How to Use Easy File Renamer

What this guide covers

Easy File Renamer is a desktop app for batch-renaming local files or folder names on Windows and Mac. The working method is always the same: add items, stack rules, read the New Name preview, then apply.

Screenshots in this guide are from the Windows app. The same four tabs and the same preview-then-apply workflow are what you use on Mac. Local renaming stays on your computer.

Watch the walkthrough

This walkthrough is recorded on Windows. Follow it here, then use the steps below. The same method is what you use on Mac. Open on YouTube

The four tabs

The app has four tabs. Open the one that matches the job.

• System Renamer — general files or folder names, stacked named rules, preview column.
• Media Renamer — photo and video names from date, camera, dimensions, and sequence tokens.
• Music Fixer — common audio tags, optional rename from tags, and an exported iTunes Library XML load.
• Cloud Renamer — opens Cloud File Renamer in your browser for files that live in a supported cloud account.

System Renamer is the starting tab: add files or folders, choose a rule, then preview.

Clear the list only when you mean to leave the current batch behind.

Add files or folders

In System Renamer, pick the add action that matches the job:

1. + Add Files — choose individual files.
2. + Add files from folders — load files from a folder. You can include subfolders and use type filters.
3. + Add folders — rename the folder names themselves, not the files inside.

Switching between files mode and folders mode clears the other list. The add-files list paginates and can hold 1,500 items; larger jobs use folder indexing so Rename applies to the full indexed set, not only the page on screen.

Current Name and New Name sit side by side before any rule is applied.

You can remove selected rows from the working set without renaming them. Names that contain \ / : * ? " < > | are rejected.

Stack rules and preview

Open the rule type menu and add rules in the order they should run. Order matters: each rule sees the name produced by the rule above it.

The named rules are:

• New Name
• Remove Text
• Replace Text
• Trim Text
• Add Suffix
• Add Prefix
• Add Ascending Numbers
• Insert Text
• Convert to Lowercase
• Convert to Uppercase
• Title Case
• Change Extension

Pick one rule at a time, then add it to the stack.

Replace Text and Remove Text can target the first, last, or all matching instances. Regular expressions are available when a more precise match is needed.

Watch the New Name column as you build the stack. Image files can also open a collapsible preview pane.

The prefix is visible in New Name before anything is written to disk.

A three-rule stack: prefix, trim, then insert. Clear rules if you need to start over.

Save a macro

When a stack works, save it as a macro so the next similar batch does not have to be rebuilt by hand. Load a saved macro later, or delete one if you no longer need it. Deleting a macro cannot be undone.

Give the stack a name you will recognize on the next job.

Click a saved macro to load it back into the rule stack.

Apply the batch

Apply only when every planned name looks right. If two planned names collide, choose Increment By a Number (the default) or Skip File in the name collision rule.

Trial and expired copies can add or scan files and inspect the preview. Applying a rename is gated. The trial message is:

You can preview names in the trial. Register when you are ready to apply the rename.

When a batch finishes you get total, success, skipped, and failed counts.

Need a license? Open Register on the site, then use the in-app Trial User link to enter it.

Rename photos and videos in Media Renamer

Use Media Renamer when the new name should come from photo or video metadata, not from a System Renamer text rule. Filter the list to photos, videos, or both.

These tokens appear on the Media Renamer screen:

{date} {time} {year} {month} {day} {camera} {filename} {seq} {dimensions} {ext} {date_taken} {camera_make} {camera_model} {width} {height}

If a date-taken value is missing — common on video — the app can fall back to the file modified or created time. Preview the pattern, then save a working template as a macro for the next batch.

Build the new name from the tokens shown on this screen.

Fix tags and filenames in Music Fixer

Music Fixer reads and updates common tags — title, artist, album, year, genre, and track — and can inject or clear album art. You can add audio files directly or load an exported iTunes library.

1. In iTunes or Music, use File → Library → Export Library to create an XML file.
2. In Music Fixer, choose + Load from iTunes and pick that .xml file.
3. Or use Add Files / Add Files From Folders for a folder of tracks.
4. Rename from a tag template such as {artist}, {title}, {album}, {year}, {genre}, {track}, and {ext}.
5. Filename to Tag only works when the current filename matches the template parts.

Fix Needed counts show missing title or artist before you apply anything.

If a filename does not match the template, that track is not updated.

Cloud files

Use System Renamer for files and folder names on your computer. When the files live in a supported cloud account, open the Cloud Renamer tab and continue in the browser.

Cloud File Renamer opens in your browser. It is included free with Easy File Renamer.

The Cloud Renamer tab points you to that site for cloud files, and to System Renamer for local batch renaming with rules and indexing.

Settings, collisions, and history

Settings include theme (light, dark, or system), listing font size, default tab, update checks, and the default name collision rule: increment by a number, or skip the file.

Set the default collision behavior before you apply a large batch.

History keeps a record of recent batches across sessions, with success, skipped, and failed counts. Use it to review what ran. It does not undo a rename after it has been applied.

Open History when you need the record of a previous batch.

Guide FAQ