Imagine you have to rename a group of tens or hundreds of files. Doing it manually is very tedious and can take a lot of time. Luckily Finder has a function with which you can do it in a matter of seconds.
The function of renaming multiple macOS files will allow you to apply a series of rules to modify the name with very few clicks. Thanks to it you can, for example, remove a part of the name, add a numbering at the end, add the date in the file name, etc, etc …
To use this function, the first thing you need to do is open the folder that contains the files in Finder, select them and then click the right mouse button and access the Rename X items function (where X is the number of items you have selected).
Once this is done, a new window will appear that will allow you to configure the rules for changing names. In the first dropdown you must choose the criteria to follow (I explain below the different options) and in the other options go covering the data that asks you to make the change.
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Change one or several words for others
The first option of the function will allow you to change one word for another (or several) in the name of the files. It is one of the most interesting and useful functions, and with a little practice, you can get very good results.
For example, if you are changing the name to a lot of files in a camera, you can use this option to change the typical DCIM or IMG to a name that best identifies them while keeping the number of the photo assigned to the camera.
You only have to type in the field Search for the word or words you want to replace and in the field Replace with the one to be changed. You can use spaces, numbers and also some symbols. For example, you can use a phrase that identifies the photos followed by a space, a hyphen, and another space to separate the name from the numbering that the camera had already established.
Look at the real-time example that appears in the lower-left corner. When you are at ease, click on Rename to make changes to the name of the selected files.
Add text before or after the current name
The second drop-down option is Add text. Thanks to this option you can add one or several words both before and after the current file name.
This function is very useful if you want to keep the name you currently have but add something else that is common to all files. For example, if you have a set of photos fresh from the camera, you can add the Original tag at the end of the name and then make a copy of the files to work with the edition if you do not have them in RAW format.
As in the previous case you can use the real-time preview in the lower-left corner of how the names will change. When you are convinced click on the rename button to change all the names.
Add index, counter or date to filename
The last option available in this Finder tool appears under the name Format. Thanks to it you can change the name format and choose between name and index, name and counter or name and date.
In this case, you just have to choose the format you want to use and put the custom name in the Custom format field. In addition, in case you choose to add an index or a counter you can select in number in which it should start and that will increase one by one.
Once again, look at the example in the lower-left corner to see if the name format is appropriate and when you are clear click on Rename to apply it permanently.
As you can see it is a very useful function and one that can be very useful. There are more advanced specialized applications to perform this type of tasks, but I assure you that with the function integrated into macOS you will have enough in most cases.
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