📝 How to Rename Files with Numeric Prefixes in Linux 🚀

Have you ever wanted to rename files by adding a numeric prefix based on the order they were created? Here's a simple way to achieve this using a single command in Linux. By the end of this post, you'll know how to sort your files by creation time and rename them while keeping their original names intact!

💡 What I Want to Achieve:

To keep the file names and just add numbers as prefixes, you can use the following command:

ls -1tr | cat -n | while read n f; do mv "$f" "${n}_$f"; done

This command will:

• List your files sorted by creation time (ls -1tr).

• Add a numeric prefix to each file (cat -n), where n is the number and f is the file name.

• Rename each file to n_originalname (e.g., 1_filename, 2_filename, etc.).

🎯 Steps:

• Navigate to the directory where your files are stored.

• Run the command.

• That's it! Your files will now be prefixed with numbers while keeping the original names.

🚀 Adding a Screenshot

Here’s how it works in practice. Just open your terminal, and after running the command, you'll see:

This screenshot shows how the files were renamed in one of my projects. 📸

🔗 Connect with me:

Feel free to reach out if you have questions or want to chat about Linux, programming, or anything tech-related!

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Stay tuned for more tips and tricks!

Imported from rifaterdemsahin.com · 2026