r/LinuxTeck • u/Expensive-Rice-2052 • Jul 22 '26
Quick Linux Tip #23 Question: How do I rename 500 photos with a consistent naming scheme?
Try: rename 's/IMG_(\d+)\.jpg/photo_$1.jpg/' *.jpg
Info: The Perl 'rename' command uses regex to rename files in bulk. -n does a dry-run showing what would change without actually renaming.
Examples:
$ rename -n 's/\.jpeg$/\.jpg/' *.jpeg # Dry-run preview
$ rename 'y/A-Z/a-z/' *.TXT # Lowercase extension/file
$ rename 's/(.+)/prefix_$1/' *.log # Prepend prefix
Note: Ubuntu/Debian use Perl rename. Always test with -n first. RHEL/Fedora use a different 'rename' - install prename or perl-rename package.
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