Batch append to end of a file name before the extension with ren command

batch-renamecommand line

I would like to rename all files in a folder, which have different extensions, to have their file name end with "_1" while preserving the existing extensions.

I tried ren * *_1*, which just replaced the last instance of an already-existing underscore in the same to be _1. I also tried ren * *_1.*, but this added _1 to the end of file names.

I'm using the command line (typing cmd from the folder search bar) in Windows 10.

Best Answer

You can use a for loop to iterate each file in a directory and specify the variable substitutions individually to get the name of the file minus the extension and the file extension plus the preceding dot. You can use those and add in the _1 string to get the expected output per each file iterated.

Essentially this. . .

Iterates all *.* files in a specific directory (not recursively)

Uses variable substitutions for getting the file name without the extension and the file extension separately/individually

Concatenates the file name with no extension to the _1 string to the original "." extension and passes that per file as the second argument to the ren command.

Command Line

for %a in ("C:\path\*.*") do ren "%~a" "%~Na_1%~Xa"

Batch Script

SET "Src=C:\path"
SET "Str=_1"
for %%a in ("%Src%\*.*") do ren "%%~a" "%%~Na%Str%%%~Xa"

Further Resources

FOR

Variable Substitutions (FOR /?)

In addition, substitution of FOR variable references has been enhanced. You can now use the following optional syntax:
%~I         - expands %I removing any surrounding quotes (")
%~nI        - expands %I to a file name only
%~xI        - expands %I to a file extension only

Ren
Variable Substitutions

Related Solutions

Linux – Rename multiple files to remove common suffix from filenames

You can use the rename tool like this

rename 's/\ \[\!\]//' *.zip

I recommend that you first add the -n switch, which causes rename to just show what it will do, but not rename any files.

rename -n 's/\ \[\!\]//' *.zip

Note that this will only remove the first occurence of [!] in the filename, only if it is preceded by a space, and regardless of whether it is at the end of the filename or not.

basic syntax of rename:

rename 's/from/to/' filenames

will replace from with to in all filenames.

here is a detailed explanation: https://www.computerhope.com/unix/rename.htm

note there are two rename commands: one from the util-linux package and one from the perl package. the command i refer to above is the perl variant. the perl variant is much more popular and useful. usually when people talk about rename they mean the perl variant.

in debian (and therefore ubuntu) rename is the perl variant by default. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/22577767/get-the-perl-rename-utility-instead-of-the-built-in-rename

in arch linux rename is the util-linux variant while perl-rename is the perl variant. https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=85128

here is how you can see what version you are using:

$ rename --version
rename from util-linux 2.30.1
$ perl-rename --version
perl-rename 1.9

Windows 10 – Batch Rename First Three Characters of File Names

How can I rewrite the first 3 letters of a set of file names with random characters?

Use the following batch file (SetRename.cmd):

@echo off
setlocal enableDelayedExpansion
set "_chars=ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ0123456789"
for %%f in (%*) do (
  rem split into name and extension
  set "_name=%%~nf"
  rem remove first 3 characters from _name
  set "_name=!_name:~3!"
  set "_ext=%%~xf"
  rem create a 3 character random prefix
  set "_prefix="
  for /l %%n in (1 1 3) do (
    set /a i=!random!%%36
    for %%i in (!i!) do (
      set "_prefix=!_prefix!!_chars:~%%i,1!" (
      )
    )
  echo ren "%%f" "!_prefix!!_name!!_ext!"
  )
endlocal

Notes:

remove echo when you are happy with the ren command

Example usage:

> dir /b
032_name.ext
039_name.ext
0D8_name.ext
333_other.txt
SetRename.cmd

> SetRename *.ext

> dir /b
333_other.txt
C42_name.ext
FZW_name.ext
MYQ_name.ext
SetRename.cmd

> SetRename *.ext

> dir /b
333_other.txt
A6O_name.ext
A8H_name.ext
H5P_name.ext
SetRename.cmd