How to Rename Photos on Android in Bulk (With Date or Place)
Rename many photos on an Android phone at once, for example IMG_20250518_184248.jpg to IMG_20250518_184248_Macau.jpg, without copying them off the phone and without changing their dates.
To rename many photos on an Android phone at once, use a file manager app that has batch rename, or rename them from a computer over USB debugging with adb, which also works for thousands of files. A rename does not change a photo's date taken or its file date, so the gallery keeps them in the same place.
What a good name looks like
Phones name photos by time: IMG_20250518_184248.jpg. That sorts well but says nothing. Two popular patterns:
- Add the place:
IMG_20250518_184248_Macau.jpg. You keep the camera's name and add where it was taken. - Date and place:
2025-05-18-1842_Macau.jpg. Shorter, and it reads the same on every device.
The place comes from the GPS position inside the photo. Most phone photos have one, unless location was off in the camera app.
On the phone: a file manager app
Several file managers on the Play Store can rename a selection of files with a counter, a date, or a fixed word. That works for a few dozen photos with a simple pattern. They cannot add the place a photo was taken, and they get slow with thousands of files.
From a computer: adb
With USB debugging on and adb installed, you can rename on the phone without copying the photos anywhere:
adb shell mv -n "/sdcard/DCIM/Camera/IMG_20250518_184248.jpg" "/sdcard/DCIM/Camera/IMG_20250518_184248_Macau.jpg"-n makes sure an existing file is never overwritten. For many photos, write one mv line per photo into a script on the computer and run it on the phone:
adb push rename.sh /data/local/tmp/
adb shell sh /data/local/tmp/rename.shKeep a copy of the script with the old and new names. Swapping the two columns gives you an undo.
Afterwards, tell the gallery about the new names:
adb shell content call --uri content://media/ --method scan_volume --arg external_primaryGetting the place names is the hard part: reading the GPS from each photo and looking up the town. Reading 256 KB from the start of each photo is enough for the GPS data, so you do not need to copy whole photos.
Things to know before renaming
- Names are case-insensitive on the phone.
photo.JPGandphoto.jpgare the same name. A rename to a name that only differs in case needs a step through a temporary name. - Google Photos backup. Renaming a photo that is already backed up does not upload it again. Google Photos recognizes the content.
- Motion photos with a separate
.mp4beside the.jpg: rename both the same way so they stay a pair.
With the app
Photo Date & Metadata Fixer's Android Phone tab, which is Windows only, has a Rename on phone tab. Pick a folder on the phone, pick a pattern such as "Original + Location" or "Date-Time + Location", and the app reads the date and GPS of every photo straight from the phone, looks up the places, and shows you the new names before anything changes.
A second run does not add the place twice, every file keeps its date, and Undo puts every name back. Place names come from OpenStreetMap: only the positions are sent, never the photos.
Frequently asked questions
Does renaming change the date in the gallery?
No. The gallery sorts by the date taken inside the photo, or by the file date. A rename changes neither.
Can I rename videos too?
Yes, the same way. Videos from phones often carry a location too, so they can get a place name.
What about photos with no GPS?
They keep their name. Screenshots, saved images and indoor photos often have no position.