Guides to naming and renaming media files
How Plex, Jellyfin and Emby actually read your filenames, how to batch rename without losing anything, and the edge cases nobody writes down. Written by the developer of Media Renamer Pro, useful whatever tool you use.
Getting started
Media servers
How to name TV and movie files so Plex and Jellyfin match them
Folder structure, SxxExx, absolute vs aired anime ordering, subtitles, NFO sidecars, and renaming safely over a NAS.
Read the guide →Emby file naming: getting your library to match
Folder structure, provider ID pinning, multi-version movies, specials and extras, NFO sidecars, and the settings that decide matching.
Read the guide →Why your subtitles do not show up in Plex or Jellyfin
Base name matching, language codes, forced and SDH flags, the library setting everyone misses, and what renaming does to the .srt.
Read the guide →How to move a Plex library without losing watch history
Watch history belongs to the item, not the file. The safe sequence, and the one step that really does destroy your work.
Read the guide →Safe renaming
How to rename only the new files in a folder
Rename what just arrived and leave the rest alone. Inbox folders, what counts as done, NAS drives that go missing, and Watched Folders.
Read the guide →Why batch renaming eats files, and the two-phase fix
Chains and swaps are what destroy files in a batch rename. Why one-at-a-time fails, and the probe most tools skip.
Read the guide →What breaks when you rename files over SMB and NAS shares
Atomic replace, free space, Finder tags and extended attributes, case sensitivity, and mid-batch failures.
Read the guide →Photos, music and games
How to rename iPhone photos by the date they were taken
File dates lie and EXIF does not. Which date to trust, time zones, Live Photos, HEIC, burst collisions, and a workflow that loses nothing.
Read the guide →How to name ROMs without breaking your verification set
No-Intro and Redump names are identities, not labels. Region and revision codes, the era gate, archives, and multi-disc cue and m3u files.
Read the guide →
Rename it all, see it first
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