A Better Finder Rename alternative
Rename a thousand files — in the app where you manage them
A Better Finder Rename has been renaming files on the Mac since the days of Mac OS 9, with an action for almost everything. Folia Files covers everyday renaming — templates, numbering, the date a photo was taken, find and replace with regular expressions, case — with every new name previewed first and ⌘Z afterwards, inside a complete file manager.
7 days free with every feature, no account, no card. Then $49.99 once for up to 3 Macs, every future update included — no subscription.
In short
A Better Finder Rename ($29.95 for one person, minor updates free until version 13; macOS 15 or later for the latest version) is the specialist: actions in 15 categories, multi-step renames, EXIF shooting dates with their own priority order and time zones, camera, lens and music tags, RAW and JPEG pairs kept alike, names imported from a spreadsheet, presets and droplets, all from the Finder's context menu. Folia Files ($49.99 once, a full file manager) renames files and folders in steps you combine — a template, find and replace with regular expressions, text, numbering, case, a date including the shooting date (EXIF), characters removed, a clean-up, the extension — with a preview that flags conflicts, the choice to work on copies, and every rename undone with ⌘Z or from the Operations history. Choose A Better Finder Rename for its depth; choose Folia Files for everyday renaming where you already manage your files.
Batch rename side by side
| Feature | Folia Files | A Better Finder Rename |
|---|---|---|
| Several steps in one rename | YesSteps you reorder and switch on or off | YesMulti-step renames |
| Preview as you type | YesConflicts flagged before anything changes | Yes |
| Find and replace, regular expressions | YesWith $1 groups, case-sensitive or not | Yes |
| Template, numbering, text, case | Yes{name} {n} {date} {parent} {ext} | YesTag-based renaming |
| Shooting date of photos (EXIF) | YesOr the modification or creation date | YesWith a priority order and time zones |
| Camera, music, video and document metadata | No | YesCamera and lens, ID3 tags, Spotlight metadata |
| RAW + JPEG pairs and sidecar files | No | Yes |
| New names from a list or spreadsheet | No | Yes |
| Saved settings | PartlyThe last steps are kept for next time | YesPresets and droplets |
| Files in subfolders | YesFiltered by files or folders, extension or name | Yes |
| Starts from | Folia Files' panes, search results and Downloads | The Finder: context menu, hot key, Quick Action, droplets |
| Rename copies, keep the originals | YesNext to them, in a subfolder or in a folder you choose | Not stated |
| Undo the rename | Yes⌘Z, or later from the Operations history | Not stated |
| A full file manager | YesPanes, search, tools, Mac care | No |
| Price | $49.99 once, up to 3 Macs, updates included | $29.95 for one person; minor updates free until version 13 |
| Free trial | 7 days, every feature | Up to 10 files at a time |
| macOS | 14 or later | 15 or later; earlier versions for older systems |
| On the Mac App Store | Coming soon | NoIts sibling Better Rename is, by subscription ($19.99 a year) |
What A Better Finder Rename does better
It goes much deeper. Its actions are sorted into 15 categories; it reads camera and lens data, music tags and the Spotlight metadata of videos and documents, lets you decide which shooting date wins and in which time zone, keeps RAW and JPEG files and their sidecar files named alike, and can take new names from a spreadsheet or any list.
Presets build a library of your renames, droplets rename whatever you drop on them, and it works straight from the Finder — context menu, hot key or Quick Action. Its maker has tested it on jobs of more than 300,000 files; Folia Files' tool takes up to 10,000 items at a time. If renaming is a daily job for you, keep it.
What you get with Folia Files
Select files in a pane and choose “Batch Rename n Items…”: the tool opens with them. Add steps — a new name from a template such as {parent} {n}, find and replace, added text, numbering, case, a date, characters removed, a clean-up, an extension — and the new names appear next to the old ones as you type. Reorder the steps, switch one off to compare, then rename.
- The date a photo was taken, read from its EXIF data, in six formats such as 2026-07-14 or 20260714_093015
- Find and replace with regular expressions and $1 groups, case-sensitive or not
- A clean-up step: spaces to dashes or underscores, accents and symbols removed
- Conflicts flagged before anything changes — a name already taken, two files with the same new name — and swapped names handled safely
- Work on copies — next to the originals, in a subfolder or in a folder you choose — and leave the originals alone
Undo, and rename like the Finder
Every batch rename goes into the Operations history: ⌘Z right after, or undo it there later. And for a single file, click its name once it is selected, or press ↩ or F2, to rename it in place in every view.
Which one to choose
A Better Finder Rename, if…
- You rename by camera, music or video metadata
- You shoot RAW + JPEG and want pairs and sidecars to follow
- You take names from a spreadsheet, or reuse presets and droplets
- You rename straight from the Finder, or tens of thousands of files at once
Folia Files, if…
- You rename photos by the day they were taken, with numbering and a template
- You want to see every new name, and undo the whole rename with ⌘Z
- You'd like to rename copies and keep the originals
- You'd rather have one app that is also your file manager, with search, tools and Mac care
Website edition and Mac App Store
Batch rename is in both editions, with the same steps.
Questions
Yes: ⌘Z right after, or later from the Operations history. If you choose to rename copies instead, the originals never change.
Yes. Add folders to the tool, include their subfolders — at any depth or a few levels down — and narrow the list to files, folders or both, by extension or by name (text, wildcards or a regular expression); then tick or untick any item.
Yes. They don't get in each other's way: keep A Better Finder Rename for its specialised actions, and use Folia Files for everyday renaming and the rest of your file work.
macOS 14 or later, on Apple silicon or Intel. It is in 8 languages and is sold on its website, and soon on the Mac App Store.
Keep reading
See for yourself, free for 7 days
Every feature, no account, no credit card. Then $49.99, once, every future update included — no subscription.
Prices and features checked on 5 October 2026, on publicspace.net (product page, store, manual, version history and blog) and the Mac App Store.
- A Better Finder Rename
- A Better Finder Rename licenses
- A Better Finder Rename downloads and system requirements
- A Better Finder Rename version history
- A Better Finder Rename manual
- A Better Finder Rename: the main window
- A Better Finder Rename: very large renaming tasks
- publicspace.net: the best file renamer for Mac
- Better Rename on the Mac App Store