Windows will name them automatically as ‘Italy 2015 (01)’, ‘Italy 2015 (02)’, and so on. Choose a name for all of the files (eg ‘ Italy 2015’). If you really want to use the windows command line (if you don't want to download something), you could do it like this: dir /B > fileList.txt for /f 'tokens1,2,3' i in (fileList.txt) DO ren 'i j l' l The first line outputs the list of files into a file called fileList.txt. Right-click on the first file and select Rename. You can type in the full path or open the folder in File Explorer. Once the command prompt window opens, you’ll need to change the directory to the folder where your files are located. Next, select all the files in the folder by pressing Ctrl + A. Open command prompt by pressing Win + R, typing cmd and pressing OK. Make sure you're happy with the order they appear in before renaming them in the next step. Both will have much the same effect with digital photos taken from the same event - they'll appear in the order taken. Keep the files in either chronological order or ordered by 'date modified'. There’s a much simpler way to rename every file in a folder all in one go in Windows.įirst, copy and paste all of your photos from one event into one folder and give it a suitable name (eg ‘ Italy holiday 2015’).

Renaming files one at a time in Windows is far too laborious. Sorting out your file names in Windows can feel like a pain, but it’s a necessary one – having hundreds of photo files from three different holidays with the horrible file names, such as ‘DSCF0012’, doesn't help you find the picture you're after.

Windows rename multiple files