Accessible from the right-click context menu in File Explorer, the PowerRename command can rename files through the use of variables. Simply select the files you wish to rename, trigger the command, and then choose the filename string and variables that you want to use. If you just need to add sequential numbers to a group of files, that’s already easy enough to do directly in Windows. Open File Explorer, select the files you want to rename, and then press F2. The last file in the list is selected. Type the name you wish to use and press Enter. All the files you selected are given the same name with successive numbers in parentheses. But PowerRename can do that and more. If you don’t already have PowerToys on your PC, download and install the PowerToysSetup.exe file from the program’s GitHub page. PowerToys and its programs work the same in both Windows 10 and 11. Also: How to use the free PowerToys FancyZones in Windows and why you should
How to rename multiple files in Windows with PowerRename
If you need more powerful and flexible file renaming, then you might prefer a third-party utility. I’ve used Sherrod Computer’s File Renamer program, which comes in both free and paid flavors, and provides a variety of renaming options. But if your file renaming needs are relatively basic, PowerRename is a useful and convenient tool. To see the last strings used for a search and replace, turn on the switch for Show recently used strings. Finally, if you think you’ll need more than just the regular expressions used for search and replace, turn on the switch for Use Boost library. Otherwise, leave this off; you can always turn it on if and when necessary. In the right pane, confirm the files you wish to rename and make sure each one is checked. The files initially all had names of IMG_ followed by a four-digit number and then JPG as the extension, e.g., IMG_1001, IMG_1002, etc. In the Search field, I typed IMG_. In PowerRename, the . symbol is used as a variable representing a single character. So I then typed four dots after the IMG_ as in IMG_…. and then nothing for the extension as I wanted to leave JPG as is. With PowerRename variables, the month is represented by the letter M, the date by the letter D, and the year by the letter Y. The number of times you use the letter determines the exact format. In this case, I wanted to use the two-digit value for the month, the two-digit value for the date, and the four-digit value for the year. So, I typed the replace string as Trip to London-$MM-$DD-$YYYY.
