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