When it comes to renaming a large chunk of files, here are a few tips that would make you like a Pro.
The magic of the Tab key
When you have a large number of files to rename, instead of doing this:
- Highlight the first file, and hit F2;
- Type in the new filename hit Enter;
- Move onto the next one and repeat steps 1 and 2.
Give it a try this:
- Highlight the first one, and hit F2;
- Type in the new filename, and instead of hit Enter, press TAB, which quickly moves onto the next file and have F2 already pressed for you so you can be ready to start typing right away.
- Keep typing and hitting the Tab key to fly through the rest of the files.
Isn’t it much faster and efficient?
Even better, hit Shift+Tab to jump back so you can go through the list in reverse order too.
To rename files to the similar name
If you need to rename a bunch of files to have the same basename with a number in sequence, i.e. file1, file2, …etc., try this:
First, highlight all the files you want to rename, and hit F2.
Type in the basename you want to use, and hit Enter. Hooray.
I can imagine that it could be extremely useful when renaming a season of a TV show.
To add a prefix
How about I want to rename a bunch of files in the same folder by slightly appending a file extension or inserting a letter or two in the middle of the file?
Now it’s where the built-in command REN shines.
To append a file extension, like from whatever to TXT,
ren *.* *.txt
To append a letter or two at the end of the filename but before the file extension,
ren *.txt ?????????????????????hello.*
To make things easier, you can navigate to the folder that has the files you want to rename, and type the following command in the address bar, and press Enter.
cmd /c "ren *.* *.PDF"
The command might change to fit your needs but you get the idea.
PowerRename
But if you are really serious about the file renaming business, PowerRename from PowerToys is the one tool you will need.
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