How to use PowerRename on Windows 10 to rename files

PowerToys made a comeback earlier this year and we covered how you can install them. At the time, PowerToys only had two of its original utilities with a promise of more to come. The second version of the app has just arrived with a new utility; PowerRename. Here’s how you can use PowerRename on Windows 10.

Rename files with PowerRename

You need to install the latest version of PowerToys in order to use PowerRename. The PowerToys interface doesn’t have any options for managing PowerRename, nor does it offer you any instructions on how to use it.

Open a folder with files that you want to rename. Select the files you want to rename and right-click any of them. Select PowerRename from the context menu.

This will open PowerRename’s interface with the files you selected listed there. You will need to understand the various parameters that the app has before you can use them. Most of them are self-explanatory. The only, slightly confusing part is the ‘Search for’ and ‘Replace with’ fields. The two fields make it seem as though you can only replace part of the file name and not append anything to it, or add something.

If you want to append something to the current name, you have to enter “.*” in the Search for field, and in the ‘Replace with’ field, enter whatever it is you want to append to the name of the selected files. Use any of the other modification rules that the app supports, and click ‘Rename’ when you’re ready to rename the files.

The files rename instantly.

PowerRename is fairly simple in terms of the renaming rules that it supports. You won’t find especially advanced file renaming features. There are far more powerful file renaming apps out there but, this one gives you a few more options than Windows 10 does by default.

If you’re using PowerToys, PowerRename is going to come with it and it’s useful to know how to take advantage of its features. If you’re still having a little trouble with the app, there is documentation that explains it all. Go through it and you will be able to figure out how to rename files and folders in multiple ways. Most of the rename parameters make use of regular expressions to add to a file name or remove something from it.

The only real downside to the app is that you can’t add more files to a single renaming instance of PowerRename once you’ve selected files the first time.

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Fatima Wahab

Fatima has been writing for AddictiveTips for six years. She began as a junior writer and has been working as the Editor in Chief since 2014. Fatima gets an adrenaline rush from figuring out how technology works, and how to manipulate it. A well-designed app, something that solves a common everyday problem and looks

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