I'm trying to do a basic bulk find and replace using a spreadsheet but I can't get it to work. The spreadsheet has in column one the current name, column two has what I want column one to be replaced with.
Great piece of program, the droplets are really handy and the ID3 music tag renaming possibility is very useful, too. Also the developer is super responsive, I mailed him a little bug yesterday and today it's already fixed. 5 Stars !!
A faster, better file manipulation cannot be found. I use it so many times a day I have it in the toolbar. I manipulate sometimes 1000's of files each time I use this. I will admit in the early releases of the product, it was at times unreliable. Since then it has become a hardened tool that I fully trust.
Ridiculous that the "most helpful" review displayed at the top of the page is a 10 year old post by "Bluestar" complaining that ABFR is supposedly updated almost every day. This may have been true when it was posted in 2009 - but it's not the case in 2019 and is now irrelevant.
I have been a registered user of File Buddy for a number of years now. Version 10 still works with Mojave, and there is a version 11 in the works, although the developer has been dragging his feet about it.
File Buddy is similar to ABFR and has a lot of great features and functions, some of which ABFR may not have. However, I would seriously consider switching to A Better Finder Rename if -- as other commenters note below -- it incorporated an undo option.
Sometimes we make mistakes, or perhaps change our minds about a naming change. When you are working with dozens, hundreds or even thousands of files, as I do, being able to undo a change on multiple files becomes very important. Developer, please consider implementing undo in ABFR. Thank you.
My favorite tool to automate renames of pictures according to their EXIF data. I hate all those cloud or library „You shouldn’t know how we store your data“ solutions like Apples Photos and prefer to have them stored without overhead of GB wasted space. A Better Finder Rename helps there a lot renaming my photos according to EXIF data. This would be an app I really miss if it’s gone.
As a basic user, you don't often need to rename huge quantities of files, but when you need, you worship an app like this!
With the use of RegEx (in Advanced & Special), it gives you nearly infinite power!
Here's an example: being French, I've appended the date in French format on many files names across the years (DD/MM/YYYY) — which was not a good idea to keep them sorted... :-/
With ABFR, It took just the time to figure out how to do it, and I've renamed them all with YYYY-MM-DD instead. Awesome!
I've been in IT for over 45 years and, for at least the last 15 of them (when I switched to Mac), A Better Finder Rename is the most useful, reliable, easy-to-use program in my toolbox.
I haven't been able to say that about ANY other program I use (and I'm a techie and a photographer).
Thank you for your consistently good work.
I've been using this app for many year, along with its sister app A Better Finder Attributes (which I use a lot less often). Solid, powerful, sophisticated. I don't use it as much as I used to ever since Lightroom built in rename-on-import, but it's a good tool to have for other renaming of files.
I have and used v9 for some time. What it does is fine, but the Mac Finder now has a built-in file renamer and others are available for free. The $20 price tag seems high and the $13 upgrade fee is also a bit much. In my humble opinion it doesn't to that much more. If it does something you really need, it may be worth it, but I'm making do without the upgrade. I'm not buying apps that charge everytime Mac upgrades.
Make sure you enter your Unlock Code AGAIN after upgrading and BEFORE renaming files! It's frustrating that the code doesn't carry over to newer versions!
I installed and opened 10.08, then renamed a half-dozen files. Needed to Undo, but that function was greyed out. Entered Unlock code and Undo function STILL wasn't available. Fortunately the files aren't crucial and I can give them new names.
This app has not yet been updated to protect against the Sparkle updater framework vulnerability that was discovered in Jan. 2016.
Apps that use a vulnerable version of Sparkle and an unencrypted HTTP channel for server updates are at risk of being hijacked to transmit malicious code to end users.
This is by far the best app of it's kind. You can perform just about any type of rename you can think of. I mostly use it to rename music files to my own particular needs. It's well worth $20.
"...Re: Version 10: It seems the "upgrade" price for current registered users is nearly the same as the purchase price for a new customer..."
It may not look like much of a break at $12.95 vs full price of $19.95 but it includes minor revisions up to, but not including version 11. per the website. It's a great utility, photographers will love it. I've used A Better Finder Rename without any issues for years. A real time saver. Recommended.
A very useful utility, no doubt about that.
But since it moved to version 10, it would have been a great opportunity to also have "A Better App Rename" ...
I have a forever license so this is free for me :-). Great program, but I just thought I'd stop by to say the new icon does nothing for me... I'd rather see the old icon (with maybe a different colored ink to signify a new version) any day instead.
"A Better Finder Rename offers a complete set of renaming options..."
Well, not quite a "complete set."
Almost a month ago I sent a request to the developer asking for a naming function I need that is not included. I was told "I’ll file a feature request based on your idea."
It wasn't included in today's update and I've no indication if it ever will be.
I use Path Finder's renaming function a lot more often than ABFR because it's already open, thus quicker. I only open ABFR when I need more advanced options or when renaming files in more than one folder all at once.
It is nice to be able to save presets and droplets for repetitive tasks, but oddly those features aren't mentioned in the description.
This review is based on v9.50, the latest I've used.
Interestingly, after receiving an email alert from Macupdate that a new version was available and out of curiosity I opened the existing 9.44, where the app update stated that I had in fact the latest version.
I then opened Macupdate Desktop and updated, successfully, to 9.45
Developers: if you're listening, what might be a reason for this?
A fantastic app! Easy to use, well laid out interface, lot's of options and fast. From start to finish it took me about two minutes to rename approximately 500 photos from a single shoot just then. Worth every cent!
This app continues to improve itself, and has been rock solid. The only feature I'm missing is the ability to edit tags from music files (including aiff). It's got nothing to do with file renaming but it would be an awesome addition to the existing great feature set.
With 30 years of PC use under my belt not many apps make me smile. This one does. The insight of the developer into the needs of the user are on spot. It's easy to use and the graphical interface is intuitive. As for usability and the "sure am glad I purchased this" factor, I rank this on my list with Transmit, 1Password, and MacJournal, my list of currently pleasing and delightful apps.
I am testing the demo for the fist time, just a few files.
I have made just a test changing '. ' to ' '
The app ask for my session password for each file!!!!
is it like this or I am doing something wrong?
Thanks
Unverzichtbares Tool am Mac - ein Segen beim Multi-Edit von mehreren bzw. vielen Dateien!
Leider lässt sich Multi-Step Drawer nicht immer verstecken, gelegentliche (eher seltene) Abstürze.
A Must have program for any person who has a lot of photos to organize.
The Droplet, which basically is like a shortcut icon with preset renaming rules inside, change file names in Drag-Drop-Voilà!
I'm a long time user of this program. However I was hoping the 9.19 update would bring the ability to rename Movie and TV Episodes based on iTunes tags. For instance I need to rename TV Episodes based on the Name, Show, Season and Episode # tags assigned in iTunes in the form Show - Name - SxxExx (where Sxx is the letter S + the season number, etc.).
So I used to be a huger "Renamer" fan - but this one is better.
What it lacks in simplicity it makes up for in power; for example, you can rename files (media files especially) based on metadata, which is fantastic.
Furthermore, even the "simplicity" aspect is up for debate, because with "Renamer" the options are limited but hard to figure out.
WIth this app the options are ten-fold but much more straightforward.
The only other fault against this app is stability, it has frozen a few times, but faced with any other "batch rename" requirement I pine for this one.
Worth a shot in any case.
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How would you rate A Better Finder Rename app?
Read 169 A Better Finder Rename User Reviews
File Buddy is similar to ABFR and has a lot of great features and functions, some of which ABFR may not have. However, I would seriously consider switching to A Better Finder Rename if -- as other commenters note below -- it incorporated an undo option.
Sometimes we make mistakes, or perhaps change our minds about a naming change. When you are working with dozens, hundreds or even thousands of files, as I do, being able to undo a change on multiple files becomes very important. Developer, please consider implementing undo in ABFR. Thank you.
That's unconscionable in a seasoned app like this, and is vital!
Even Path Finder has that available for its renaming window, and renaming is just a secondary function, not its PRIMARY JOB!
It's frustrating that the code doesn't carry over to newer versions!
I installed and opened 10.08, then renamed a half-dozen files. Needed to Undo, but that function was greyed out. Entered Unlock code and Undo function STILL wasn't available.
Fortunately the files aren't crucial and I can give them new names.
WTF Dev.?
Well, not quite a "complete set."
Almost a month ago I sent a request to the developer asking for a naming function I need that is not included. I was told "I’ll file a feature request based on your idea."
It wasn't included in today's update and I've no indication if it ever will be.
I use Path Finder's renaming function a lot more often than ABFR because it's already open, thus quicker. I only open ABFR when I need more advanced options or when renaming files in more than one folder all at once.
It is nice to be able to save presets and droplets for repetitive tasks, but oddly those features aren't mentioned in the description.
This review is based on v9.50, the latest I've used.