SOYATOOLS / GUIDES
How to split a PDF by text and rename each file automatically
Payroll and billing systems often print everything into one big PDF: every employee’s payslip, or every customer’s invoice, one after another. To send each person their own document you need one file per person, with a sensible name. Page-range splitting works for a handful of documents; for a whole month’s run, split where a value on the page changes.
Why page ranges are not enough
In a combined payslip or invoice PDF, documents rarely have the same number of pages. One employee has a single page, the next has two because of extra allowances; a long invoice runs onto a third page. Splitting “every 1 page” or “every 2 pages” cuts documents in the wrong place, and every resulting file still has to be opened and renamed by hand. What actually marks the start of a new document is a value printed on the page, such as an employee number or customer code.
Options before you install anything
- Export one file per person at the source. If your payroll or billing software can produce a separate PDF for each employee or customer, that avoids splitting entirely. Check its export or print options.
- Split by page count or bookmarks in Adobe Acrobat. If you have Acrobat on the desktop, open the PDF and select All tools > Organize pages, then Split. The Split by menu offers number of pages, file size or top-level bookmarks, and Output options set the destination folder and a naming convention (Adobe Help). This works well when every document has the same length or the PDF already has one bookmark per person. None of those options reads an employee number off the page.
- Do it by hand. For a few documents, extracting page ranges one at a time and typing each name is fine. For dozens or hundreds, it is slow and easy to get wrong, and a misnamed payslip sent to the wrong person is a real privacy problem.
Split by text with PDF Split & Rename
PDF Split & Rename splits a PDF where a selected text value changes, or where a QR separator page appears in a scanned batch, and builds each file name from the page content.
- Install the app from Microsoft Store and open the combined PDF.
- Select the split-key area: the place on the page where the employee number, customer code or other identifier is printed. For scanned batches with QR separator pages, split on the QR separators instead.
- Preview the split. The app shows each document group with its page range, the identifier it read and the proposed file name. Previews are free.
- Set the file name rule by combining a target month, fixed text and extracted fields, for example the month, the word “payslip” and the employee number and name.
- Review problems before export: missing values, duplicate or invalid file names and page-range errors. If a QR separator could not be read, mark it manually in the page review.
- Export (Pro). The split PDFs and a CSV report are saved in a new folder. Rules can be reused for next month’s PDF.
Originals are preserved, and documents and rules are processed locally on your PC.
Free and Pro
- Free: open, search, copy text, rotate and print PDFs; preview text and QR splits and review page ranges, identifiers and proposed file names.
- Pro: batch export – splitting on text changes or QR separators, file names from month, fixed text and extracted fields, reusable rules, and saving PDFs plus a CSV report in a new folder. Pro is a permanent Microsoft Store add-on purchased once; check availability and the local price in the Store.
Because previews are free, you can check that the app reads your payslip or invoice layout correctly before buying Pro.
What it does not do
- No general OCR or AI classification. Text splitting needs PDFs with selectable text; scanned PDFs are supported only when they contain QR separator pages.
- Encrypted PDFs are not supported. Digital signatures, interactive forms and bookmark reconstruction are outside the supported scope.
- Up to 150 MB and 1,000 pages per PDF, and 300 MB total per task. Printing supports up to 100 pages at 108 dpi.
- Requires Windows 10 version 2004 or later or Windows 11 (x64) and the Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime.
- The interface follows your Windows display language: Korean on Korean Windows, English otherwise.
FAQ
Can I tell whether a PDF has selectable text?
Open it and try to select or search a word such as an employee number. If you can, the text is selectable. If the page behaves like a picture, it is a scan, and the app can only split it on QR separator pages.
Will the original PDF be changed?
No. Originals are preserved and the results are saved in a new folder.
What goes in the CSV report?
The product page says Pro saves the split PDFs and a CSV report in a new folder; it does not list the report columns. Use the free preview to see the page ranges, identifiers and file names the export is based on.
How much does Pro cost?
Pro is a one-time, permanent Microsoft Store add-on. The price depends on your region and is shown in Microsoft Store.
Can it split password-protected PDFs?
No. Encrypted PDFs are not supported. Remove the protection in the program that created the PDF, if you are allowed to, and use that copy.