Data into ReplaceMagic

ReplaceMagic supports importing data from external files — both saved scan results and bulk search-and-replace string pairs. This is essential for large migrations with complex replacement rules, or when splitting work across multiple machines.

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What You Can Import

ReplaceMagic supports two types of import:

1. Saved scan results: reload a previously saved document scan to continue work or share results between machines — no need to re-scan the documents
2. Search/replace string pairs: import a list of replacement rules from a CSV or text file — ideal when you have dozens or hundreds of path mappings to apply in one run

Importing Saved Scan Results

In the Scan Documents tab, click the Import files button:

Use this when:

• You scanned documents on one machine and want to process them on another
• You saved a scan run and want to resume work later without re-scanning
• You are splitting a large document list across multiple machines for parallel processing

A file browser opens so you can locate and select your saved scan file:

The imported results appear in the grid exactly as if you had just scanned — ready for filtering, export or a fix run. You can split the exported CSV list into multiple smaller files and import each one on a separate machine to parallelise large replacement jobs.

Importing Search and Replace String Pairs

Use this when you have a complex migration with many path mappings — for example, 50 old server paths each mapping to a different new SharePoint URL.

The import file is a simple delimited text file with one pair per line. The default separator is | (configurable in Configuration → Configuration tab):

OldValue|NewValue
\\OldServer\Dept1|https://company.sharepoint.com/sites/Dept1
\\OldServer\Dept2|https://company.sharepoint.com/sites/Dept2
\\OldServer\Finance|https://company.sharepoint.com/sites/Finance

Once imported, all pairs appear in the Search and Replace tab and run simultaneously in one processing pass — no need to configure them manually one by one.

Why Import Replacement Strings?

• Manual entry works well for 1–5 replacement pairs, but complex migrations often require dozens or hundreds of mappings
• Importing from a file eliminates typing errors and ensures consistency across all machines
• The same import file can be reused across multiple machines running ReplaceMagic in parallel
• The Replacements Preparation Package service can prepare these import files on your behalf for complex migrations

Distributing Work Across Multiple Machines

For very large document libraries, split the scan into batches by folder or department:

1. Scan each batch on a separate machine and export the results
2. Apply the same imported replacement rules on each machine simultaneously
3. This is the primary use case for volume license packages — parallel processing dramatically reduces the migration window

See ReplaceMagic license packs for volume licensing options that support this parallel processing approach.

Supported Import File Formats

• Plain text (.txt) with configurable separator character
• CSV (.csv) with comma or semicolon separator
• The first column is the search string; the second is the replacement string
• Lines starting with # are treated as comments and ignored
• Empty lines are ignored
• Encoding: UTF-8 recommended to ensure correct handling of special characters in paths

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In case of any questions please do not hesitate to contact us.