Batch renaming files on a Mac is built into Finder: select multiple files, Control-click, choose Rename, and you can replace text, add text, or give the whole set one name format with numbers or dates. It handles most jobs in under a minute. What it can’t do is invent a good name for a file whose current name says nothing.
So we’ll go in order: Finder’s three rename modes, a Terminal loop for the patterns Finder can’t express, and what to do when the file names need to come from what’s inside the files.
How to batch rename files in Finder
- Select the files in Finder. Command-A selects everything in the window.
- Control-click one of the selected files and choose Rename.
- In the pop-up menu below Rename Finder Items, choose one of three modes.
- Check the example name at the bottom of the window, then click Rename. The change applies to all the selected files at once.
It’s the fastest way to rename multiple files on a Mac, and it handles a folder of thousands of files in one pass the same way it handles ten.
Each mode does one job:
| Mode | What it does | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
| Replace Text | Finds text in every file name and swaps it for something else | IMG_ should say Lake trip in all 300 names |
| Add Text | Adds the same text before or after every current name | Every scan needs 2025 Taxes - in front |
| Format | Gives every file one new name plus an index, counter, or date | A folder of camera files should become Wedding 001 to Wedding 240 |
A few things make it go smoothly:
- Sort first. In Format mode, Finder numbers the files in the order the window shows them. Sort by date created before you rename, and the numbers follow the order the photos were taken.
- Read the example. The bottom of the window shows what the first file will be called before you commit.
- Undo straight away or not at all. Edit > Undo reverses a rename right after you do it. Finder keeps no rename history to go back to later.
What not to rename
Apple is specific about this. Don’t rename app folders or anything that came with the system, like the Library folder, and leave your home folder’s name alone. Don’t change file extensions either, the .jpg or .pdf at the end, or the file may stop opening in the app that made it. Finder’s Rename keeps extensions as they are, which is one reason to use it over renaming by hand.
Batch rename files in Terminal, with a preview
When the pattern is more than Finder can express, a short loop in Terminal can do it. This one previews first and changes nothing:
cd ~/Pictures/lake-trip
for f in IMG_*.jpg; do echo mv -n "$f" "Lake trip ${f#IMG_}"; doneIt prints what it would do, one line per file:
mv -n IMG_0412.jpg Lake trip 0412.jpg
mv -n IMG_0413.jpg Lake trip 0413.jpgIf the list looks right, run it again without the word echo, and the files are renamed. The -n stops it from overwriting a file that already has the new name. Change IMG_*.jpg to match your files and Lake trip to the name you want.
This is the same idea as Finder’s Replace Text, with one difference that matters: you can build the new name from any part of the old one. It still only rearranges what’s already in the file names.
When the names need to come from what’s inside the files
Every tool above rewrites the name a file already has. That works when the name holds something useful. It doesn’t work for IMG_4412.jpg, Scan 12.pdf, or a folder called DCIM_0042, because there’s nothing in those names to rearrange. The information you want in the name, what the photo shows or what the document is, lives inside the file.
On Macs with Apple Intelligence, Finder can suggest a name when you create or rename a single document: turn on Suggest File Names in Finder > Settings. Apple notes it isn’t available in every language or region, and it works one document at a time.
For whole folders, you need a tool that reads what’s inside each file, proposes names, and shows you all of them before anything changes. That’s the gap SupaDupa fills.
Using SupaDupa to rename from what’s inside
Point SupaDupa at a folder and open Tidy. It reads the files and proposes names, then puts the whole list in front of you.
- Screenshots get named from the text in them, instead of
Screenshot 2026-07-25 at 03.07.36. - Folders get a real name from what’s inside, like “Mount Vernon Wedding Reception” for a folder called
DCIM_0042. That one is a Pro feature, needs an Apple Silicon Mac with 16 GB of memory, and your files stay on your Mac while it works. - Nothing is renamed until you approve it. You see every proposed name, keep the ones you like, and skip the rest.
- Renames can be undone from the app, later, not only right after.
- Your home folders keep their names. Desktop, Documents, Downloads and the rest are never offered for renaming.
Tidy is free on one folder you pick, and Pro is $49, once, for more.
Before you rename a lot of files
- Try it on a copy first. Duplicate a folder, rename the copy, and check that everything still opens.
- Watch for apps that track files by name. Photo editors and music apps sometimes lose track of files renamed outside them. Rename inside those apps when they offer it.
- Leave extensions alone. The
.jpgstays.jpg. - Date first sorts best. If you’re choosing a format,
2025-03-14 Lease renewalsorts in time order everywhere. How to organize files on a Mac has more on naming that holds up.
Start with Finder’s Rename for anything with a pattern, whether that means replacing text, using Add Text for a prefix, or numbering multiple files in order. Save the tools that read the files for the names that don’t have one.