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How to rename files with sequential numbers on a Mac
By Himanshu Ranjan · Updated 8 November 2026
Select the files in Finder, open FileDial and choose Rename › Rename with sequence… to get names like Holiday 001, Holiday 002. It renames the originals and has Undo. Finder's Rename with the Format option can number files too. Sort the folder first to control the order.
What it does
Numbering files in order is the classic batch rename: photos from a trip, scanned pages, chapters. FileDial's Rename › Rename with sequence… renames the originals to names like Holiday 001.jpg, Holiday 002.jpg and so on.
Zero padding matters. 001 sorts before 010, while 1 sorts after 10 in many lists, which is why padded numbers are the safer choice.
Steps
Order depends on how Finder lists the selection, so sort first.
- In Finder, sort the folder the way you want the numbers to run, for example by date or name.
- Select the files.
- Open the dial with the right Option key and choose Rename, then Rename with sequence…
- Type the base name, run it, and check the first few files.
- Use Undo on the result card if the order is wrong.
Finder's way
Apple's guide describes Rename in Finder with a Format mode. Pick a name format, choose whether the index, counter or date goes before or after the name, enter a custom format and the starting number, then click Rename. It is a good built-in option for a single folder of like files.
FileDial's version is the quicker choice when the selection is mixed and you want the result, undo included, from the dial.
Combining number with date or find-and-replace
Rename › Rename with pattern… handles date, sequence number and find/replace in one go, and undo puts the names back. Use it when the target is something like 2026-11-04 Trip 001. Rename › Replace text in names… cleans a leftover phrase first, leaving extensions alone.
Numbered names also fix an ordering problem elsewhere: Combine › Combine into one DOCX and similar tools follow selection order, and numbered names make that order obvious.
Portable names
Stick to letters, digits, space or underscore and hyphen. Avoid characters that Windows forbids, such as slash, backslash, question mark, asterisk, colon, pipe and quotes, if the files will move to another platform.
Controlling the order
The most common complaint with numbering is that the order is not what you expected. Sort the Finder window first, by date, name or whatever defines the order, then select. Check the first and last result. If the order is wrong, Undo and try again with a different sort.
For photos, the date taken is more reliable than the file's own date; run Rename › Rename by date taken before numbering if you want the sequence to reflect when the pictures were taken. Names of the form 2024-07-04 14.22.10.jpg sort chronologically on their own.
Common mistakes and when FileDial fits
Choose padding by how many files you may have. Two digits handle up to 99, three up to 999. If a folder grows later, the sort order breaks the moment you pass the padding. Think ahead: three digits are a sensible default for most folders, and four for large photo sets.
If you later need to insert a file between two numbers, you will have to renumber. Rename › Rename with pattern… can re-run the sequence on the whole selection, and results can be undone, so renumbering is a small job rather than a risk.
Use it for numbering photos, scans and chapters in one go, with a result card and Undo. Finder's Format mode handles simple cases and is the right pick if you are renaming one folder of like files and want nothing else.
If you want the numbers to follow content rather than the order you selected, use a content rule first. For photos, Rename › Rename by date taken gives chronological names. For documents, Convert › Rename by content… uses date, company and number found in the document.
Numbering before sorting is the biggest. Another is numbering across mixed types, which interleaves photos and videos you wanted separate; select one type at a time. A third is running the tool twice and ending up with names like Holiday 001 001. A fourth is renumbering files that were already numbered and referenced by something else.
If a rename goes wrong, use Undo on the result card straight away. After other renames, Undo history is shorter, so check the result before the next job.
For scanned paperwork the sequence has a second benefit: page order. Scan pages into one folder, number them, and then assemble them into one PDF in that order; see our images to PDF guide. Keeping the numbers in the final names also makes it easy to find a missing page later.
Questions
What do the numbered names look like?
Names like Holiday 001.jpg, Holiday 002.jpg and so on, as the tool's note shows. The base name is yours, the number is zero-padded so that the files sort in order, and the original extension is kept so each file still opens with the right app.
How do I control which file gets which number?
Sort the Finder window the way you want the numbers to run, such as by date or name, and then select the files and run the tool. Check the first few results, and use Undo on the result card if the order is wrong, then try a different sort.
Can I combine a number with a date in the name?
Yes. Rename › Rename with pattern… handles date, sequence number and find and replace together in one pass, and undo puts the names back. That produces names like a date, a base name and a counter without applying two separate renames in a row.