Tools

Multi-Rename Tool

Rename many files at once with Total Commander's masks, a counter, search and replace and case changes. The preview shows every new name before anything changes.

Mark the files and press ⌃M or ⇧⌘M (File › Multi-Rename Tool…). With nothing marked, the tool renames the item under the cursor.

The Multi-Rename Tool renaming three photos with the mask [Y]-[M]-[D] Shoot [C:2]

How a new name is built§

The Name mask builds the name and the Extension mask builds the extension. An empty extension mask gives a name without an extension.
Search for and Replace with change the result, extension included.
Case changes the whole name last.

The list shows each old and new name. Problems are shown in the list and those items are left out: a name that is not allowed, two items that would get the same name, or a name that already exists in the folder.

Mask reference§

Placeholder	Inserts	Example for `DSC04417.jpg`
`[N]`	Name without extension	DSC04417
`[N3]`	The 3rd character of the name	C
`[N1-3]`	Characters 1 to 3	DSC
`[N4-]`	From the 4th character to the end	04417
`[N2,3]`	3 characters starting at the 2nd	SC0
`[N-3-]`	The last 3 characters (negative positions count from the end)	417
`[E]`	Extension, with the same ranges as `[N]`	jpg
`[C]`	Counter, with the start, step and digits set below	1
`[C:3]`	Counter with 3 digits	001
`[Y]` `[M]` `[D]`	Year, month and day the file was modified	2026 10 17
`[h]` `[m]` `[s]`	Hour, minute and second it was modified	15 12 00
`[P]`	Name of the folder the file is in	Photos
`[G]`	Name of the folder above that (grandparent)	Acme Rebrand
`[EXIF:date]`	Date a photo or video was taken; `[EXIF:date:yyyy-MM-dd HH.mm]` sets the format	2026-10-24
`[EXIF:camera]`	Camera or phone	iPhone 15 Pro
`[EXIF:width]` `[EXIF:height]`	Size in pixels	4032 3024
`[Media:duration]`	Length of a video or song	2m05s
`[GPS:city]`	Where a photo was taken, from its GPS position (looked up online with Apple's maps service)	Praha
`[[` `]]`	Literal `[` and `]`

The Insert menu next to the name mask adds the common placeholders. Any other text in a mask is copied as it is. Folders have no extension: their whole name is [N].

Examples§

Name mask	Extension	Result for `DSC04417.jpg`
`[Y]-[M]-[D] Shoot [C:2]`	`[E]`	2026-10-17 Shoot 01.jpg
`[P] [C:3]`	`[E]`	Photos 001.jpg
`[N]`	`jpeg`	DSC04417.jpeg
`[N4-]`	`[E]`	04417.jpg
`[EXIF:date] [GPS:city] [C:3]`	`[E]`	2026-10-24 Praha 001.jpg

Counter§

start, step and digits set the counter for [C]. The first item gets the start value, each next one adds the step. Items are numbered in the order the panel shows them, so sort the panel first.

Search and replace§

Plain text replaces every occurrence. Matching ignores case unless Case sensitive is on.
With Regular expression, the search is a regular expression and $1, $2… in the replacement insert its groups. Example: search ^(\d{4})(\d{2})(\d{2}), replace $1-$2-$3 turns “20261017 party.jpg” into “2026-10-17 party.jpg”.

Case§

Unchanged, lowercase, UPPERCASE, First letter (capital first letter, the rest lowercase) or Each Word (a capital at the start of every word).

Describe the result§

With Apple Intelligence, type what you want into Describe, for example “date first, then the name in lowercase”, and click Suggest. The on-device model fills in the masks and options. The preview shows the result; nothing is renamed until you click Rename.

Renaming and undo§

Rename renames every item that changes and has no problem. Swaps (a → b and b → a) and changes of case only (photo.jpg → Photo.jpg) work. If one rename fails, everything renamed so far is put back, so the folder is never left half done.

The tool stays open after Rename, as in Total Commander, so you can rename again or step back. Undo reverses the last Rename; click it again to step further back through the renames made since you opened the tool. PaneShift remembers your last name and extension masks for next time.