My Favourite Tips for Bulk Renaming in Windows 11 — After Spending Too Long Staring at the Screen
If you’ve ever tried to rename a bunch of files or folders all at once in Windows 11, you’ll know it’s not exactly the smoothest process. The basic right-click and rename option works fine for a single or maybe two items, but when you’re dealing with dozens or hundreds? Not so much. I spent ages trying different methods, so here’s what finally did the trick and what to watch out for.
The Usual Way — Renaming Items One by One
The classic method is to right-click, select “Rename”, or press F2. You can then type in your new name. Easy enough for one file. But select multiple files and try to rename them all at once — Windows will only rename the last selected item, or it’ll add numbers automatically, which might not be ideal if you want more control over naming patterns. That’s the first challenge — native bulk renaming isn’t supported out of the box.
Adding Text to Multiple Files at Once (Kind of Limited)
If you select, say, ten files and choose “Rename,” Windows allows you to type a name that will be combined with sequential numbers, like “Episode (1)”, “Episode (2)”, and so on. Useful if you’re okay with that numbering, but what if you want to add a fixed prefix or suffix without extra numbers? Not so straightforward.
For example, I tried selecting all episodes and typing “MySeries ” then pressing Enter. Windows would then rename only the last selected file to “MySeries” and add numbers to the rest — okay in some cases, but not ideal if you want clean, uniform names without those parenthetical numbers.
So, I Started Exploring PowerShell — The Hidden Shortcut
This is where things got interesting. If you’re comfortable with the command line, PowerShell can be a real timesaver. To open it, navigate to your folder in File Explorer, then click on the address bar, type powershell, and press Enter. Alternatively, Shift + right-click on the folder and pick Open PowerShell window here. Just a heads up — depending on your Windows version or manufacturer customisations, the menu options might look a bit different, so don’t be surprised if it takes a moment to find.
To add a prefix to all files, you can run this command:
Get-ChildItem -File | Rename-Item -NewName { "MySeries " + $_.Name }That prepends “MySeries ” to each filename. But beware — if your files have extensions, those get included in the name too, which can be a problem. To keep the extensions intact, I used a more precise script:
Get-ChildItem -File | ForEach-Object {
$name = $_.BaseName
$ext = $_.Extension
Rename-Item $_.FullName -NewName ("MySeries " + $name + $ext)
}This way, the file extensions stay untouched, and you just add your prefix to the filename itself. Super handy for photos, documents, or anything where keeping the extension right is important.
If you’re working across subfolders or multiple directories, just change the path in Get-ChildItem or run the script inside each folder — just be mindful of nested folders if that’s relevant.
Adding Suffixes — Like “_2024” — Using the Same Approach
The same idea applies if you want to add something at the end of filenames. Select your files, press F2, and type the suffix. But here’s the problem — Windows’ native bulk renaming won’t automatically insert suffixes before the file extension unless you use scripting. So, for consistency and automation, PowerShell again is your mate:
Get-ChildItem -File | ForEach-Object {
$name = $_.BaseName
$ext = $_.Extension
Rename-Item $_.FullName -NewName ($name + "_2024" + $ext)
}This adds “_2024” just before the extension, preventing the classic issue where suffixes get tacked on after the file type, which could cause problems opening the files. These small scripts saved me loads of time.
Renaming with Sequential Numbers — The Holy Grail
This was the tricky part. Windows doesn’t have a built-in way to easily rename files sequentially in bulk beyond manually editing one, then pressing Tab to move to the next — a complete pain with large batches.
That’s where Microsoft’s free utility, PowerToys, comes into play. The feature called PowerRename is a real game changer. Once installed, right-click on your selected files and choose “PowerRename” from the context menu.
Getting Started with PowerRename
- Select your files in Explorer.
- Right-click and select PowerRename.
- In the window that opens, enter a pattern like “Photo” and tick the box for Add sequence. You can set the starting number and specify padding (like 001, 002, and so on).
It can take a bit of fiddling to get the pattern just right—especially if your filenames already have numbers or special characters—but once set up, it automates the process nicely. Much easier than scripting everything from scratch.
Final Thoughts — Bulk Renaming Can Be a Bit Frustrating, But It’s Doable
Honestly, Windows 11’s built-in bulk renaming tools still feel a bit limited, but using PowerShell scripts, PowerRename, and a bit of patience, most tasks are manageable. It’s a bit annoying how many steps are involved, but once you get the hang of it, it’s much less painful.
My advice? Always double-check your filenames after a bulk change — especially with important files like videos or documents. And keep a backup or verify filenames before hitting Enter, because once it’s done, reversing it can be a real hassle.
Hopefully this helps someone avoid wasting hours on a weekend. It took me ages to find reliable methods, so I wanted to share what worked. Good luck, and remember to test your scripts carefully!