Rename Files From an Excel or CSV List

Step 1: Build the Mapping in Excel

Start with two columns. In column A, the current filename exactly as it is on disk, including the extension (Scan0043.pdf). In column B, the new name you want (2024-Acme-Invoice.pdf). One row per file. If your files follow some order you already track, a product list, a client roster, you can often generate column B with a formula (a CONCAT of a date, a name, and a counter) rather than typing every name by hand.

Accuracy in column A is the thing that trips people up: the old name has to match the file on disk character for character, or the rename skips it. Copying the real filenames into the sheet, rather than retyping them, avoids that. Once both columns are right, save the sheet as a CSV (File, Save As, CSV) so a script can read it cleanly.

Step 2: Apply the List With PowerShell

PowerShell reads a CSV and renames each file to its mapped name in a few lines. With a mapping.csv that has headers OldName and NewName:

Two things are worth watching on the first real run. A row whose OldName no longer matches anything on disk produces an error and is skipped, which is what keeps a typo from renaming the wrong file. A row whose NewName already exists in the folder is refused rather than overwritten, so nothing is silently lost to a collision. Because each error names the exact row that failed, you can correct just those cells in the sheet and re-run only the failures, and the list stays your single source of truth for the whole folder.

Step 3 (Alternative): Apply It Without Scripting

If you'd rather not run a script, a couple of routes work. Some dedicated bulk-rename utilities can import a rename list directly, matching each row to a file. Or you can have Excel itself generate a batch of ren commands: in a helper column, build a formula like ="ren """&A2&""" """&B2&"""", copy the resulting lines into a .bat file, and run it in the folder. It's less elegant than importing a CSV, but it needs nothing beyond Excel and the command prompt. Whichever route you take, work on a copy of the folder the first time so a mismatched row can't do damage.

When a Formula Beats Typing the List

The mapping method shines when column B can be computed. If your files should be named from data you already keep in a spreadsheet, an order number, a client, a date, a formula fills the new-name column for hundreds of files at once, and the rename applies them all. That turns what looks like a tedious manual job into a two-minute one. The limit is that the data has to already exist in your sheet; if it doesn't, you're back to either typing each name or reading the files, which the next section covers.

When the Right Names Aren't in a List Yet

The mapping method has one prerequisite: you already know the new names. Often the reason you're renaming a folder is that you don't, the files are scans named Scan0043.pdf, and the only way to know each one's correct name is to open it and read what's inside. There's no list to import, because building the list would mean opening every file, which is the work you were trying to avoid.

That's exactly where content-aware renaming replaces the spreadsheet. Instead of you mapping old names to new ones, OCR and AI read each file, extract the identifying details, and generate the new name directly, effectively building the mapping for you from the documents themselves. It's the tool for when the correct names live inside the files rather than in data you already hold. For that approach, see the bulk rename software overview.

So the clean division is: if you can produce the list of new names from data you already have, the Excel-mapping method here is fast and free; if you'd have to read each file to know its name, let a content-aware tool read them for you.

Related Renaming Methods

If each file needs a different name but you don't have a full list, see rename multiple files with different names, which covers small-batch and lookup options. If you want one rule applied to all files instead of a list, see PowerShell rename multiple files or how to rename multiple files on Windows. Everything ties back to the bulk rename software hub.