If you have many files or folders with different, unrelated, or random names and would like to name them in serial order, here is a simple way to do so natively in Windows 11/10 without using any third-party software.
Rename files and folders in serial order in Windows
Manually
- Arrange all the files or folders you’d like to rename serially, one next to the other.
- Select them all.
- Right-click the first one and select Rename.
- The file or folder name will be highlighted.
- Rename it to whatever you want it to be, say “Voila”.
- All the files or folders will get renamed serially instantly.
More Windows quick tips here.
Using Microsoft Power Toys
It is an official Microsoft tool that is now open source and is popularly used to bulk-rename files. However, if you select a set of folders, you can also rename them using REGEX or regular expressions.
Read: How to rename multiple Files or Folders at once in Windows
Which command is used to rename the file and folder?
You can use the Move or Ren command to rename files and folders. The mv command is handy when you want to change location and rename the folder or file simultaneously.
How do you rename files in reverse order?
To rename files in reverse order, sort them alphabetically, then use a batch renaming tool or PowerShell script with a reverse loop. This allows you to rename each file sequentially from the highest index to the lowest. The files are thus correctly ordered in reverse.
Here is another method I have been using since Windows 95.
Windows Explorer likes to alphabetize everything. But you can get around that very easily.
Let’s say you have several text files and you want to group them together at the bottom of the directory. Add a “z” to the beginning of each file name. Example: “zrecipes”, “zcontacts” etc.
If you want to group them at the top of the directory add a number to the beginning of each file name. To get some to group even higher up in the directory use “!”.
This also works with Folder names and your Favorites in Internet Explorer.
How you get the checkbox on them i cant get it.
@SilverGoldi if you want the checkbox then you need to go into Control Panel and open Folder Options, click the View tab, then scroll down and select the option “Use check boxes to select items”. The thing is you can select all items like you normally would, the check boxes is just an option some like and some do not, it is not required.
Nice One .. Thnx For Share..
Nice post buddy…..
this is really a great post keep it up man. thanks for sharing
I suggest to try
KrojamSoft BatchRenameFiles program. It’s really work for me.
It is not free.
An easier way to sort folders is to use an underscore “_” at the beginning of the name.