# Rename many files at once

> Drop a folder, set the rules and see every new name before you save a ZIP or a rename script.

Rename a whole folder in one pass with find and replace, numbering, photo dates and clean-up rules. See every change first. Runs in your browser.

- Tool: [Batch rename files](https://fixmint.cc/batch-rename-files)
- Category: [Files & archives](https://fixmint.cc/files)
- Fixes: Hundreds of files to rename
- Runs in the browser: files and text stay on the device, no sign-up, free.

## How to rename many files at once

1. Drop your files, or a whole folder, on the mat.
2. Turn on the rules you need and check the new names in the table.
3. Download renamed copies as a ZIP, or copy a script and run it in the folder.

## Questions

### Are my files uploaded?

No. The names are read and the renamed copies are built in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere, and your original files are not changed.

### How do I rename the files on my own computer?

Copy the shell script (macOS and Linux) or the PowerShell script (Windows) and run it inside the folder that holds the files. Each line renames one file, and a name already in use is never overwritten.

### Where does the photo date come from?

For JPEG photos it is the date the camera wrote into the file (EXIF DateTimeOriginal). Files without that date use their last-modified date, and other formats always use it.

### What do the warnings in the table mean?

Two files would end up with the same name, a name is empty or longer than 255 bytes, it is a Windows reserved name such as CON, or it has characters Windows does not allow. Those rows block the ZIP and the scripts until the rules are changed.

## Related tools

- [Compare folders](https://fixmint.cc/compare-folders): What is missing from my backup?
- [Find duplicate files](https://fixmint.cc/find-duplicate-files): Same files saved twice
- [Folder size analyzer](https://fixmint.cc/folder-size-analyzer): What is eating my disk space?
- [Clean ZIP file](https://fixmint.cc/clean-zip-file): ZIP full of junk and copies