Rename all files in a folder

Putting together a load of photos from a range of people and turning them all into an orderly slide show can be quite tedious when you have to rename 200 files by hand. However, Ed Bott, of TechRepublic, has come up with a great solution for renaming a WHOLE load of files.

Select the files to be renamed (Ctrl and A to select all the files in a folder). Right-click the first in our selected file order range, and click Rename. Then simply enter the new base file name for the entire folder and hit Enter. Windows File Explorer will change all the filenames, adding a sequential number suffix in round brackets to each.

For example, we can rename all the files "P1257806.jpg" and "DSC10562.jpg" to "Pete and Jen's Wedding (1).jpg" and "Pete and Jen's Wedding (2).jpg" etc.

I would recommend that we copy our base files, just in case we want the original file names at any point in the future.

Funnily enough, I have inadvertently done a wholesale rename, and I can only say "THANK GOODNESS" for the Undo command!


Sam

• Reference: Bott, Ed (6 December 2017). Windows tip of the week: Rename a folder full of files. Retrieved 12 December 2017 from enews.techrepublic.com/p/vsuzcGHoN6