How to Import Link Find & Replace Rules from Excel

Published: 2026-11-04

Last updated: 2026-11-04

Bulk-load link find and replace rules from an Excel workbook instead of typing them one by one. Covers the five-column layout, match types, Matched part vs Whole link, and rule order.

Import Find & Replace rules from Excel

Instead of typing rules one at a time, you can list them in an Excel (.xlsx) file and click Import. Click the ⓘ icon beside Import at any time to see the format.

Download the example: Find-Replace-Import-Example.xlsx

Set up the workbook

Put one rule on each row of the first sheet. A header row is optional.

Column	What to enter	If left blank
A – Old Value	The link, or part of a link, to find	The row is skipped
B – New Value	What to put in its place	You are asked whether to keep the row
C – Match Type	`Contains`, `Starts with`, `Exact match`, `Wildcard` or `Regular Expression`	Contains
D – Method	`Matched part` or `Whole link` (Contains and Starts with only)	Matched part
E – Note	Anything that helps you remember why the rule exists	—

Matched part or whole link?

Matched part swaps only the text you typed. The rest of the link (site, folders, file name) stays the same.
Whole link replaces the entire link with the new value. Use this for ID-based links such as Doc.aspx?sourcedoc=…, where nothing of the old link is worth keeping.

Examples

A – Old Value	B – New Value	C – Match Type	D – Method	What it does
`Doc.aspx?sourcedoc={6F2A…90AB}`	`https://contoso2.sharepoint.com/sites/hr/Documents/Policy.docx`	Contains	Whole link	Any link containing this ID becomes exactly the new link.
`https://contoso.sharepoint.com`	`https://contoso2.sharepoint.com/sites/hub`	Exact match	(blank)	Only the bare tenant address changes. Longer links are left alone.
`/sites/hr/Shared Documents/`	`/sites/hr/Documents/`	Starts with	Matched part	`…/sites/hr/Shared Documents/2024/plan.docx` becomes `…/sites/hr/Documents/2024/plan.docx`.
`https://contoso.sharepoint.com`	`https://contoso2.sharepoint.com`	Contains	Matched part	`https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/hr/plan.docx` becomes `https://contoso2.sharepoint.com/sites/hr/plan.docx`.

Tip: You can also type the label shown in the rules table into column C, for example Contains · whole link, and leave column D blank.

Good to know

Rules run from top to bottom. Put specific rules above broad ones. In the example, the tenant-wide rule is last so it doesn't change links before the more specific rules can match them.
Export uses the same layout. Click Export to get your current rules in this format, edit them in Excel, and import them again.
Preview first. Turn on Flag only and run the job to see what would change before any links are rewritten.