How to rename multiple files at once in Windows 10 and 11

Learn how to quickly rename multiple files at once in Windows 10 and 11.

The steps on this page work for photos, documents, video files, audio files, and other types of files.

Microsoft PowerToys

Microsoft PowerToys is a set of utilities for power users to tune and streamline their Windows 10 experience for greater productivity.

We'll be using the PowerToys PowerRename utility for renaming multiple files at once.

PowerRename is a bulk renaming tool that allows you to:

• Change the file names of a large number of files (without renaming all of the files the same name).
• Perform a search and replace on a targeted section of file names.
• Perform a regular expression rename on multiple files.
• Check expected rename results in a preview window before finalizing a bulk rename.
• Undo a rename operation after it is completed.

You can download PowerToys from GitHub, here.

You can find the latest release at the top of the page.

To download PowerToys, you click on the EXE file with a name similar to PowerToysSetup-0.27.1-x64.exe.

Once the download is complete, you run the file to install PowerToys on your PC.

On this page, you'll find two methods for renaming multiple files at once using PowerToys. The first method is for renaming all files to something completely new. And the second method is replacing a word in all file names.

How to rename all files to something new

The steps below will show you how to replace entire file names with something completely new.

1. Open File Explorer (Windows Explorer).

2. Go to the files you want to rename.

3. Select the files.

Below you'll find two ways to select multiple photos at once.

• Press the Ctrl and A keys on your keyboard.
• Click on the first file, press and hold the Shift key of your keyboard and then click on the last file.

4. Right-click on the selected files and then click on PowerRename.

The PowerRename window will open.

5. Type the following expression .* in the Search text box.

6. In the Replace text box, you type what you want to replace it with.

7. Check the Use Regular Expressions, Enumerate Items, and Item Name Only options.

Tip: PowerRename provides a preview of how the renamed files will look after the renaming process.

8. When you're done setting it up, you click on the Rename button at the bottom of the PowerRename window.

PowerRename will now rename all files at once.

How to rename all files by replacing a word in all file names

1. Open File Explorer (Windows Explorer).

2. Go to the files you want to rename.

3. Select the files.

Below you'll find two ways to select multiple photos at once.

• Press the Ctrl and A key on your keyboard.
• Click on the first file, press and hold the Shift key of your keyboard and then click on the last file.

4. Right-click on the selected files and then click on PowerRename.

The PowerRename window will open.

5. In the Search text box, you type a search term.

6. In the Replace text box, you type what you want to replace it with.

PowerRename will replace the first occurrence (or every occurrence if you check the Match All Occurrences option) of that search term in all file names with the text you entered in the Replace text box.

Tip: PowerRename provides a preview of how the renamed files will look after the renaming process.

PowerRename offers several options. Check the options you need. Below you'll find what each option does:

• Use Regular Expressions: This option allows the use of search strings known as regular expressions. Regular expressions can enable in-depth or complex search-and-replace operations.
• Match All Occurrences: This option will replace all text that matches the text in the search field with the text entered in the Replace text box.
• Case Sensitive: This option makes searches sensitive, whether the letters are capital or lowercase.
• Enumerate Items: This option will add a number to the end of each renamed file.
• Item Name Only: This option will make the operation only change the file name and not the file extension.
• Item Extension Only: This option will make the operation only change the file extension and not the file name.
• Exclude Folders: This option will make the operation only apply to folders and not files.
• Exclude Files: This option will make the operation only apply to files and not folders.
• Exclude Subfolder Items: This option will exclude items in selected sub-folders from renaming operations.
• Make Uppercase: This option will make the entire file name in uppercase letters.
• Make Lowercase: This option will make the entire file name in lowercase letters.
• Make Titlecase: This option will capitalize the first letter of each word in the file name.

7. When you're done setting it up, you click on the Rename button at the bottom of the PowerRename window.

PowerRename will now rename all files at once.

If you don't like the result, you can press Ctrl + Z keys on your keyboard in File Explorer to undo the renaming process.

File Explorer

1. Open File Explorer (Windows Explorer).

2. Go to the files you want to rename.

3. Select the files.

4. Right-click on the selected files and then click on Rename.

5. Type a name.

6. Press the Enter key on your keyboard.

Windows will now rename all files at once.

If you don't like the result, you can press Ctrl + Z keys on your keyboard in File Explorer to undo the renaming process.