Rename from File List

• Watch the video: renaming files using a simple file list (6m 28s)
• Watch the video: renaming files using names from a spreadsheet or a text file (5m 48s)

You can rename files based on names contained in a special “file list” file by selecting the Rename from file list action in the Advanced & Special category.

This feature can be useful if you need to import names from a third-party application such as a spreadsheet or database or when you want to create the names in an unusual manner.

You can use “file list” files in three different formats:

1. Simple file list with each line containing one “new” file name
2. Tab-delimited file list with each line containing the current and new file name
3. POSIX full path tab-delimited file list with each line containing the path to the file and the new file name

You can create a template for your own “file list” by using the “Save File List” feature or by using a third-party plain text editor such as BBEdit, TextMate or CotEditor.

macOS’s built-in text editor TextEdit is capable of working with plain text, but you will need to set it up appropriately to save UTF-8 plain text (see Using international characters in file lists).

The controls

• From File: and Browse… select the file list; Reload re-reads it after you have edited it and Clear forgets it
• Sort first: and Then: set the order in which the names of a simple file list are assigned to the files; tick Sort each folder separately to restart that order for every folder
• Ignore case (tab-delimited file lists only) matches current names and paths regardless of capitalization, for use with case-insensitive file systems

See Working with file lists for how the three formats match names to files.