But we found that experimentation was the best way to learn the program: The interface displays both the original file name along with what the end product would be if you were to make the changes you have proposed.

The application also pops Confirmation dialogs by default. Bulk Rename Utility tries to help by offering a comprehensive Help file (although it hardly sets the mind at ease when the Getting Started section starts with DO NOT PANIC!!!! in large red letters). Additional menu bar drop-downs let you set global options, such as time stamp formats, color-coding, and activity logging. The application window offers 13 primary functions, including inserting and appending text, auto-numbering, cropping characters, and moving/copying files. This free application can handle everything from simple search-and-replace to Perl 5 regular expressions, but it suffers from a cluttered user interface that fails to offer tool tips and, somewhat incredibly, abbreviates labels and button names.

Bulk Rename Utility takes the pain out of renaming and managing files and folders, assuming you can get past the frightening user interface.

Bulk file renaming tool