Batch rename files and extensions in Windows 10

If you have had your computer for a while, you will likely have hundreds, if not thousands of images, documents and other stuff on your drive. Keeping them tidy and in some semblance of order can be very time-consuming. What but if you could batch rename files and extensions in Windows 10? Wouldn’t that make organization easier?

Here’s how.

Bulk rename files and extensions in Windows 10

If you have a selection of files you need to rename but don’t feel like going through them individually, there is a simple way to rename them en masse. You can use a third-party program to do it for you or use Windows itself to rename.

To rename files, you have two options:

1. Open the folder containing the files in Windows Explorer.
2. Order them how you want them to be ordered.
3. Highlight all the files you want to change, right-click and select rename.
4. Enter the new filename and press Enter. Windows will now take that name and rename all files the same but with a numbered suffix.

Or you can use the command line:

1. Open the folder that contains the files you want to rename.
2. Hit Shift and right-click an empty space within that folder.
3. Select ‘Open command window here’.
4. Type or paste ‘ren filename. EXTENSION’ newfilename. EXTENSION’. Where you see EXTENSION, change to whatever filetype you require, .jpg, .txt or whatever.

To change just the file extension do this:

1. Open the folder that contains the files you want to rename.
2. Hit Shift and right-click an empty space within that folder.
3. Select ‘Open command window here’.
4. Type or paste ‘ren *.* *.EXTENSION’. Where you see EXTENSION, change to whatever filetype you require, .jpg, .txt or whatever.