Batch convert DOCX to Markdown

Batch converting DOCX files to Markdown can be efficiently done using various tools and scripts, depending on your environment. Here’s a detailed guide to do this using a Python script leveraging pandoc or python-docx with markdownify, which are popular methods.

Method 1: Using Pandoc (Recommended for high fidelity)

Prerequisites:

• Install Pandoc

• Install Python if you want to automate batch processing.

Step 1: Install Pandoc

Download and install Pandoc for your OS.

Step 2: Batch Conversion Script

Here’s a Python script that loops through all .docx files in a folder and converts them to .md files using Pandoc:

python
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import os
import subprocess

input_folder = 'path/to/docx_files'
output_folder = 'path/to/output_md_files'

os.makedirs(output_folder, exist_ok=True)

for filename in os.listdir(input_folder):
    if filename.endswith('.docx'):
        input_path = os.path.join(input_folder, filename)
        output_filename = os.path.splitext(filename)[0] + '.md'
        output_path = os.path.join(output_folder, output_filename)

        # Pandoc command
        command = ['pandoc', input_path, '-f', 'docx', '-t', 'markdown', '-o', output_path]

        subprocess.run(command)

Replace path/to/docx_files and path/to/output_md_files with your actual directories.

Method 2: Using Python libraries (for simple conversion)

If you don’t want to install Pandoc, you can use Python libraries like python-docx and markdownify to extract text and convert to markdown.

Step 1: Install dependencies

bash
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pip install python-docx markdownify

Step 2: Script

python
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import os
from docx import Document
from markdownify import markdownify as md

input_folder = 'path/to/docx_files'
output_folder = 'path/to/output_md_files'

os.makedirs(output_folder, exist_ok=True)

for filename in os.listdir(input_folder):
    if filename.endswith('.docx'):
        input_path = os.path.join(input_folder, filename)
        output_filename = os.path.splitext(filename)[0] + '.md'
        output_path = os.path.join(output_folder, output_filename)

        document = Document(input_path)
        full_text = []

        for para in document.paragraphs:
            full_text.append(para.text)

        text = 'nn'.join(full_text)
        markdown_text = md(text)

        with open(output_path, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as f:
            f.write(markdown_text)

Note: This method is simpler but might lose complex formatting and images.

Summary

• Use Pandoc for the best conversion quality including images, tables, and formatting.

• Use Python libraries for lightweight/simple conversion without external dependencies.

If you want, I can help write a ready-to-run batch conversion script tailored to your system or suggest command-line one-liners for quick use.