Rename-ByMetadata.ps1

A forensic-grade PowerShell script to rename files using embedded metadata, designed for recovery sets and chaotic folders. Supports documents, images, audio, and video. Features preview-first workflow, confidence scoring, batch processing, and robust error handling for long runs.

Features

• Scans folders recursively or non-recursively
• Extracts deep metadata from supported file types
• Generates safe, meaningful filenames
• Preview mode with TXT/CSV reports
• Batch processing for large sets
• Retry and error logging
• Skips files already renamed (_renamed suffix)
• Interactive and non-interactive modes

Usage

# Basic preview
./Rename-ByMetadata.ps1 -Path "C:\TargetFolder"

# Apply renames
./Rename-ByMetadata.ps1 -Path "C:\TargetFolder" -Apply

# Custom batch size and timeout
./Rename-ByMetadata.ps1 -Path "C:\TargetFolder" -BatchSize 500 -PerFileTimeoutSeconds 20

See script help for all options and examples.

Requirements

• Windows PowerShell
• No external dependencies for most metadata extraction
• Microsoft Word required for some DOC/RTF scenarios

License

MIT

Contributing

Pull requests and issues welcome!

Author

David Hewitt / RemarkablePC

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For more details, see the script header and comments.

Security & Privacy

• This repository must not contain user data or generated reports. Remove or exclude any *.log, *.csv, or output files before pushing. The repository's .gitignore already excludes these patterns.
• The script may read files containing personal data; always run on copies or in a controlled environment.

Installation & Requirements

• Windows PowerShell (tested on PowerShell 5.1 and PowerShell 7+).
• Microsoft Word required for some DOC/RTF extraction scenarios.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines on reporting issues and submitting pull requests.