microsoft / microsoft/PowerToys

Allow incremental renaming based on file metadata such as date order, not just alphabetical order

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#48,499 0 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
Needs-Triage Product-PowerRename
Dominant language
C
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139k
Forks
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PR merge metrics
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Description

### Description of the new feature / enhancement

I’m posting here to suggest an important feature for PowerRename.

At the moment, when using incremental numbering, the files are processed in alphabetical order rather than by file metadata such as Date Modified or Date Created. That makes it a bit limiting for photo sets, scans, exports, or any batch where the chronological order actually matters more than the original filename.

I reckon It'd be very useful to have an option to apply incremental renaming based on a selected sort order, for example:
- Date modified
- Date created
- Date taken / media metadata where available
- Current Explorer sort order

The behaviour I propose: when using numbering or incrmental tokens, PowerRename could let the user choose the ordering source before applying the rename. Even a simple dropdown using the current file list order would already solve a lot.

This would make PowerRename much more useful for media handling and archive cleanup.

Thanks for considering it.

### Scenario when this would be used?

I have a batch of files that need to be renamed with sequential numbers, but the sequence needs to follow a real file timeline, not alphabetical order. Right now that workflow is difficult because numbering does not reflect the metadata order.

### Supporting information

_No response_

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

No files, tests, or implementation entry points are named. Start by locating PowerRename’s incremental-numbering and file-ordering logic; done means users can select a metadata or current-list order and numbering follows it, with coverage for the supported ordering choices.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Domain
desktop
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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