How to Batch Rename Files in Windows 11/10

In this post, we’ll show you how to Batch Rename Files in Windows 11/10. When you have a lot of files, you might want to change them all at once so you can keep track of them better. Manually renaming all your files can be a pain, but Windows 11 gives you a few ways to change many files at once.

Have a lot of files that you need to change so you can keep track of them? Well, changing files can be a pain, especially when you have a lot of them. Also, you wouldn’t want to look at each one by itself. Well, there’s a much better way to change many files at once in Windows 11/10.

Also, renaming files in bulk saves time and makes it easier to handle and organize files. When changing a lot of files, the most important thing is that none of them have the wrong name. You can also go to the official Microsoft support site to know more information.

Ways to Batch Rename Files in Windows 11/10

Rename Files From Explorer’s Command Bar

The menu bar gives File Explorer a new look in Windows 11. This bar has all the necessary choices for working with files. Here’s how to change the names of files in Explorer.

• Click the folder button for opening File Explorer on your taskbar.
• Select a file you want to rename with the cursor.
• Click the Rename option on Explorer’s command bar.
• Input a new title, and press the Return key.

Rename Files in Command Prompt

PowerShell is a more advanced command-line shell, but Windows 11 also has Command Prompt, which can be thought of as a less advanced option. Still, you can also change the names of your files in cmd by typing in a short order. Here’s how to change a file’s name in the Command Prompt:

• Click inside the Type here to search box on Windows 11’s Start menu.
• Enter cmd in the search tool, and select Command Prompt from there.
• To open a folder, input the cd\ command followed by a directory path and press Enter:

 cd\folder 1\folder 2\folder 3

• You can view files in a folder by entering dir and pressing Enter.
• Type in this command and press Enter to rename a file:

 ren “original_filename.ext” “new_filename.ext”

Rename Files From the Context Menu

In Windows 11, the new context menu looks a little bit different. But it still has the same important copying, moving, renaming, and deleting choices for files. If you right-click a file in Explorer or on the desktop and choose “Rename” from the menu that appears, you can change the name of the file. Then type the name of the new file and press the Return key on your computer.

Rename Files in PowerShell

PowerShell is a command-line tool that lets you do a wide variety of things with files. Using the rename-item function in PowerShell, you can change the names of files in the following ways:

• Press the Windows key or click Start.
• Click in the Start menu’s search text box to enter PowerShell.
• Select Windows PowerShell to bring up that app.
• Open the folder you want to rename a file in by entering this command (followed by an actual directory path) and pressing Return:

 Set-Location -Path “full folder path”

• To view a file list for a folder, input dir in PowerShell and hit Enter.
• Then input this rename file cmdlet and press Enter:

 rename-item "original_filename.ext" "new_filename.ext"

• You’ll need to put the names of your files in place of original_filename.ext and new_filename.ext in the above command. For instance, a command to change the name of a file called holiday photo.png to vacation photograph.png would look like this:

rename-item “holiday photo.png” “vacation photograph.png”

Rename Files With a Keyboard Shortcut

You can also use a keyboard shortcut to bring up the Rename choice in the context menu. Choose the file whose name you want to change in Explorer and press the F2 key. Then you can change the name of the chosen file in the text box.

By hitting an extra key on the keyboard, you can also choose to rename more than one file at once. To choose files to rename, press and hold the Ctrl key. When you change the name of one file in a folder, it changes all the others with the same name. (with a numerical modifier at the end).