How to rename video files by season and episode on Mac

What this does

Ripped or downloaded video files often already carry a season and episode tag somewhere in their name, something like “S01E02”, buried among other text a media library app doesn’t need. This rule pulls that tag out with a regex capture and uses it to build a clean filename, leaving files that don’t have a season and episode tag alone entirely, since they’re simply not the kind of file this rule is for.

What you’ll build

A rule that matches video files with a season and episode tag in their name, then renames each using that tag.

Open the rule editor

This walkthrough happens inside FilesAutomator itself, so install it from the Mac App Store first if you have not already, then open it. In its toolbar, choose Add, then New Automation Rule.

Name the rule and choose a folder

Name it something like “Rename my ripped media by season and episode” and use Add Folder to choose your media folder.

Build the condition

Leave the top group set to “All of the following are true”.

Add a condition: Kind is a kind of public.movie, which matches every video format.

Add a second condition: Name matches pattern, then enter this pattern:

(?i)s\d{1,2}e\d{1,2}

FilesAutomator

Add the action steps

Step 1: Rename

Choose Add Step, then Rename. In “New name, built from the parts below”, use Add Part, then Regex capture. Leave its source on Name, and enter this pattern into “What to look for”:

(?i)(s\d{1,2}e\d{1,2})

Add Part again, choose Text, and type an underscore. Add Part once more and choose Original name.

FilesAutomator

Turn it on

Select Create Automation Rule, then switch the rule on. Every matching video now gets its season and episode tag pulled to the front of its filename.

A faster way

The template gallery inside FilesAutomator already has this rule ready to install, named Rename ripped media by season and episode.