12

This is super annoying. If I highlight one word in the long filename, the entire filename gets highlighted (usually 1 millisecond before I tap delete or type something else). I just want Windows to highlight what I'm dragging across and stop second-guessing me. Any tweak to bring back old behavior where it just highlights what I select with my mouse?

studiohack
  • 13,477
CreeDorofl
  • 2,469

5 Answers5

9

CreeDorofl and others. The issue is perfectly described by CreDorofl, when he tries to rename part of the filename, the whole name is selected in a split of a second, usually faster then you can react. This makes impossible to change any part of the file name other then the whole name. The reason is of course the refresh. You are trying to change file name in the folder that contains some other file that is changing (you are downloading the file into the same folder and download did not finish) or the file you are trying to change is being moved. Wait until download/moving is finished and you will be able to change whatever you want. You can also try a little test: go to any other folder (that does not contain file being downloaded/moved and try to change names (part of the names) of any file, you should be able to do it without problem.

George Coat
  • 91
  • 1
  • 2
4

On Windows 7, once you make an edit to the filename, the auto-selection feature is disabled. But if you're not quicker than Windows's auto selection feature, you'll end up replacing the selection with your input. What I do is:

  1. Press F2 and have windows highlight the name part of the file.
  2. Press Ctrl-x, Ctrl-v to cut and paste back the select.
  3. Now that I've made my edit, I can freely use my mouse or keyboard to select and edit the filename.

Want to edit the entire filename including the extension? Ctrl-a, Ctrl-x, Ctrl-v

badbob001
  • 101
4

I just ran across this issue myself on an external drive and realized refreshing is the problem as mentioned here. To stop it from happening make any edit to the filename quickly before the refresh, such as inserting a space then backspacing. Or use the cut and paste suggestion, although that will overwrite anything you were saving in the clipboard. Then you can select and edit the filename as usual.

Zediop
  • 41
  • 2
0

Well I've come across this as well using my external hard drive. Now you cannot stop the auto-refresh function, but you can be a bit faster than windows.

My example was a bit harder and tougher than what you're all facing, because I am trying to rename IMG_0100.JPG to IMG_10100.JPG so I have to be a lot faster. What I did was the following.

  • Select the file you want to start with
  • press F2 to highlight the file name
  • Rename quickly before windows refreshes
  • Press TAB to move to next file

The renaming process should take you just about few split seconds, and you might screw up every 15 or 20 files, but it is easy to recover it and fix.

Rafik T. Jabbour
  • 1
-3

If you use the mouse, you only highlight what you drag across. This sounds like a third party program. . .

surfasb
  • 22,896