How can I batch rename files using the Terminal?

Question

I have a set of files, all of them nnn.MP4.mov. How could I rename them so that it is just nnn.mov?

Install muCommander. It has the Total Commander style batch renamer. Why to waste time on that crap 100 chars of mindblowing batch command? — Nakilon
– Nakilon, Commented Aug 17, 2013 at 22:34
@Nakilon because learning the command line has bigger return on investment — Julien__
– Julien__, Commented Apr 25, 2017 at 13:14

Joshua Pinter · Accepted Answer · 2017-08-11 01:39:45Z

107

First, do a dry run (will not actually rename any files) with the following:

for file in *.mov
do
  echo mv "$file" "${file/MP4./}"
done

If it all looks fine, remove the echo from the third line to actually rename the files.

edited Aug 11, 2017 at 1:39

Joshua Pinter

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answered Mar 22, 2011 at 16:16

kurumi

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5 Comments

jsherk Over a year ago

Could not figure out why this was not working... there was output and it looked like it was, but it was not actually doing anything. Well I finally figured out that you need to remove the ECHO statement to actually get it to do something (on OSX 10.7 anyways). So if you keep the echo statement then you can test it to see if the renaming is going to work like you want, then remove the echo to get it to work. So equivalent from Windows of ren *-hd.png *.png is: for file in *.png do mv "$file" "${file/-hd/}" done

Anatolii Pazhyn Over a year ago

to run the script you need to: 1. save it in rename.sh file; 2. make it executable chmod 755 rename.sh; 3. launch it from the current folder where you have files to rename and shell script ./rename.sh; 4. if result is good remove echo from the script and launch it again. I needed to add extension to group of files. so my action in the scrip was like this: mv "$file" "${file}.jpeg"

wide_eyed_pupil Over a year ago

This is a script and needs to be created as a file and then run right? Clues?

Evi Song Over a year ago

Running as single line cmd like this: for file in *.mov; do echo mv "$file" "${file/MP4./}"; done, the ; does the trick.

HLeb Over a year ago

For other use cases, note the general format of the command: echo mv "$file" "${file/[replace_this]/[with_this]}"

Johan · Accepted Answer · 2012-02-28 07:01:32Z

36

I just successfully used Automator (first time I've bothered), and it works really well. I saved the automation as a Service. It took about 10 seconds to make something easily reusable:

Open Automator.
As type of document, choose "Service".
Change Service receives selected "Text" to "files and folders".
Consider changing "any application" to just Finder.
From the sidebar, select "Files & Folders" (under Library) and from the listed actions, in the center column, drag "Rename Finder items" to the right side and drop it within "Drag actions or files here to build your workflow."
Change the action you just added from "Add Date or Time" to "Make Sequential".
Click "Options" at the bottom of the action and check the option "Show this action when the workflow runs".
Hit "CMD+S" to save the service as something like "Replace Text"..
Done!

Now you can right-click any selection in Finder, go to the Service menu and select "Replace Text", fill in how you want the text changed or replaced - and click "Continue" to apply configured changes.

answered Feb 28, 2012 at 7:01

Johan

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6 Comments

v42 Over a year ago

I downvoted it because the question has "terminal" tag.

phatmann Over a year ago

Great answer, even if it is not what the OP asked for. Any excuse for me to learn Automator is welcomed :-) BTW, it does not work on a folder, but it does work on multiply selected files.

Brody Robertson Over a year ago

Fantastic! Don't care about the OP!

wide_eyed_pupil Over a year ago

Don't you mean change from "Add Time and Date" to "Replace Text" ?

wide_eyed_pupil Over a year ago

What wildcards are accepted in the find and replace fields? Is it Grep compatible?

|

YPCrumble · Accepted Answer · 2016-08-04 15:02:52Z

16

On mac OSX you can install the rename command via Homebrew: brew install rename

Then you can rename using find/replace from that folder on the command line:

rename 's/\.MP4\././' *

You also can see more options using man rename.

answered Aug 4, 2016 at 15:02

YPCrumble

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Comments

SONIC3D · Accepted Answer · 2017-10-13 23:52:34Z

14

To test print the operation:

for file in *.MP4.mov; do j=`echo $file | cut -d . -f 1`;j=$j".mov";echo mv \"$file\" \"$j\"; done

To make it work:

for file in *.MP4.mov; do j=`echo $file | cut -d . -f 1`;j=$j".mov";mv "$file" "$j"; done

edited Oct 13, 2017 at 23:52

answered Apr 24, 2013 at 20:48

SONIC3D

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Comments

user2832874 · Accepted Answer · 2013-10-01 02:08:41Z

12

for n in *.MP4.mov
do
   mv $n $(echo $n | sed -e 's/.MP4//')
done

This will work even on really old shells that don't have parameter substitution, and it's a tad more readable to my eyes at least.

answered Oct 1, 2013 at 2:08

user2832874

1 Comment

Danijel-James W Over a year ago

I have applied this to files that use _MG_ in their name that I needed to change to -IMG_ perfectly by modifying with a * and a * in the middle. Worked a charm. Thank you!

wide_eyed_pupil · Accepted Answer · 2018-05-21 06:19:42Z

5

OS X has a Rename Files… contextual menu item which is invoked when you select two or more files in Finder. Provides the same function as the Automator answer up above. Though Automator provides you with the tools to go further if you wish.

(I know OP asked for Terminal but 33 others like Automator response)

answered May 21, 2018 at 6:19

wide_eyed_pupil

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Comments

DisgruntledGoat · Accepted Answer · 2013-10-25 11:31:01Z

1

for i in `ls *png`;do echo mv $i "${i%%.*}"@xx."${i##*.}";done

edited Oct 25, 2013 at 11:31

DisgruntledGoat

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answered Aug 13, 2013 at 12:29

Yosi Taguri

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Comments

thameera · Accepted Answer · 2017-08-13 04:43:21Z

1

vimv lets you rename multiple files using Vim's text editing capabilities.

Entering vimv opens a Vim window which lists down all files and you can do pattern matching, visual select, etc to edit the names. After you exit Vim, the files will be renamed.

[Disclaimer: I'm the author of the tool]

answered Aug 13, 2017 at 4:43

thameera

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Comments

Philipp T. · Accepted Answer · 2011-03-22 16:02:35Z

0

ls -1 *.MP4.mov | while read f; do mv -i "$f" "$(basename \"$f\" .MP4.mov)"; done

Edit: completly rewritten.

answered Mar 22, 2011 at 16:02

Philipp T.

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3 Comments

Philipp T. Over a year ago

If it does what you want, remove the -i

Jake Wilde Over a year ago

i mean, it thinks there should be a continuation of the line

Jake Wilde Over a year ago

what it did was rename it to "nnn.MP4.mov".mov

sharpner · Accepted Answer · 2011-03-22 16:22:15Z

0

for i in *; 
do j=`echo $i | cut -d . -f 1`; 
j=$j".mov";
mv $i $j; 
done

this will cut everything before the first dot and appends .mov

but if some files are e.g. hi.2.mov and hi.1.mov one will be overwritten, so use it carefully ^^

edited Mar 22, 2011 at 16:22

answered Mar 22, 2011 at 16:13

sharpner

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