Save Time: How to Rename Multiple Files at Once in Windows

Here’s the dilemma: you’re stuck with dozens (or hundreds) of files in Windows that have unhelpful names. This usually happens with photos taken with a smartphone and then transferred to your computer, resulting in names like IMG1001 and IMG1002. You want to rename all of these files so the names make sense, but you don’t want to waste time doing it one by one.

Windows lets you rename multiple files at once and give each one a sequential number to keep things in order. This has its uses, but you can do even more with the Microsoft PowerToys PowerRename tool, which lets you add dates and times to filenames using variables.

You can also turn to third-party utilities to get more powerful solutions. These programs can handle hundreds or thousands of files and change the file name or extension at will. You can even preview the renaming and undo the renaming if things aren’t quite right.

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Rename in File Explorer

To rename multiple files in File Explorer, select all the files you want to rename and then press the F2 key. The name of the last file is highlighted. Type in the new name you want to give each file, then press Enter. All files you select will be given the same name, but with a number in parentheses to make each filename unique.

If you change your mind about the new name, press Ctrl + Z to undo your action and your files will be restored to their original names. If you want to rename additional files in this way, select the new files, press F2, and then type the new name.

The new files are numbered consecutively, starting where the original files left off, so there is no conflict with duplicate names.

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PowerToys PowerRename

PowerRename can do even more. If you don’t already have PowerToys on your PC, download and install the PowerToysSetup.exe file from the program’s GitHub page(Opens in a new window). Open the PowerToys settings window by double-clicking on the system tray icon and then selecting PowerRename.

Make sure the switch for Enable PowerRename Is on. Open the Show PowerRename drop-down menu and set it to Standard and advanced context menu. This will add PowerRename to the context menu in Windows. Leave the box for Hide icon in context menu unchecked.

To receive name suggestions when searching and replacing existing file names, confirm this Enable auto-completion for the search and replace fields activated. Use the field below to set the maximum number of suggestions you’ll receive. If you are not sure, leave the default value of 10.

turn on Show recently used strings to show the most recent strings used for a search and replace. If you think you need more than just the regular expressions used for search and replace, enable it Use the Boost library at the bottom of the settings page.

Now if you need to rename multiple files, open File Explorer and select the items you want to change. Right-click the selection and select PowerRename from the pop-up menu.

In the right pane of PowerRename, confirm the files you want to rename and make sure they are all checked. Check the box for Use regular expressions. You then need to set up your search and replace strings.

To do this, let’s use photos named IMG_xxxx, where xxxx is a sequential number for each file. Type in the search box img_. In PowerRename, the dot symbol is used as a variable that represents a single character. So you would put four dots after the IMG_ as in IMG_…. and leave the extension unchanged.

In the Replace box, type the name you want to give the files, e.g New York Yankee game. Then click on the enumerate articles above the Apply button to append sequential numbers in brackets 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 what really shines in PowerToys is the inclusion of variables. You may want to include the date each photo was taken. Use the $ sign to add variables, the letter M for month, the letter D for day, and the letter Y for year. The frequency with which you use the letter determines the exact format.

Suppose you want to use the 2-digit value for the month, the 2-digit value for the date, and the 4-digit value for the year. You would enter the replacement string as New York Yankee Game $MM-$DD-$YYYY.

Note that any changes you’ve made up to this point have not yet been applied. PowerRename displays the new names in the Renamed column, while the original filename still displays in the Original column. This way you can see if your syntax is correct or if the new naming convention suits your needs.

If everything looks good, click Apply Button to officially rename the files. The new names now appear in the Original column to indicate that the files have been renamed.

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file renamer

If you decide you need a third-party utility, you can find many options, both free and paid. One particularly useful utility is File Renamer from Sherrod Computers(Opens in a new window). This tool comes in three different flavors – a free basic version, a regular $10 version, and a deluxe $19.95 version. Of course, the paid versions offer more features than the free version.

Install first(Opens in a new window) File Renamer, then open the program. Navigate to the folder containing the files. You will see that all files are already selected. In the Filename section at the bottom of the program, click the drop-down box and select Custom file name from the list.

Enter the filename you want to give each image, then uncheck Contain and select it again. The tool will then show you a sample preview of the new filename. We will choose to keep the hyphen as the separator between the main filename and the numbering scheme.

In the Unique Parameters section, we can add numbers, letters or dates to the file name. Since we have tens of files (instead of thousands) we change the mask from 0000 to 00 and keep the other criteria. Finally, we leave the extension unchanged.

Check the sample file name at the bottom of the window to make sure it matches your preferences. Then click the preview Button to display the new name of each file. When you are happy with the name, click Apply button to rename your files.

There is an undo button that you can use to undo your renaming, but this feature is only included in the deluxe edition of File Renamer.

If you can do without this feature, stick with the Basic Edition. If you rename a lot of files and want advanced features, the regular or deluxe versions might be worth the investment.