Rename File List to Order

Are you a digital photographer? Do you frequently transfer new photos to your PC? If so, you could be aware about a common problem faced by many photographers. Your digital camera names each snap with a base file name and incremental number- DSC_1000.jpg, DSC_1001.jpg, DSC_1002.jpg.

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Although this may help you sort files by their freshness, it can become troublesome to organize and filter your photos based on specific places or events. Thankfully, there are ways to fix this problem. In this tutorial, we’ll guide you through the step by step procedure to batch rename your photos with readable and friendly names.

Method 1: Using File Explorer

We all use File Explorer to browse through different drives and directories. Little do we know that File Explorer makes it incredibly easy to batch rename files. With a few handy tricks, we can rename hundreds of files in seconds.

If File Explorer is incredibly easy, why don’t everyone use it to rename files? The catch here is that it limits your ability to only one pattern. You can use the File Explorer to only add numerical increments to your files. You cannot use it to add prefixes at the beginning of your files or use advanced renaming patterns.

1. Click the File Explorer icon on your Taskbar.

2. Open the folder that contains files you need to rename.

3. You’ll find a small downward arrow at the top right corner of the File Explorer window.

4. Click that Expand Ribbon icon.

5. As your Ribbon expands, move to the View tab.

6. Set the Layout to Details.

To automatically rename multiple files at once:

Do you like to rename all files or only fewer ones? Use the Ctrl + A key combinations to select all files for renaming. Or if you like to rename only fewer files, select the first file in sequence. Press and hold the Shift key of your keyboard. Select the last file and release it.

Now, type a name for your file and press Enter.

File Explorer will automatically batch rename the selected files and add a post-fix like this- (1), (2), (3), …..

To manually rename multiple files one by one:

Right-click the topmost file in the sequence, and select Rename. Or use the F2 keyboard shortcut to initiate rename.

Specify a new name for your file, and press Enter to confirm.

From now on, use the Tab key to jump over to the next file in sequence and rename it.

Method 2: Using Command Prompt

Command Prompt is a powerful command-line interpreter. You can input text-based commands to rename files the way you like.

1. Type CMD in the Search Box on your Taskbar.

2. Right-click the Command Prompt and choose Run as Administrator.

3. Type path to the directory that you want to scan for duplicates:

cd D:\FilesToRename

If the files you want to rename are located in the Documents folder, use the following command instead:

CD %UserProfile%\Documents

3. Now, type one of the following commands to batch rename multiple files at once:

Add new text to file names:

Command Prompt allows you to add text to original names. In this example, we’ll batch rename all the .docx files and add NEW_NAME into the original filename. The quotation marks are needed when your file name contains spaces.

Syntax:

ren *.FILE-EXTENSION ???-FILE-NAME.*

Example:

ren *.docx ???-NEW_NAME*

Make file names shorter:

Use this command if you’re looking to trim the text and make your file names shorter.

This example will trim file names that are longer than 3 characters. It’ll not rename file names that are shorter than 3 characters.

Example:

ren *.* ???.*

Change file extensions:

Similarly, you can tweak the commands to change the file names of numerous files at once. In this example, we’ll change the file extensions from Text Document (.txt) to RichText Format (.rtf).

Syntax:

ren *.OLD-EXT *.NEW-EXT

Example:

ren *.txt *.rtf

Method 3: Using Windows PowerShell

Windows PowerShell is a much more advanced version of Command Prompt. First introduced in Windows 7, it has become much prominent in Windows 10. Here, we’ll discuss how to batch rename your files using PowerShell.

1. In the Search button on your Taskbar, type PowerShell.

2, Right-click Windows PowerShell and select Run as Administrator.

3. Use any of the following commands:

Remove text from file name:

You can use the PowerShell to find specific keywords into the file names and delete them. We’ll automatically remove the word “music” from filenames in the below example:

Dir | Rename-Item -NewName {$_.name -replace “music”,””}

Replace text:

Similarly, you can slightly tweak the above command to replace the word “music” with “song”.

Dir | Rename-Item -NewName {$_.name -replace “music”,”song”}

Replace spaces with underscore:

In the following example, we’ll replace any spaces with underscores:

Dir | Rename-Item -NewName { $_.Name -replace ” “,”_” } 

Method 4: Using Easy File Renamer (Recommended)

Easy File Renamer is an algorithm-based software that automatically renames hundreds of thousands of files. You don’t need to be a computer-savvy or become proficient in any scripting language. The user friendly interface, dozens of renaming patterns, cloud naming support, and other add-on features make EFR your best bet.

Renaming Patterns

Easy File Renamer supports dozens of file renaming patterns. You can add prefixes, postfixes, remove text, replace text, and do much more. We’ll discuss them one by one below:

Add prefixes: Prefixes are the texts that are added to the beginning of your file names. Example: newtext_oldname.txt

Add postfixes: Postfixes are the texts that are added at the end of your file names. Example: oldname_newtext.txt

Remove text: Just like you can add prefixes and postfixes, you can also remove text from the file names. Suppose, you’ve hundreds of music files and all of them contain a common keyword iTunes. Using the Remove option, you can remove this common keyword and shorten the file names.

Replace text: Using the replace pattern, you can find and replace texts inside file names.

Change case: You can change the text case to upper, lower or title case. For example: Change filename.txt to FILENAME.txt or Filename.and vice versa.

Numbering: EFR allows you to easily add number increments to your filenames.

Insert at: Use this function to insert a text at a specific position in your filename. For example: Insert “abc” at 4th position.

Why Easy File Renamer?

WIth your purchase of EFR, you get a FREE license to Sorcim’s Cloud File Renamer. If you’re using Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive or Amazon S3, Cloud File Renamer can help you rename files without needing to download them.

It is noteworthy that Easy File Renamer is not just about renaming your files.  It comes with other add-on features to batch copy or move (transfer) your files with ease. You can quickly move large files and folders to other locations without errors. The name collision rules give you the ability to increment by number or replace texts. 
If you’re a music lover, Easy File Renamer can help you batch edit mp3 file tags. No more need to individually edit music tags.