How to Change File Names in Bulk in Windows

This wikiHow teaches you how to change the names of multiple files at once in Windows.

Steps

1
Press ⊞ Win+E to open the File Explorer. This displays a list of drives, folders, and files on your computer.
2
Open the folder with the files you want to change.

Advertisement
3
Select the files. To select more than one file at a time, hold Ctrl as you click each file. If you prefer, you can click and drag a box around the files you want to edit.
- To select all of the files in a folder, click somewhere in the folder, then press Ctrl+A.
4
Right-click the highlighted files. A context menu will expand.
5
Click Rename. It’s near the bottom of the menu. The names of all of the files are now edible.
6
Type in the name you want for your files and press ↵ Enter. This changes all of the file names to what you’ve typed, but each subsequent file will end with a number.
- For example, if you name the first file Cat.gif, the next file will be called Cat(2).gif, then Cat(3).gif, etc.
Advertisement