How To Rename Multiple Files At Once With Different Names - The editors select and review the results independently. If you buy through affiliate links, we may earn commissions, which help support our testing.
Here's the dilemma: You're stuck with dozens (or hundreds) of files in Windows with useless names. This usually happens with photos taken on a smartphone and transferred to your computer, resulting in names like IMG1001 and IMG1002. You want to rename all of these files to meaningful names, but you don't want to waste time doing it one by one.
How To Rename Multiple Files At Once With Different Names
Windows allows you to rename multiple files at once, assigning each a sequential number to keep things in order. This is used, but you can achieve even more with the Microsoft PowerToys PowerRename tool, which allows you to add dates and times to file names through the use of variables.
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You can also go to third party resources for more powerful solutions. These programs can handle hundreds or thousands of files and will change the file name or extension to anything you like. You can even preview the name change and remove the name if things are not right.
To rename multiple files in File Explorer, select all the files you want to rename, then press the F2 key. The last file name will be highlighted. Type the new name you want to give each file, and press Enter. All the files you selected are named but with a number in parentheses to make each file name unique.
If you change your mind about the new name, press Ctrl + Z to undo your action, and your files will revert to their original names. If you want to rename other files this way, select the new files, press F2, and enter the new name.
The new files are assigned sequence numbers that begin where the original files left off, so there are no duplicate name conflicts.
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PowerRename can do even more. If you don't already have PowerToys on your computer, download and install the PowerToysSetup.exe file from the program's GitHub page (Opens in a new window). Open the PowerToys Settings window by clicking on its System Tray icon, and select PowerRename.
Make sure the Enable PowerRename switch is turned on. Open the Show PowerRename menu and drop it into the default and expand context menu. This will add PowerRename to the context menu in Windows. Leave the box for the Hide icon in the context menu unchecked.
To get name suggestions when searching and replacing existing file names, confirm that the Enable auto-complete for search and replace fields is enabled. Use the field below to set the maximum number of tips you will receive. If you are not sure, leave the default value at 10.
Enable Show last strings used to see the last strings used to search and replace. If you think you need more than the regular expressions used for searching and replacing, enable the Use Boost library at the bottom of the settings page.
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Now, when you need to rename multiple files, open File Explorer and select the item you want to change. Right-click the selection and select PowerRename from the pop-up menu.
In the right window of PowerRename, confirm the files you want to rename and make sure that each one is checked. Check the box for Use regular expressions. Then you need to organize your search and replace strings.
For this, we will use the image named IMG_xxxx, where the xxxx represents a serial number for each file. In the search field, type
. In PowerRename, the dot symbol is used as a variable that represents a single character. So you would write four periods after the IMG_ as it is
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. Then click the item number button above the Submit button to add the sequence number in parentheses to the end of the file name. This would look like New York Yankee Game (1), New York Yankee Game (2), and so on.
But PowerToys really shines when they include variables. You may want to note the date each photo was taken. Use the $ sign to add variables, the letter M for month, the letter D for the day, and the letter Y for the year. The number of times you use the letter determines the exact form.
Let's say you want to use two-digit values for the month, two-digit values for the date, and four-digit values for the year. You would type the new string as New York Yankee Game $MM-$DD-$YYYY.
Note that not all changes you made at this point have been applied yet. PowerRename previews the new names in the Rename column while the original file name is still visible under the original column. That way you can see if your syntax is correct or if the new naming convention works for your needs.
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If everything looks good, click the Apply button to officially rename the files. The new names will now appear in the original column to indicate that the files have been renamed.
If you decide you need a third-party utility, you'll find many options, both free and paid. A very useful utility is File Renamer by Sherrod Computers (Opens in a new window). This tool comes in three different flavors – a free Basic version, a $10 regular version, and a $19.95 Deluxe version. Of course, the paid version offers more features than the free edition.
First, install (Opens in a new window) File Renamer, and then open the program. Navigate to the folder that contains the files. You will see that all files are already selected. From the Filename section at the bottom of the program, click the drop-down box and select Custom Filename from the list.
Type the file name you want to assign to each photo, then uncheck Insert and select it again. The tool will show you a sample preview of the new file name. We chose to keep the dashboard as a separator between the main file name and the numbering scheme.
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In the unique parameters section, we can add numbers, letters or dates to the file name. Since we have dozens of files (rather than thousands of them), we will change the mask from 0000 to 00 and keep the other criteria the same. Finally, we leave the extension as it is.
Check the sample file name at the bottom of the window to make sure it matches your choice. Then click the Preview button to see the new name of each file. If you are happy with the name, click the Apply button to rename your files.
There is an Undo button that allows you to undo your rename, but this feature is only included in the Deluxe File Renamer edition.
If you can get by without this feature, stick with the basic edition. If you rename a lot of files and want more advanced features, the regular or deluxe versions may be worth the investment.
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I have been working since early 2016 writing tutorials, how-to patches, and other articles on consumer technology. In addition, I write stories and tutorials for a number of other websites and publications, including CNET, ZDNet, TechRepublic, Macworld, Popular Science, Time, Fortune, US News & World Report, and AARP Magazine. I spent seven years writing breaking news for CNET as one of the site's East Coast reporters. I also wrote two books for Wiley & Sons - Advanced Renamer is a program to rename multiple files and folders at once. By configuring the rename method the names can be handled in different ways.
It's easy to set up a batch job using multiple methods on a large number of files. 14 different methods allow you to change the names, attributes, and timestamps of the files in one go. Files can also be copied or moved to new locations based on the information in the files.
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With Advanced Renamer you can build new file names by adding, removing, replacing, changing case, or renaming the file based on known information about the file.
Before you do the operations on the files you can confirm that the result will be correct and if you change the name and regret it, you can cancel the whole batch.
This popular file is a great resource for organizing digital photos for both professionals and beginners. Thumbnail mode allows you to display thumbnails directly on the file list giving you more control over the renaming process. With this program you can rename all your photos in a snap.
If your image files have GPS data you can add the name of the city and country where the photo was taken. Coordinates are used to find city, country and state names in a database of over 100,000 cities worldwide.
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MP3 and other music files often have confusing names and strange characters. With Advanced Renamer you can rename your favorite music files to more appropriate names using the built-in tool
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