How to Rename Multiple Files at Once on Windows 11 and 10

Rename many files at once on Windows: add a prefix or suffix, remove or replace characters, and preview every new name first. With examples for all nine rules.

Renaming a hundred holiday photos, a season of TV episodes or a folder of scanned documents one by one takes forever. This guide shows the quick built-in way in Windows, and then how to get full control with S Renamer.

The quick way: File Explorer

Windows can give a group of files the same base name:

  1. Select the files in File Explorer.
  2. Press F2, type a name, for example Beach, and press Enter.

Windows names them Beach (1), Beach (2) and so on. That is handy, but it replaces the whole name. To keep the existing names and change only part of them, you need rules.

The flexible way: S Renamer

S Renamer renames files and folders with rules that you stack on top of each other, and shows every new name before anything changes.

1. Open the folder

Pick a drive or library in the sidebar, or type a path in the Path box and click the arrow button next to it. Double-click a folder to open it. To go up a level, click the up arrow or double-click an empty area of the list.

2. Add a rule

Choose a rule from the drop-down list and click Add Renaming Rule.

The rule list in S Renamer: Add Prefix, Add Character At Index, Add Suffix, Remove Prefix Count, Remove Suffix Count, Remove Prefix Upto Character, Remove Suffix From Character, Remove Character Range and Replace Characters
The nine renaming rules.

3. Fill in the rule

Each rule has its own row. Choose whether it changes the Name or the Extension, then type its values. Add as many rules as you need.

Two rules in S Renamer: Add Prefix with Pre_ and Add Suffix with _Suffix, with three items ticked
Two rules: add Pre_ at the start and _Suffix at the end.

4. Tick the items to rename

Tick the checkbox next to each file and folder you want to rename. To rename everything in the folder, click in the list and press Ctrl+A to select all items at once. Anything you don’t tick stays untouched.

5. Preview, then rename

Click Preview. Each ticked item shows its new name right below its current name. With the old and new names one above the other, it is easy to see exactly what will change and check that it is what you wanted before anything is renamed. If something looks wrong, change the rules and preview again, or click Clear Preview. When you are happy, click Rename.

The preview in S Renamer showing Sample Folder becoming Pre_Sample Folder_Suffix and 1. Renamer App.jpeg becoming Pre_1. Renamer App_Suffix.jpeg
The preview shows each new name before anything changes. The suffix goes before the file extension.

Rules run from top to bottom

S Renamer applies the rules in order, each one to the result of the one above it. Drag a rule by the handle on its left to change the order, or click the bin icon to remove it.

For example, these three rules turn the folder Project into This Project is Awesome:

  1. Add Prefix This (with a space at the end) gives This Project.
  2. Add Suffix Awesome (with a space at the start) gives This Project Awesome.
  3. Replace Characters Awesome with is Awesome gives This Project is Awesome.

The nine rules, with examples

The examples rename a photo called IMG_0042_beach.jpg, with each rule set to change the Name. Positions (indexes) are counted from 0, so the first character is at index 0.

Rule What it does Example values New name
Add Prefix Adds text at the start 2024 2024 IMG_0042_beach.jpg
Add Suffix Adds text at the end of the name, before the extension _edited IMG_0042_beach_edited.jpg
Add Character At Index Inserts text at a position index 3, text - IMG-_0042_beach.jpg
Remove Prefix Count Removes a number of characters from the start 4 0042_beach.jpg
Remove Suffix Count Removes a number of characters from the end 6 IMG_0042.jpg
Remove Prefix Upto Character Removes everything up to and including the first match of the text _ 0042_beach.jpg
Remove Suffix From Character Removes everything from the last match of the text to the end _ IMG_0042.jpg
Remove Character Range Removes the characters from the start index to the end index, both included start 0, end 3 0042_beach.jpg
Replace Characters Replaces every match of the text (case-sensitive) _ with a space IMG 0042 beach.jpg

A few more ideas:

  • Delete text everywhere: use Replace Characters and leave the replacement empty. Replacing _ with nothing gives IMG0042beach.jpg.
  • Fix extensions: set Replace Characters to Extension and replace jpeg with jpg.
  • Turn dates into readable dates: for a file named 20240105.jpg, add two Add Character At Index rules: - at index 4 gives 2024-0105, then - at index 7 gives 2024-01-05.

Tips

  • Always check the preview before clicking Rename.
  • Rules apply to folders too. Folders have no extension, so only the Name rules change them.
  • Drag the divider between the rules and the file list to give either area more room.

Get S Renamer from the Microsoft Store.

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