Shortcut to insert date when renaming files

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marek1000
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Shortcut to insert date when renaming files

#1 Post by marek1000 » 05.01.2026, 13:08

I frequently create copies of files and then append the current date to the filename. It would be very helpful if FreeCommander provided a keyboard shortcut that inserts a date during the rename operation.

Ideally, the date format would be configurable in the settings (for example, YYYY-MM-DD).

Example use case:
- Original file: Report.xlsx
- Renamed to: 2026-01-05 Report.xlsx OR Report.xlsx 2026-01-05

When the shortcut is executed, the formatted date would be inserted at the current cursor position in the rename field.

Marek
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Re: Shortcut to insert date when renaming files

#2 Post by Marek » 05.01.2026, 13:21

Are you using dialog to rename?

marek1000
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Re: Shortcut to insert date when renaming files

#3 Post by marek1000 » 05.01.2026, 18:10

I'm using either Multi-rename (which I love) or simply press F2 when renaming a single file (I believe F2 is the default shortcut for 'Rename: Rename' operation in FC but I may have customised it)

marek1000
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Re: Shortcut to insert date when renaming files

#4 Post by marek1000 » 05.01.2026, 18:12

... and I'm aware that date has its own wildcard in Multi-rename so I guess my feature request applies to quick renaming via F2 :)

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Dreamer
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Re: Shortcut to insert date when renaming files

#5 Post by Dreamer » 05.01.2026, 18:30

It is possible to use a dialog for single file rename, more here:

Rename

With your request it should work like this:

Code: Select all

[d]_filename
After renaming the file name would look like this:

Code: Select all

2026-01-05_filename
Rename dialog should have another field "Preview", which would show the name after renaming, it would be the same as Multi Rename, just for 1 file.

Workaround: Currently you can use Ctrl+M instead of F2 even for a single file rename and for Pattern File name use this:

Code: Select all

[d] newname
Then just use Enter, and the name will look like this:

Code: Select all

2026-01-05 18-24-51 newname
If you want just a date without time, new option is needed.

Another workaround is to use Multi Rename for multiple files, just use a date in format you want, specific text, like this:

Code: Select all

2026-01-05 [n]
This way the names will look like this:

Code: Select all

2026-01-05 filenameA
2026-01-05 filenameB
2026-01-05 filenameC

marek1000
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Re: Shortcut to insert date when renaming files

#6 Post by marek1000 » 13.01.2026, 11:15

Thank you for your suggestions. I didn’t realise I could use a simple rename operation with a dialogue box. That does seem like the right solution for me, but the [d] wildcard doesn’t work. I just end up with the new filename as “[d]_filename”, so the rename function doesn’t replace [d] with the actual date. Do I need to enable wildcard handling specifically for the rename operation?

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Re: Shortcut to insert date when renaming files

#7 Post by Dreamer » 13.01.2026, 19:45

As I said, it could work like this with your request, but it's not working now, need to be implemented.

It works just with Multi rename, even for a single file.

marek1000
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Re: Shortcut to insert date when renaming files

#8 Post by marek1000 » 13.01.2026, 20:12

Ahhh OK didn't catch that!

Anyway, I think I'm getting used to using multi rename even for a single file, especially after I assigned a manual ctrl+D shorcut to it :lol:

Thanks!

marek1000
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Joined: 17.02.2023, 11:43

Re: Shortcut to insert date when renaming files

#9 Post by marek1000 » 15.03.2026, 15:43

@Marek - thank you for implementing this!
Implemented: Rename operation - insert timestamp with Ctrl+T, insert date with Ctrl+D
viewtopic.php?t=775&start=375#p44366

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