How to Rename Multiple Files With Their First 10 Characters?

12,321

Solution 1

You can try:

rename -n 's/(.{10}).*(\.jpg)$/$1$2/' *.jpg

Example:

$ rename -n 's/(.{10}).*(\.jpg)$/$1$2/' *.jpg
11512345714x611aaa.jpg -> 1151234571.jpg
1201230111FbcAdee.jpg -> 1201230111.jpg
1208605001abAcd.jpg -> 1208605001.jpg

The -n option only simulates the command, so that you can verify the changes. Run without it to actually make the changes.

The regex (.{10}).*(\.jpg) consists:

.{10} - any 10 characters, in a group (…), followed by
.* - any number of any characters followed by
\.jpg$ - the extension at the end ($) of the filename, in the second group

The replacement $1$2 is just the first group followed by the second.

Solution 2

You can do with only bash:

for FILE in *.jpg ; do mv "${FILE}" "${FILE:0:10}.jpg" ; done

With a little work you can get file extension and add automagically to the new name.

Solution 3

If you use zsh:

zmv '(*).(*)' '${1:0:10}.$2'

If it's not already done, you may need to first run:

autoload zmv

12,321

surya_darmana

Updated on September 18, 2022

Comments

surya_darmana almost 2 years
I am having a problem to rename multiple files by replacing the name by their first 10 characters of their old name. I tried to find the solution in internet but I didn't find the answers.

Example:

Original File Names:
```
1208605001abAcd.jpg 
1201230111FbcAdee.jpg 
11512345714x611aaa.jpg 
```
What I want to achieve:
```
1208605001.jpg 
1201230111.jpg 
1151234571.jpg
```
surya_darmana about 8 years

Sorry if I am missing something, when I tried to run your suggested command I've got this message : "Substitution replacement not terminated at (eval 1) line 1.". Did I do something wrong?
muru about 8 years

@surya_darmana there was supposed to be a / after $2. The example output has it correct. I have fixed it.
surya_darmana about 8 years

Thank you very much, the command is run perfectly, you made my day :D
Kevin about 8 years

Use globbing (*) instead of ls (for which you wouldn't need the -1 anyway), and quote the variables. ("${FILE:0:10}.jpg").
muru about 8 years

Will this keep the extensions?
Kevin about 8 years

@muru no, I didn't notice that particular requirement. Updated with a version that does.
Reinier Post about 8 years

This holds for the rename that comes with perl (e.g. on Ubuntu), not the one that comes with util-linux (e.g. on Fedora, CentOS, Cygwin).
Antonio about 8 years

I prefer using ls, but +1 for the quoting! (error of distraction).
Kevin about 8 years

It isn't a matter of preference, using ls will break on files with spaces in the name. Globbing won't.