Big Sur - rename function useless for batch renaming as it now asks for confirmation of EVERY file

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Big Sur - rename function useless for batch renaming as it now asks for confirmation of EVERY file

I've just bought a new iMac with Big Sur installed - my old Mac is running Mojave (I have a few 32bit apps that I need to run - especially Quicktime 7 based ones). Big Sur is quite slick, but it does feel a lot more "nannying" than Mojave did, when it comes to security. This is good for newbies, but gets in the way of power users.

One thing I've noticed - and I assume it's a byproduct of this cautious mindset - is that the rename function in the Big Sur Finder is effectively broken for batch alterations to filenames. I had a folder of OpenEXR files that didn't have file extensions saved on their name. I wanted to change that, but discovered that when you try to do this now it asks for confirmation ON EVERY SINGLE file. There's no "yes to all" option. And when you're trying to batch rename a couple of hundred files, it isn't practical to keep clicking yes. Is there any way to fix this?

Posted on Jul 21, 2021 1:46 PM

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Answer 1

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VikingOSX

Community+ 2024

Level 10

116,789 points

Jul 21, 2021 3:11 PM in response to dsol21

In Finder Preferences > Advanced, uncheck Show warning before changing an extension. You are attempting to change the extension from none to something and with this selected, it will NAG you.

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Answer 2

etresoft

Level 9

51,038 points

Jul 21, 2021 2:02 PM in response to dsol21

Check the permissions and ownership of the files. Make sure they are owned by you and you can modify them. Ideally, make sure they are all in a single directory and do a "Get Info" on that directory in the Finder. Then, you can reset the ownership and permissions on all of them at once. Just click on the little "gear" icon and make sure it says "Apply to enclosed items". After that, your rename should work as you expect.

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Answer 3

dsol21 Author

Level 1

21 points

Jul 21, 2021 2:53 PM in response to etresoft

I thought it might be a file permissions issue, so I checked again - and the files (and drive itself) are all set to my user (admin). I double checked it my manually re-applied permissions to those files and then attempted to do the rename again - but again, it got stuck on an endless loop of asking me for each file.

It's very frustrating. I'll continue to look for solutions tomorrow and if I have any success, I'll post an answer here. Otherwise I might just make a quick Renamer action using automator

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Answer 4

dsol21 Author

Level 1

21 points

Jul 22, 2021 2:18 AM in response to VikingOSX

That did it! It works without incident now. This didn't happen in Mojave, even if you didn't have that preference disabled. I never used Catalina, so not sure if this problem was introduced then. To be honest, I don't mind being nagged if I'm changing a file extension, but if I'm trying to do it on a whole batch of files then obviously it's a problem.

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Answer 5

Jul 22, 2021 4:45 AM in response to dsol21

Good. Might be worthwhile to select it again after your bulk renames are done. Mine is selected, but then again, I don't find myself in a situation where I am altering file extensions.

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Big Sur - rename function useless for batch renaming as it now asks for confirmation of EVERY file

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