Recently, I came across a problem where I had to change the file extension on a bunch of Windows files from no extension to .JPG. Someone sent me a large number of files, but for some strange reason, they had no file extension, even though they were images! Once I added the .JPG extension to the end of the file, I was able to open the images.
NameChanger helps you rename a list of files quickly and easily. See the changes as you type. Change names by Replace First Occurrence, Replace Last Occurrence, Replace All, Wildcard, Prepend. Renaming single files on the Mac is incredibly easy – just select a file, click once and type in the new name. However, how to batch rename files is not all that obvious. Luckily Mac OS X has a built-in tool called Automator that can quickly automate hundreds of common tasks – including renaming files.
There are many other reasons why you may need to rename file extensions, so I’ll show you how you can change them one at a time if you have a small number of files or batch rename file extensions if you have lots of files.
If you have a file with no extension, Windows will probably assign a generic icon to it. When you try to open it, the Open With dialog will pop up where you’ll get a list of programs to choose from.
Obviously, since there is no file extension for the file, Windows is not able to determine which program should open it. If you want to change the file extension for the file, you first need to be able to see file extensions in Windows. You can do this by going to My Computer and then going to Tools and FolderOptions. In Windows 7, click on the Organize button and then click Folder and search options. In Windows 8, you just click on the View tab in Explorer and check the File name extensions box. Go to the View tab and scroll down till you see the option “Hide extensions for known file types“. Go ahead and uncheck it. If the file has no extension at all, this step may not be necessary, but I am including it because if you’re trying to CHANGE the file type from one type to another, then you need to do this. Now right-click on your file and choose Rename. Move to the end of the name and type in .XXX or whatever the type is for the file you want it to be, i.e. .TXT for text files, .XLS for Excel files, etc. Obviously, the file has to have originally been from that program that you are changing the file extension too. In my case, the text file was from Excel, so I added that extension back. How to Batch Rename File ExtensionsSo how do you rename multiple file extensions at once? If you have a directory full of files that need to be changed from .PNG to .JPG, it’s going to take forever to do this using the method above. Luckily, there are a couple of different ways we can change the file extension for multiple files at once. Command Line
For those of you who are familiar with the command line, there is a very easy command you can use to perform very simple file renaming tasks. There are two commands that you can use at the command prompt: ren and rename. Both of them do the exact same thing, so it’s just a preference as to which one you use.
If you have a folder with a bunch of JPGs inside and you want to change the file extension to PNG, for example, you would type in the following command:
ren *.jpg *.png
As you can see above, the command changed all the files in that directory with a JPG file extension to ones with a PNG file extension. You can get more information on how to use the ren command from Microsoft’s website.
Bulk Rename UtilityIf the command line sounds daunting, then there are a couple of useful file renaming utilities that will get the job done for you with only a few clicks. One of my favorites is the Bulk Rename Utility because it is the single most comprehensive file renaming utility out there. Yes, the interface is absolutely jammed pack with options that make little to no sense unless you read all the document from the website. However, for our purpose, all we have to worry about is the box labeled Extension (11) down at the bottom right. Change it from Same to Fixed and then type in the new extension you want. You’ll see that the list box will show you the new name of the file instantly before you even commit the changes. Click the Rename button and that’s it. I mentioned this tool even though it’s overkill for our purpose because it’s a really great utility and one that some might be interested in learning if they want to rename thousands of photos with names likes DSC00x, IMG00x, etc. Advanced Renamer
Another good program that also requires a bit of reading to figure out is Advanced Renamer. Thankfully, both sites have user guides and tutorials. Also, I’ll explain the process for changing the file extension here. Once you install it, go ahead and click the Add button to add their files or to add a folder, which will add all the files in that folder to the list.
Now in order to perform any actions on that list, you have to add methods in the left hand pane. You can add multiple methods to perform complex renaming of files and folders. We want to click Add Method and then choose New Name.
Now go ahead and type in the new extension you would like into the box at the top and then change the Apply to box at the bottom to Extension instead of Name.
In the list of files, you should see the updated New Filename field updated with the changes to the file name or extension. When you have gotten it right the way you like, go ahead and click on the Start Batch button.
Again, I’m giving the simplest example with these programs, but you can create far more complex renaming schemes if you like. If you really don’t care about all the extra functionality, then check out the last program that does nothing but change the file extension.
Bulk Extension Changer
If you want simple, Bulk Extension Changer is the program for you. All you have to do is three things: first, pick the folder where the files are located, then set the current and replacement extension and then just press the Go button.
Macos Program For Bulk File Name Changes For Taxes
The only option is if you want to include sub-directories or not. In the 2nd step, you can add multiple replacement rules in case your folder has files of many different types and you want to check several at once.
Hopefully, those are enough options for any need you might have for renaming file extensions. If you have any questions, feel free to post a comment. Enjoy!
Many times when you download files off the Internet or you copy files from a USB drive, the naming formats aren’t always what you expected. This is especially true for the image files captured on digital cameras as they often have names that don’t describe anything (DSC_01.jpg tells me nothing about the image).
While you can always easily rename your files so they have meaningful names, doing so for a large number of files manually isn’t ideal. It’s going to take forever for you to rename all of those images to your liking if you do the task manually.
Fortunately, the task won’t be as much tedious if you use a Mac. The Mac has both built-in as well as third-party ways to quickly and easily rename a bunch of files at once. Just give the Mac your files and it’ll rename them the way you want.
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Using The Finder To Batch Rename Files On Mac
So far you may have likely used the Finder to rename single files on your Mac but it can do more than that when it comes to renaming files. The Finder is built with the batch rename files feature so you don’t need to use anything but the Finder to give a new name to your files.
The feature isn’t hidden anywhere and it’s been sitting in your context menu all this time. Let’s quickly reveal it and see what it can do for you.
Open the folder where the files to be batch renamed are located in the Finder on your Mac.
When you’ve opened the folder, select all the files that you’d like to rename. Press Command + A to select all or use the Command button to make custom multiple selection.
Right-click on any one of those files and you’ll find an option saying Rename X Items (where X is the number of files you’ve selected) in the context menu. Click on it.
Instead of the usual rename effect, you’ll get a dialog box that lets you specify the way you want to rename your files. Here’s each of the options explained briefly for you:
Replace Text – this lets you find an existing text and replace it with something of your liking. Add Text – it lets you append text before or after the current file name. Format – here you can format the naming such as you can include a custom text followed by an increasing number for your file names and so on.
Once you’ve clicked the Rename button, you’ll see that all of your selected files now have your newly given names. The effect is instant so you won’t have to wait for your files to be renamed.
Using An Automator App To Bulk Rename Files
The built-in Finder method does a great job at bulk renaming your files but it may not be an ideal solution when you want to apply certain pre-selected names to your files.
In this case, an Automator app will be a good choice as you can pre-customize it with your chosen names and then it’s just a matter of throwing files at this app to rename the files.
Launch the Automator app on your Mac, select Workflow as a new document, and click on the Choose button. It’ll let you create your app for renaming files.
On the following screen, you’ll need to add an action to your workflow. Search for the action named Get Selected Finder Items in the actions list and drag it over to your workflow.
Another action you’ll need to add to your workflow is called Rename Finder Items. Drag it over to your workflow as well.
When you add the second action, you’ll be asked if you’d like to make copies of your files before they’re renamed. Select Don’t Add and it’ll rename your original files.
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The following screen is where you define how you want to name your files. Select appropriate options from the self-explanatory dropdown menus. Once you’ve customized this part, save the workflow by hitting File followed by Save.
Enter a meaningful name for your app, select Application from the File Format menu, and click on Save.
To rename files with the newly created app, simply select all the files to be renamed and drag and drop them onto the app in Finder.
Macos Program For Bulk File Name Changes List
The custom Automator app will instantly rename your files using your pre-defined options.
If you want to make the app more accessible, you can drag and drop it onto your Dock. You can then drag your files onto the app in the Dock for renaming.
Using A Third-Party App To Bulk Change File Names
In most cases, the above two methods will get the job done for you. However, if you have special demands for renaming your files, you may want to use a third-party app to do the task.
There are a number of apps for the Mac to help you batch rename files on your machine and you can use any of those to do your task. Here we show how you can use the Transnomino app.
The great thing about using this app to rename your files is that it shows the end result even before you have hit the rename button. This way you know how your file names are going to look like and you can modify them, if required.
![]() Conclusion
Earlier it used to be very difficult to rename a whole bunch of files at once as there were no batch renaming features available. These days, though, most operating systems have at least one feature built into them to help you change your multiple file names in one go.
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