Tech Tip : How To Rename Lots Of Files In One Batch Using File Explorer

If you have ever had to rename a large number of files, one by one, you will know how tedious it can be.  Especially if you are trying to organise a large quantity of like files, such as documents, photos or media files.   It can be useful to help you sort and arrange them into groups or projects as well.  You may wonder where you would ever use this, but scroll to the bottom of the article for an example where this would be good to use.

Here is a simple way to use Windows Explorer to rename files in bulk:

• In Windows, open Windows Explorer
• Browse to the location of the files
• Select the files that you want to rename (either use the shift key and click the first and last files to select a sequential block, or use the CTRL key and click on each separate file you want to include)
• On one of the files click with the right mouse button and from the from the down menu select "Rename", or just press F2
• Type the new file name you want to use and press enter
• Windows Explorer will then rename all of the selected files with the new file name and append each one with a unique sequential number to differentiate the files

Where would this be useful? 

Let's say you have had a party at the weekend and you have taken lots of pictures. 

You could upload the pictures to a folder and instead of them all being a generic file name and number for the pictures such as:

• IMG_3892.JPG
• IMG_3893.JPG
• IMG_3894.JPG
• IMG_3895.JPG

And change them to something more meaningful such as:

• 240302_Housewarming1.JPG
• 240302_Housewarming2.JPG
• 240302_Housewarming3.JPG
• 240302_Housewarming4.JPG

Whereby we have used the reverse date format (240302 equates to 2nd March 2024), what the event was, so a housewarming and then the sequential images, which should be in the order they were taken.