Quick Rename of Files in Bulk

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

Google Drive

If you have files that you need to access from more than one device, or give access to someone else, Google Drive is a ...

Discover More

Tracking Prevention

Websites have been tracking users' web traffic for a long time, keeping data on website visits and your surfing ...

Discover More

Adding the Day of the Week to the Taskbar Clock

Sometimes it is helpful to know the day of the week. How do you get the taskbar clock to show the day of the week?

Discover More
More WindowsTips

Repairing Your System Using a System Repair Disk

If your system gets into a state where it cannot be started normally, this tip presents you with options of how you can ...

Discover More

Copying Files or Folders

A common operation within Windows is to copy files and folders from one location to another. Here are the two major ways ...

Discover More

Opening a File with a Program Other than the Default

Windows determines a program to use with a particular file based on the file's type. If you want to temporarily override ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WindowsTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

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}] 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 five more than 7?

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
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WindowsTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2021 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.