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Manual editing

TODO: Upload images.

In addition to combining rules to generate new names automatically, you can also make manual changes to the new names directly in the Files pane. This is useful for minor tweaks before proceeding to renaming.

Note: ReNamer is designed primarily for automatic, rule-based renaming. Manual editing is a convenience feature for small final adjustments. Every time new names are regenerated by a preview operation, all manual changes will be lost.

How to edit a name

Step 1

In the Files pane, select the row of the file whose name you want to edit.

ManualRenamingSelectFile.png

Step 2

Enter edit mode using any of the following methods:

  • Press F2
  • Right-click the file name and select Edit New Name
  • Slow-click (single click with a short pause) on the file name

The New Name column switches to an editable field with the current name selected. You can type a completely new name, or use the arrow keys to position the cursor and make targeted changes.

ManualEditMode.png

Step 3

Press Enter to confirm the change (or click anywhere outside the edit field). The edited name iswill be shown as athe previewnew —name, although the file has not been renamed yet.

PressIf unhappy with the changes, press Esc to cancel and discard the edit.

ManualEditModePreview.png

Step 4

Click the Rename button to perform the actual renaming.

ManuallyRenamedFiles.png

Manual changes can get lost

Manual changes are discarded whenever new names are regenerated by a preview operation. This can be triggered:

  • Manually — by clicking the Preview button
  • Automatically — when auto-preview fires due to added files or changed rules

This happens because manual changes are not part of the rules stack. Name generation always starts from the original file name and passes through all rules in sequence, so any manually entered name is simply overwritten. A manual change is preserved only as long as no preview is generated after it was made.

If you need to preserve manual changes, you have the following options:

  1. Perform the renaming immediately after making manual changes to commit them, then continue adding rules as needed.
  2. After making manual changes, export the new names to the clipboard via the Export menu, then add a User Input rule and paste the names from the clipboard. This captures the current state of all new names as a rule.
  3. After making manual changes, export both the original and new names to the clipboard via the Export menu, then add a Mapping rule and load the new name mappings from the clipboard. This maps each original name to its intended new name as a rule.
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