Effortlessly Rename Multiple Files: How to Batch Rename on Windows 7
Do you have multiple files that you need to rename for storage? Well, renaming files can be tedious, especially when you have a lot of files to rename.
Besides, you don’t want to change them one by one. There is a much more efficient way to batch rename files in Windows 7.
In addition, mass renaming saves time and also makes it easier to manage and organize files.
Fortunately, there are some simple ways to change the name of a group, with the help of which you can do this in a short time.
Group renaming of files can be done with the help of Windows’ built-in features, but there is also a great program in this field, designed by Microsoft, which provides you with more capabilities for renaming.
In this article, we want to explain how to batch rename multiple files on Windows 7.
Use Windows Explorer to Rename files
1. Open the folder you want to rename its files.
2. Select all the files you want to rename.
3. Right-click on the first file in the list and choose Rename from the context menu.
4. Type the name you want to put on your file, and put the number one in parentheses after that.
5. Press the Enter option.
6. The rest of the files will be automatically replaced by incrementing numbers with the same name.
Batch rename files with Command Prompt
If you need more power to rename files in bulk, you can use two commands rename, or ren in Windows Command Prompt.
The advantage of these two commands is that wildcard characters such as * and? It also supports making changes.
Wildcards are used when you want to rename only part of the files in a folder full of hundreds of other files.
Follow the steps below:
1. The fastest way to open a Command Prompt window in the desired location is to go to the desired folder in File Explorer.
2. When you enter the folder, click File from the top bar and click Open command prompt.
3. To change the name of only one file, you can use this command:
ren “current_filename.ext” “new_filename.ext”
For example, to rename the file “wordfile (1).docx” to “my word file (01).docx”, you can use the following command:
ren “wordfile (1).docx” “my word file (01).docx”
4. Since ren can be used to change file extensions, you can use it to convert multiple files at once.
For example, suppose several txt files. You want to convert them to Html. correct With the mentioned command plus the * wildcard, you can do this in the following way:
ren *.txt *.html
The question mark is used to change individual characters. For example, when you want several Html files. to htm.
convert To do this, you can use the following command:
*ren *.html.???
5. The mentioned command tells Windows that all the files are in the folder with the extension Html. select and remove the letter (l) from the end of them. The two things we mentioned are only a tiny part of the things you can do by typing commands in the Windows Command Prompt.
Batch rename files with third-party software
If you are not very good at coding with Command Prompt and at the same time need a powerful tool to change file names in bulk, some third-party software can come in handy.
Countless applications manage files, and most of them are helpful and reliable applications.
However, two of them are more popular than the others: Bulk Rename Utility and Advanced Renamer, which we will introduce below:
How to use Bulk Rename Utility
Bulk Rename Utility user interface may seem a little complicated to work with. But it provides you with functionality that you would get in Command Prompt by writing several lines of code.
After installing the software, run it and navigate to the files you want to rename. Select files and make changes from different panels in the software.
Fortunately, Bulk Rename Utility shows you a preview of the changes next to the New Name column. In this example, we used four panels for changes, which are marked with orange lines in the screenshots.
We instructed the software to rename all files to Word Files. Also, we changed the creation date of the files to YMD (year month day) format.
Also, we automatically numbered the names of the files starting from one and increasing one by one. The things we said are just a short part of what you can do with Bulk Rename Utility.
After making the changes and viewing the preview, you must click the Rename button to finalize the changes. As you can see, mass changing of file names with this software is done efficiently and at a high speed.
How to use Advanced Renamer
Advanced Renamer, offers a variety of methods for renaming files but instead displays them in separate panels requiring you to create commands in a particular field to create file renaming methods. Fortunately, learning these commands is not difficult, and the examples and tips will help you in this task.
Advanced Renamer’s user interface is more straightforward, reached Bulk Rename Utility, and supports multiple commands. So you can combine numerous file renaming commands and apply them to a large batch of files. You will also be able to save orders for later use.
In the example below, we used a simple command to rename files: Word File_<Year>_<Month>_<Day>_(<Inc Nr:1>) This command tells the software to rename all the selected files to Word File and add their creation date in YMD format to the end of the name.
Also, the above command can consider a number for each file in the separation.
Conclusion
Which of the above methods have you used?
What other methods do you know to rename a batch file in Windows 7?
We hope that you have benefited from today’s guide. Be sure to share your comments and questions about the methods of renaming a group of files in Windows in the comments section.
