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Is there a way to mass delete text without deleting the text frames in Indesign?



Is there a way to mass delete text without deleting the text frames in Indesign?


Question

I'm trying to delete text in non-linked text frames without having to individually click inside each one, select all, and delete.

Is there a faster way of doing this?

2015/02/09
1
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2/9/2015 7:51:00 PM

Yes -- but since it requires multiple text frames to be selected, it can only work on a single spread. You cannot select items 'across' spreads.

  1. Select the text frames to clear out.
  2. Call up the Find/Change dialog.
  3. Select the GREP tab.
  4. Make sure all fields (Find, Change, and formatting) are empty.
  5. Type in the top field (?s)^.+, leave the bottom field blank. This is essentially "Find all continuous text".
  6. By default, the search range ought to be 'Stories' (it may be 'Story' if you only selected one single frame).
  7. Hit "Change All".

This is also scriptable and can be made to work on an entire document, but since a script works independent of any user input, you'd need some way of telling it what frames to clear out.

2015/02/09
2
2/9/2015 10:29:00 PM