SoFunction
Updated on 2025-04-09

Example of using bat to batch modify file names in Windows system

Write a run .bat file

Create a new text document and enter the following content:

@echo off
chcp 65001
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
rem Set the string to find and replace
set "search=aaa"
set "replace=bbb"
 rem sets file name matching mode, for example *.txt means modifying .txt files, *.* means modifying all files
 set "filePattern=*.txt"
 rem sets the path to the target folder
 set "folderPath=C:\YourFolderPath"
 rem switch to the destination folder
 cd /d "%folderPath%"
rem Iterate over the file and rename it
for %%f in (%filePattern%) do (
    set "filename=%%~nf"
    set "newFilename=!filename:%search%=%replace%!"
    ren "%%f" "!newFilename!%%~xf"
)
echo File name modification completed。
pause

Follow these steps to execute this batch script:

  • Open Notepad or other text editor and copy and paste the above code into the newly created text file.
  • In the code,searchSet the variable to the string to be searched, andreplaceThe variable is set to the string to be replaced.
  • If you need to modify a specific type of file, please turnfilePatternThe variable is set to the corresponding file extension. If you want to modify all files, you can set them to*.*。
  • WillfolderPathThe variable is set to the path to the destination folder where the file is to be renamed.
  • Save text files as batch files, e.g.rename_files.bat。
  • Double-click the batch file to execute the script, which will iterate over the files in the target folder and rename them according to the rules you specified.

Please be careful and back up the files before execution in case you need to restore them.

folderPath is set to the folder where the bat file resides

@echo off
chcp 65001
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
rem Get the folder path where the batch file resides
for %%I in ("%~dp0.") do set "folderPath=%%~fI"
 rem sets the string to find and replace
 set "search=aaa"
set "replace=bbb"
 rem sets file name matching mode, for example *.txt means modifying .txt files, *.* means modifying all files
 set "filePattern=*.txt"
 rem switch to the destination folder
 cd /d "%folderPath%"
rem Iterate over the file and rename it
for %%f in (%filePattern%) do (
    set "filename=%%~nf"
    set "newFilename=!filename:%search%=%replace%!"
    ren "%%f" "!newFilename!%%~xf"
)
echo File name modification completed。
pause

In the above code,"%~dp0"Used to obtain the folder path where the batch file is located and then assign it tofolderPathvariables for use in subsequent operations. This way, the script will work in the folder where the batch file is located, where you can perform file name modification operations.

Code explanation

for %%I in ("%~dp0.") do set "folderPath=%%~fI"

The purpose of this batch script is to get the path to the folder containing the batch file and store the path under the namefolderPathin the variable. Let me explain a few key parts:

  • %~dp0: This is a special variable built into the batch file, which represents the full path to the current batch file, where%~dIndicates the drive,%~pIndicates the path. therefore,%~dp0Indicates the folder path of the current batch file.
  • for %%I in ("%~dp0."): This is oneforloop, iterates over an item list where%%IIt is a loop variable. Here we useforChange to handle%~dp0The value of  because%~dp0It may contain spaces or special characters and needs to be enclosed in quotes.
  • set "folderPath=%%~fI":existforInside the loop,%%~fIRepresents the loop variable%%IExpand, where%~fIndicates the complete path to obtain. therefore,set "folderPath=%%~fI"WillfolderPathThe variable is set to the full path to the folder containing the batch file.

In short, the purpose of this code is to get the complete path to the folder where the batch file is located and store it infolderPathvariable so that the path is used in subsequent parts of the script. This is useful for situations where the script is required to reference the folder in a batch script, as it allows the script to access its required resources or files without considering the specific location.

for %%f in (%filePattern%) do

 for %%f in (%filePattern%) dois a loop structure in batch processing. Its purpose is to traverse files that meet the specified file pattern and execute a set of commands on each file. Let me explain a few key parts:

  • for %%f: This is oneforThe beginning of the loop, where%%fis the name of the loop variable. In batch processing, it is usually used%%to represent loop variables, not individual%。

  • in (%filePattern%): This section defines the list of files to be traversed.%filePattern%is a variable that should contain a file pattern to match the files to be processed. For example, if%filePattern%The value of*.txt, then the loop will traverse all extensions as.txtfile.

  • do:existdoWhat follows is a set of commands to be executed in each iteration. These commands can be any valid command in a batch script, such as renaming a file, copying a file, performing an operation, etc.

Together,for %%f in (%filePattern%) doThe function is to traverse and satisfy the file mode%filePattern%file and execute on each filedoThe following set of commands. This enables the batch script to perform the same operations on a set of files, such as batch renaming, copying or deleting files, etc.

set "filename=%%~nf"

set "newFilename=!filename:%search%=%replace%!"

ren "%%f" "!newFilename!%%~xf"

The code in this batch file is used to rename parts of the text in the file name. Let me explain the meaning of each line of code:

  • set "filename=%%~nf": This line of code stores the name of the current file (excluding the extension) in a variablefilenamemiddle.%%~nfis a special syntax in a batch file to get the file name part, where%%~nIndicates obtaining the file name,fA placeholder for the current file. so%%~nfwill be replaced with the name of the current file.
  • set "newFilename=!filename:%search%=%replace%!": This line of code will be infilenameFind and replace text in variables. Specifically, it will look forfilenameAll in%search%text and replace it with%replace%text.!filename:%search%=%replace%!It is the syntax used in batch files for text replacement.
  • ren "%%f" "!newFilename!%%~xf": This line of code usesrenCommand (abbreviated asrename) to rename the file.%%fThe placeholder for the current file.!newFilename!It is the new file name calculated in the previous line of code.%%~xfIndicates the extension of the current file. Therefore, this line of code takes the name of the current file from%%fChange to!newFilename!, and retain the extension of the original file.

In short, this batch file is used to find specific text in the file name (%search%) and replace it with other text (%replace%) and rename the file to the new file name while retaining the original file's extension.

bat's output terminal garbled code

If you see garbled code in the terminal while running the batch file, this may be caused by a character set or encoding issue.

Character set mismatch: Make sure both the terminal and batch files use the same character set, usually UTF-8. You can set the character set by adding the following line at the beginning of the batch file:

@echo off
chcp 65001  (Set the character set to UTF-8)

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