File name cleanup for series & seasons - replace/rename made easy for Windows

[Mike_M]

It's was tedious to rename all the outputted files one by one manually that have underscores in them when I downloaded a series and multiple seasons for shows.

I looked for programs that would automate this for me.

I found a great free one for personal and private use called Bulk Renaming Utility that I am using on Windows 10.

https://www.bulkrenameutility.co.uk/

Once you have the outputted files downloaded you run this program, go to location of the files & highlight the files you want to rename.

It also has a preview at the top & you can also hit the Preview button at the bottom right for a cleaner view.

I then use the Replace (3) field with the existing string I want to replace in the top entry field and what I want to replace it with in the bottom entry field.

In the attached example I replaced Absolutely_Fabulous_S with AF S in order to make the file name shorter and clean it up.

You can replace all underscores in a file name by putting _ in the top field of Replace (3) and a space in the second field and it will replace all occurences of and underscore with a space that appear in the file name.

When you have multiple seasons you can easily have over 50 file names that you want to cleanup and/or truncate.

[Just-a-DLer]

Yes, an excellent resource that has been around a while.
Just an FYI, while free, there is a way to donate, if you use it a lot then please help support the project a little.

You can also save "templates" so you do not need to set up the parameters every time. For instance, I have a template to remove the underscore, one that I use with movie files from another application that allows naming templates.

Also note that you can drag and drop an entire directory - lets say you grabbed all of Season 1 of "How the Universe Works" from Discovery+. The path is

C:\Users\JustaDLer\Documents\DVDFab\StreamFab\Stre amFab Downloads\DiscoveryPlus\How the Universe Works

You can drag the S01 folder and drop it into the main BRU window and it will read all the underlying files for you. Rename them and hit F5 and the window clears, waiting for you to drop your next folder.

BRU is a very versatile program.

[AGuyWithAComputer]

Powershell works too.

gci "path" -File -Recurse | %{
if ($_.BaseName -match "(?<Show>.*)_(?<Season>[sS][0-9]{2}[eE][0-9]{2})_(?<Title>.*)") {
$tPath = "$($matches.Show.Replace(' _ ',' - ').Replace('_ ',' - ').Replace('_',''))"
$ePath = "$($matches.Title.Replace(' _ ',' - ').Replace('_ ',' - ').Replace('_',''))"
Rename-Item $_.FullName "$($matches.Season) - $ePath$($_.Extension)"
}
}

Just change "path" to the actual path to the series. Include the "

[passionateman]

BRU is quite useful! The only thing which I can't figure out yet is how to rename CW shows from triple digit episodes to double digit. For example "S02E203" to the standard "S02E03". The triple digit format output by SF is not understood by Kodi, so it doesn't show anything.

[Just Me]

Thank ALL of you. I have been doing this manually for ages.

I always check and rename my DLs. Once I get these set up, I will save a ton of time.

[corey75]

I have close to a full PB of media files that I've been collecting over the last 15+ years. Over the last few years I ran across a program called Rename My TV Series. I was in the same boat as you so I was using flash renamer for years. Then stumbled upon this gem... If you really want to get detailed in your renaming and/or metadata as well, this works amazing for me. This is my main renaming software (for now at least):

https://www.tweaking4all.com/home-theatre/rename-my-tv-series-v2/

Good luck!

[Just Me]

https://www.tweaking4all.com/home-th...-tv-series-v2/

Looks like another good choice. I have already found a couple of limitations with it, but didn't try the new beta. Unfortunately I don't use that exact format. Thanks for the tip though.

Once you have figured out Bulk Rename Utility, it has a lot of power and flexibility in it. You can save your settings and apply them to the file names and get what you want very quickly with a few keystrokes and don't have to download anything.

[zapt]

TIP: If you're a Mac user, you can quickly replace the underscores with hyphens by selecting a season's TV episodes, right-clicking them, choosing Rename x Items, and entering an underscore in the first box and a hyphen in the second box. Note that the Mac OS remembers your choices here, so you won't have to reenter them the next time you use the Rename dialog.

[Just Me]

It's was tedious to rename all the outputted files one by one manually that have underscores in them when I downloaded a series and multiple seasons for shows.

I looked for programs that would automate this for me.

I found a great free one for personal and private use called Bulk Renaming Utility that I am using on Windows 10.

https://www.bulkrenameutility.co.uk/

Once you have the outputted files downloaded you run this program, go to location of the files & highlight the files you want to rename.

It also has a preview at the top & you can also hit the Preview button at the bottom right for a cleaner view.

I then use the Replace (3) field with the existing string I want to replace in the top entry field and what I want to replace it with in the bottom entry field.

In the attached example I replaced Absolutely_Fabulous_S with AF S in order to make the file name shorter and clean it up.

You can replace all underscores in a file name by putting _ in the top field of Replace (3) and a space in the second field and it will replace all occurences of and underscore with a space that appear in the file name.

When you have multiple seasons you can easily have over 50 file names that you want to cleanup and/or truncate.

Man, I am so GLAD you posted this. I've been using it quite a lot and discovering even more stuff in it that I can use to name/file my stuff. It has saved me so much time now. I will be donating to it. Well worth it.

I actually use Replace (3), Case (4), Remove (5) and numbering (10) to do my renaming in one shot and touch up with a couple of others if I have to. Of course I save my setting for each series and and minor changes so that it's click, click,click and done.

Again, Thanks.

[Cats4U]

I'm a Big fan of "TV Rename" https://www.tvrename.com/ . I've been using it for years. It also will handle movies as well. So much more than just a renamer.