📎 This article includes 2 downloadable practice files ↓

PowerShell is built into Windows and is perfect for file chores. Open it from the Start menu (type “PowerShell”) and cd into your folder, e.g. cd "C:\Reports\March".

Always preview first

Every example below uses -WhatIf, which shows what would happen without changing anything. Remove it when the preview looks right.

1. Replace text in file names

Get-ChildItem *.xlsx | Rename-Item -NewName { $_.Name -replace "Draft", "Final" } -WhatIf

2. Add today’s date to every file

$d = Get-Date -Format "yyyy-MM-dd"
Get-ChildItem *.pdf | Rename-Item -NewName { "$($_.BaseName)_$d$($_.Extension)" } -WhatIf

3. Number files in order

$i = 1
Get-ChildItem *.jpg | Sort-Object LastWriteTime | ForEach-Object {
    Rename-Item $_ -NewName ("Photo_{0:D3}{1}" -f $i, $_.Extension) -WhatIf
    $i++
}

{0:D3} pads numbers to three digits (001, 002…), so they sort correctly.

4. Clean messy names (spaces, brackets)

Get-ChildItem | Rename-Item -NewName { ($_.Name -replace "[\(\)\[\]]", "" -replace "\s+", "_") } -WhatIf

5. Include sub-folders

Add -Recurse to Get-ChildItem. Be extra careful and keep -WhatIf until you are sure.

Prefer clicking to typing? The same job in Power Automate Desktop.

Try it yourself: step by step

1. Download rename-practice.zip and unzip it — you get eight files like Report Draft (1) v2.txt.
2. Shift + right-click inside the folder → Open PowerShell window here (or Terminal).
3. Paste the first command from rename-examples.ps1. Because of -WhatIf it only prints “What if: Performing the operation Rename File…”.
4. Remove -WhatIf and run it for real — “Draft” becomes “Final”.
5. Run the “clean messy names” command: brackets vanish and spaces become underscores.