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You need to learn how to Rename Files and Folders in macOS if you want to put a bunch of files in the same folder but give them more organized names. When putting together a group of documents and files for someone else or to keep for yourself, you may find that the names of the documents aren’t quite right for the job. This is especially true when putting files from more than one place into the same folder.
These names don’t tell you what the pictures are of unless you open the file or had the foresight to name the folder that holds them. This doesn’t help if you have to share the files with someone else, because the other person will have the same problem. You should either rename the files or change their names so that they are easier to read. You can do that for one file at a time, but Apple has a great dialog for renaming a bunch of files at once.
How to Rename Files and Folders on Mac
Rename Single File By Pressing Enter
On a Windows PC, if you choose a file and press the Enter key, the file will open in the default app. On a Mac, though, it works differently. You just have to choose a file or folder and hit the enter key. With this, you can change the name. After you’ve changed the name, hit the enter key again or click somewhere else.
This works well with Finder and any other app, both on the desktop and in the cloud. But you can’t use this option in windows that are already open, like Save, Open, Browse, etc. For example, if you choose a file and press the enter key in the “Open” window, the file will be opened in the app that is linked to it.
Right Click and Rename Files
Next, you can right-click a file or folder and choose “Rename” from the menu that appears. This lets you change the name and click anywhere to make the change take effect.
The good thing about this method is that it works even when a window is already open, like the “Save” or “Open” dialog box. This is very helpful if you look through the folders to open a file and find that the name is different.
Rename Single File from Finder Menu
- Select a file or folder and go to “File > Rename” menu.
- Alternatively, click on the action menu icon (showing as three dots inside a circle) and select “Rename” option.
Creating Custom Keyboard Shortcut for Rename
- Go to “Apple Menu > System Preferences > Keyboard” section.
- Select “Shortcuts” tab and click on “App Shortcuts” option.
- Now click on the + icon to add a new custom shortcut.
- This will open a pop-up like below. Select the “Application” as Finder and type the “Menu Title” as Rename (make sure to type with first letter capital as exactly you see in Finder app
- Type your shortcut key (for example – F2) and click “Add” button.
- Now, you can see the custom F2 shortcut is added for Rename menu under Finder app.
Rename Files from Terminal
- Search and open Terminal app and type cd downloads to change the directory.
- Now type mv Blank.jpg Clean.jpg and press enter.
- You will not see any confirmation in the prompt. But go to the downloads folder and you will see the file name is changed.