Quick Rename of Files in Bulk

Written by Eric Wyatt (last updated June 17, 2019)

4

Over the years there have been several times I have needed to batch rename groups of files. Whether this is 10 files or 100, the process can be time consuming and tedious. Fortunately, Windows provides a way to quickly rename a group of files quickly, as long as you are OK with the file names following the same naming structure and to be in sequential order.

To rename your files quickly follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to the folder with the files you wish to rename. In my case I have a folder with 18 different photos. (See Figure 1.)

    2. Figure 1. Explorer window with several files selected.

  2. Select all the files you want renamed. If it is all the files in a folder you can press Ctrl+A to select all the files.
  3. Press F2. Windows will activate the edit name function of the first file.
  4. Rename the File with the name you want. In my case I entered "Web Images Large."
  5. When you're done with the new name, press Enter. Windows automatically renames all the selected files with the new name and it will add a number to the end contained within parentheses, i.e., (10). (See Figure 2.)

    6. Figure 2. All files of Explorer Window renamed with same naming structure.

Now you can quickly edit a large group of images to have the same common naming structure, without downloading any third-party software.

 This tip (13644) applies to Windows 7, 8, and 10.

Author Bio

Eric Wyatt

Eric Wyatt is a swell guy (or so his friends tell him). He is a formally trained designer and branding expert, bringing a wide range of skills to his Tips.Net articles. ...

MORE FROM ERIC

Using the Voice Recorder

Windows 10 includes the new Voice Recorder app. Ideal for recording lectures, cute things your kids say, musical ...

Discover More

Setting Process Affinity

When your computer has a multi-core processor or multiple processors you can control how tasks or processes take ...

Discover More

Windows Run Commands

Run commands within Windows 10 allow for quick access to system resources. Here is a comprehensive list of the available ...

Discover More
More WindowsTips

Permanently Deleting a File

If you have a file that you're sure you want to permanently delete (instead of having it go to the Recycle Bin) it's an ...

Discover More

Removing a File Type Program Association

Removing a file type program association is a task for third-party utilities. You can, however, change the association ...

Discover More

Using Robocopy to Copy Entire Directories

It's simple to use Robocopy to copy entire directories. Dealing with directories is what it does best! This tip shows you ...

Discover More
Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is two minus 1?

2020-06-22 02:29:13

gerdami

@Sheryl
Yes, with FreeCommander XE

2020-06-21 16:31:05

Sheryl

That's fine when you want to rename all the files to the same name. Is there a way to change the first few characters of each file name to the same first few characters. For instance: how would you change all file names beginning with "WindowsTipsblahblahblah.pdf" to "WTblahblahblah.pdf", keeping the rest of the file name the same as it was?

2019-06-18 02:41:45

gerdami

FreeCommander XE has a very good renaming feature that does more than this tip.

2019-06-17 22:35:56

Bob Ama

At one point Windows appended a date & time stamp to a large number of my files. "budget.xlsx" became "budget (2019_06_17 19_34_34 UTC).xlsx" and "essay.docx" became "essay (2019_06_17 19_34_34 UTC).docx", for example.

I was able to rename all of them using the utility found at https://www.advancedrenamer.com/. It's not the most intuitive program you've ever used, but it did the job quite well. It sure beats having to manually rename all of those files one by one by one by one.

Newest Tips
Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.