Batch Process Hundreds of CSV & Excel Files

One file per store. One export per region, per client, per day. A whole folder of CSVs that all need the same cleanup before anyone can use them. Opening them one at a time and repeating the steps by hand is the kind of task that eats an afternoon and invites mistakes — and you'll do it again next week.

Batch processing solves it: clean every file in the folder the same way, in a single run.

The problem with one-file-at-a-time

• It's slow. Fifty files means fifty rounds of the same clicks.
• It drifts. File 12 gets a slightly different cleanup than file 1, and now your set is inconsistent.
• A script fixes it once. Then a column moves or the path changes, and the non-coder on the team is stuck.

Batch processing, explained

The idea is simple: build the cleanup once as a recipe on a single sample file, then point it at the whole folder. Two ways to get the results back:

• Separate files: one cleaned file out for each file in — same names, cleaned contents.
• Merged into one: every file cleaned and stacked into a single combined file.

How to do it, step by step

1. Put all the files you want to process in one folder.
2. Build a recipe on a single sample — trim, fix dates, dedupe, whatever they all need.
3. Run the recipe in batch mode across the folder.
4. Choose the output: one cleaned file each, or merge into one.
5. Export. Hundreds of files, one pass, identical cleanup.

CSV and Excel, together

Real folders are mixed. Kramata reads CSV, modern Excel (.xlsx/.xlsm) and even legacy binary .xls, and processes them in the same batch — so you don't have to convert everything to one format first.

Need only to stack same-shaped files rather than clean a folder of them? See how to merge multiple CSV files into one.

Cleaning a single file and saving recipes is free; batch processing across a folder is part of Kramata Pro. Everything runs locally — nothing uploaded.

Related guides

Merge multiple CSV files into one · Automate monthly Excel reports · Spreadsheet recipes: build once, reuse forever

FAQ

How do I clean multiple CSV files at once? Build a cleaning recipe on one sample file, then run it in batch across the whole folder. Every file gets the same steps in one pass — no opening them one at a time.

Separate cleaned files, or one merged file? Either. Batch can output one cleaned file per input, or merge them all into a single combined file — your choice at run time.

Can I mix CSV and Excel in the same folder? Yes. Kramata reads CSV, modern Excel (.xlsx/.xlsm) and legacy binary Excel (.xls), and processes them together in one batch.

How many files can it handle? Hundreds of files and large row counts — it's powered by an in-process database, not row-by-row formulas. Practical limits depend on your PC's memory and disk.