When we arrive on vacation, to attend an event, an excursion or any other activity that has a memory associated with it that we want to keep, the first thing we do is download all the images and videos to our computer that we have been able to do to begin to classify the content into folders.
Once we have downloaded it, we must sit quietly and begin to classify content, especially if it is about images and videos of a trip, since it will be much easier for us to find the images and videos of the different parts of the city that we have visited, monuments or towns.
The best way to classify files, be they images, videos, text files, music files ... is use a name that allows us to quickly know what its content is. However, sometimes we are interested in keeping part of the file name, especially when it comes to images, photographs, movies and TV series since normally the name of the file is based on the date on which we have made the capture or, in In the case of series or movies, inform us about their content.
Depending on what your needs are at the time of rename files in bulkIn Windows 10 we have different tools, some native and others from third parties, tools that we show you below and that will surely cover all the needs you may have when renaming files.
Windows File Explorer
Windows Explorer is the best tool we have at our disposal to rename quickly and easily files in bulk. Its operation is so easy that it may seem absurd, but if we consider the few options it offers, its operation is perfectly understood.
Rename files with Windows file explorer
The first thing we must do is select all the files that we want to rename. Keep in mind that Windows file explorer it only allows us to mass rename files, never folders or subfolders. Once we have selected the files that we want to rename, we have several options:
- Press F2 and write the name of the file that we want to use in the selected files. The explorer will automatically number all the files that we rename, a numbering that we will find at the end of the file in parentheses.
- Right mouse button and select the Rename option. As in the previous option, the system will automatically take care of numbering all the files, showing the numbering in parentheses.
- Rename browser button. The Rename button located on the Home tab of the window where the files we want to rename are located, allows us to change the name of the files, automatically numbering them.
Power Rename
PowerRename is a simple application that is part of PowerToys, a set of applications that allows us to perform functions that are not available in Windows 10 natively. PowerRename is available for download completely free of charge through this link to Github.
Once we have installed PowerRename, becomes part of Windows 10 extensionsTherefore, to be able to use it to rename files, we must first select the files that we want to rename, press the right button of the mouse to bring up the options menu and select PowerRename.
How PowerRename works
Once we have opened the application window, the first thing to do is write in the box Search, the text that we want to modify. Then in the box Rename With We must write the text that we want to be displayed in replacement of the one that is currently in the file. If we do not write the text we want to replace of the files we have selected, the application will let us continue.
This function allows us rename part of the file name keeping the date, the episode or season number if it is about series that we have downloaded or any other information that we are interested in talking about.
But in addition, it also offers us a series of options that allow us to exclude files, folders and subfolders, list the files that we rename, keep the upper and lower case, rename only the extensions ... As we can see, the number of options that PowerRename offers us it is much broader than the options we have natively through Windows file explorer.
Advanced Renamer
The limitations of options when renaming files in a massive way in Windows, not exclusively in Windows 10, have generated the appearance of applications that allow us perform this task much more completely as is the case with PowerRename or Advanced Renamer.
Advanced Renamer allows us to rename both files and folders together, allowing us to set a series of parameters presets to add attributes to files, numbering, time stamps, information extracted from EXIF data (in the case of photographs), GPS coordinates ...
This application is intended for rename both photos and videos, music files (ideal to take advantage of the identification data ID3 so that the music applications recognize to which album and artists the songs belong) and T.V. series. In the latter case, the application connects to a web from where it extracts the possible name of the name of the file that we want to rename with the information it contains.
How Advanced Renamer works
Once we have downloaded and installed Advanced Renamer, we run the application, an application that has a Windows Explorer-like interface. The first thing we must do is access the folder where the files we want to rename are located and proceed to select them, either jointly or individually.
Next, we go to the left column and set the new name that we want to use along with the attributes we want to add such as incremental numbers in the numbering, the total number of files, month and year in which the file was created, GPS location of the image either in coordinates format or the name of the city, include the file extension ...
Advanced Renamer is available for your download completely free for personal use. However, if we like the application and want to collaborate with its development and future updates, we can buy a user license, a license that has a price of 20 euros, a license that is not necessary to get the most out of the application.