vName
Rename a folder full of files — and see exactly what will happen before it does.
The problem
Two hundred photos come off a camera called DSC00001 through DSC00200. A folder of downloads arrives with names full of brackets and version numbers. Renaming them by hand is an afternoon; renaming them with a tool that has no preview is an afternoon plus the hour spent working out what it actually did.
vName shows the new name beside the old one for every file, before anything is touched. The list you are looking at is produced by the same code that does the renaming, so it is not a description of what might happen — it is what will be attempted.
What it does
1The preview is the app
Old name and new name side by side, updated as you type. Rules stack in order, so "strip the junk, then number them, then make it title case" means exactly that.
2Twelve kinds of rule
Find and replace (plain or regular expression), add at either end, insert, remove or keep by position, change the case, number them, add the file’s own date, tidy the name, replace it entirely, and handle the extension on its own.
3It knows what Windows will refuse
A reserved device name like CON, a character Windows does not allow, a trailing dot it would silently drop — all caught and explained before the rename runs, not reported as a failure afterwards.
4Nothing is ever overwritten
Two files given the same new name are both stopped. A name already taken is stopped. And every rename is checked against the disk again immediately before it happens, not only against a preview built a minute ago.
5Swaps work
Renaming A to B while B becomes A destroys one of them in most tools. vName works out the order, and moves one aside through a temporary name where a cycle makes that impossible.
6Undo, even next week
Every batch is written down as it happens. Close vName, reopen it tomorrow, and the rename you regret is still there to be put back.
7Explorer order, not alphabet order
file2 before file10, the way Windows lists them — because the order of the list becomes the numbers on the files.
8Files or folders, one level or all
A mask like *.jpg;*.png, subfolders on or off, hidden files in or out, and any sort order you like.
Why it is worth it
The single thing that makes a bulk rename safe. Every row, both names, and a red mark on anything that cannot proceed.
Where another tool renames a hundred files and reports "done", vName will not start while anything in the batch would collide or is not allowed.
Not by memory — by a record on disk. Even a batch that failed part way through can have the part that ran put back.
Bulk rename with vName is on the context menu of every folder, and on the background of one that is already open.
How you use it
Right-click the folder in Explorer, or drag it onto the window.
Press Add and pick what to change. Stack as many as you need; drag them into the order you want them applied.
Old name, new name, every file. Anything in red cannot proceed and says why.
And if it was not what you wanted, press Undo — today, or next week.
What it needs
| Windows | 10 or 11, 64-bit |
|---|---|
| Installs to | Your user profile — no administrator prompt |
| Needs | Nothing else installed first |
| Data kept in | Your own profile folder — the settings and the record of what has been renamed |
See vName on your own machine
A short screen-share is usually enough — we open it on your PC, with your files.
Or write to info@issmart.in.
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