Image Source

Text fonts are important in writing. They have the potential to transform your message into an impactful statement. You should also know what font style to use for the type of message you want to convey. For instance, you will not use the font “Comic Sans MS” to deliver a message of loss and grief. The “Comic Sans MS” is a comical, fun and upbeat font style. If you use that on a card sent on the occasion of someone’s funeral, people will think you are insensitive.

While looking for the right font style to match the mood and tone of your message, you may have to rename a font file. Sometimes when you download a font file, the name on it is incorrect. For example, the file might say “Helvetica” but when you open it you realize that it is actually “Calibri”. Such instances can confuse you and waste your time.

This article will show you how to rename a font so you can work smoothly.

How to Rename a Font

Image Source

In this section you will find many methods on how to rename a font. Remember, these instructions particularly apply to the users of Windows 10 platform.

First, you will explore how to rename a font using Windows 10 File Explorer feature. It is a very capable tool. For changing the name of a font, File Explorer offers 4 techniques. Then, you will learn other techniques to rename files with Command Prompt and Windows PowerShell.

The aforementioned techniques and methods are explained below in detail –

Method 1: Making use of the Home Menu in File Explorer

  1. Open the File Explorer on your desktop. To do this, press “Windows” Key + “E” letter key on your keyboard.
  2. Now visit the location where you have saved your font files. If you know the font file’s name, drag your mouse up to the “Search” bar and click on it. Now type in the name of the font and the font explorer will search for that file.
  3. Once you find the file you were looking for, click on it to select it. Now bring your mouse cursor up to the Home Menu.
  4. In the Home Menu you will find options like “Move to”, ”Delete”, ”Copy to” and ”Rename”. You need to click on the “Rename” option.
  5. It is now possible to change the name of the font file. If you have administrative privileges, you can also change the file extension. A file extension is what comes after the “.”. For example, in the file “ArialBlack.ttf” the file extension is “.ttf”. Changing the extension will alter the file’s format. If it is the wrong format then many applications or software will not be able to read it. So unless you want to change the file type, make sure that you only change the name that appears before the “.”.
  6. After you have typed in the new name, press the “Enter” key on your keyboard to save the new font file name. Another option is, click your mouse button on any blank space on the screen. That will also save the file name.

Method 2: Double-clicking on a Font File

  1. To begin, open the File Explorer (“Windows + E” keys) and locate the font whose name needs to be changed (search for it in the “Search” bar).
  2. Once you locate the file that is to be renamed, click on it then pause for a second. Then click on it again.
  3. The font file name will now be highlighted with a blinking cursor.
  4. Now type the new font name. If you have the rights of an administrator, be careful not to change the file extension (unless you know what you are doing).
  5. On your keyboard, press the “Enter” key or click anywhere on the screen with your mouse. The changed font name will be saved.

Method 3: Making use of the Context Menu

  1. Similar to previous methods, locate your font files using the file explorer.
  2. Once you find the font file, bring your mouse cursor over the file and right click on it.
  3. This will open the “Context” menu. You will see many options here like – “Open”, “Copy”, “Cut, “Send to”, “Delete” and more. Somewhere near the bottom of the “Context” menu, you will find the “Rename” option. Click on this option.
  4. The moment you click on “Rename”, the “Context” menu will disappear. Instead, your file name will become highlighted with a blinking cursor.
  5. Now type the new font file name over the highlighted text.
  6. Like the previous methods, to save the new name press “Enter” on the keyboard or left click on the screen with your mouse.

Method 4: Making use of Shortcut Keys

  1. You can rename font files using only your keyboard.
  2. To start, open the file explorer by pressing the “Windows” key and the “E” letter key together.
  3. Now, to access the “Search” bar from your keyboard, press the shortcut keys – “Control” + “F” letter. This will activate the “Search” bar and you can type the name of the file in it.
  4. Click “Enter” key once you are done typing.
  5. When you see the font file on your screen, use the arrow keys on your keyboard to navigate towards the file.
  6. After reaching the file whose name you want to change, press “Function” key and “F2” key together on the keyboard.
  7. This will highlight the name of the font file. Now type the desired name over it.
  8. Once you have written the new name, press the “Enter” key. That is it. You have successfully renamed a font file.

Method 5: Using the Command Prompt

  1. Open the Windows File Explorer and visit the location where your font files are stored.
  2. Upon reaching the desired directory, you are ready to open a Command Prompt.
  3. To do this, take your mouse over the “Address” bar in the File Explorer and click on it.
  4. Now type “cmd” in the “Address” bar and press the “Enter” key on your keyboard. This will open the Command Prompt.
  5. You need to enter a command to rename a font file. Do this by entering this command – ren “current_filename.ext” “new_filename.ext“. For example, if you want to rename a file name “Verdana.ttf” to “Serif.ttf” you must type in the code – ren “Verdana.ttf” “Serif.ttf” and press the “Enter” key.
  6. Now check in the font folder. The name of the file would have changed.

Method 6: Using Windows Powershell

  1. The PowerShell tool is more versatile and powerful than the Command Prompt to rename font files.
  2. To open the PowerShell window, navigate through the File Explorer and visit the desired location of your font files.
  3. Once you have opened the folder where your font files are stored, take your mouse to the top of the explorer window. Now click on the “File” tab and a drop menu will appear.
  4. You will see a couple of options in the drop menu like “Open new window”, “Change folder and search option” and “Help”. What you are looking for is the option called “Open Windows PowerShell”. Click on it.
  5. A side menu will appear which will give you two options – “Open Windows PowerShell” and “Open Windows PowerShell as administrator”. If you only want to rename the file, click on the first option, that is, “Open Windows PowerShell”.
  6. The PowerShell window will appear on screen. You need to type a syntax in there to rename the desired font file.
  7. The syntax to rename a file is – rename-item “current_filename.ext” “new_filename.ext”
  8. For example, if you want to change a font file name from “Italics22.ttf” to “Bold33.ttf”, your syntax will look like this – rename-item “Italics22.ttf” “Bold33.ttf”.
  9. Now hit the “Enter” key on your keyboard to complete the process. Check the font folder to see the new renamed font file.

These were some techniques on how to rename a font using Windows features. You may also choose a different technique which involves using special software to rename font files. One such software is FontForge. Follow the steps mentioned below to get started –

Method 7: Using FontForge

  1. Download the FontForge software from the internet.
  2. After installing it on your computer, open the application.
  3. The application will scan your computer to display a list of all available font files on your system.
  4. Select the font file you want to rename by clicking on it.
  5. Now click on the option “Font info”. This will display all the font file details like its name, format, size etc.
  6. Rename the font file. Then click on the “Ok” button.
  7. Your font file now has a new name.

In Conclusion

Hope the techniques and methods in this article taught you how to rename a font. Renaming font files can be handy, especially when you have customized or created your own fonts. It is also a safe way to keep track of your unique font styles. But remember to keep an appropriate name so you do not forget it. It can be a nightmare to look for a font among hundreds of files.