Personalization Change Default New Folder Name in Windows 11


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Folder_banner.png

This tutorial will show you how to change the default New folder name template to create new folders with a custom name by default for your account in Windows 10 and Windows 11.

A folder is a location where you can store your files. You can create any number of folders and even store folders inside other folders (subfolders).

When you create a new folder, it is named New folder by default.


If you get a Error 0x8000FFFF: Catastrophic failure when you create a new folder after changing the default "New folder" name template, then it means you used an invalid character (ex: " or * ) in the name, and will just need to change the name again without the invalid character.

Error_0x8000FFFF.png



Contents



EXAMPLE: New folder

New_Folder.png






OPTION ONE

Change New Folder Name


1 Open Registry Editor (regedit.exe).

2 Navigate to the key below in the left pane of Registry Editor. (see screenshot below)

If you do not have a NamingTemplates key, right click on the Explorer key, click/tap on New, click/tap on Key, type NamingTemplates for the name, and press Enter.


HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\NamingTemplates

New_Folder_name_regedit-1.png

3 In the right pane of the NamingTemplates key, double click/tap on the RenameNameTemplate string value (REG_SZ) to modify it. (see screenshot above)

If you do not have a RenameNameTemplate string value (REG_SZ) in the right pane of the NamingTemplates key, right click on empty space in the right pane of the NamingTemplates key, click/tap on New, click/tap on String Value, type RenameNameTemplate for the name, and press Enter.


4 Type a name (ex: Folder) you want used by default whenever you create a "New folder", and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)

New_Folder_name_regedit-2.png

5 You can now close Registry Editor if you like.





OPTION TWO

Restore Default New Folder Name


1 Open Registry Editor (regedit.exe).

2 Navigate to the key below in the left pane of Registry Editor. (see screenshot below step 3)

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\NamingTemplates

3 In the right pane of the NamingTemplates key, right click or press and hold on the RenameNameTemplate string value (REG_SZ), and click/tap on Delete. (see screenshot below)

New_Folder_name_regedit-3.png

4 Click/tap on Yes to confirm. (see screenshot below)

New_Folder_name_regedit-4.png

5 You can now close Registry Editor if you like.


That's it,
Shawn Brink


 

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Can someone create a .BAT file that store in NamingTemplates value of today date in format YYYY-MM-DD like 2021-11-28 ?

Then we can create a shorcut for this BAT file a put it into Windows Startup folder. And every time/day have a fresh new default folder name. :wink:Thanks.
 

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Can someone create a .BAT file that store in NamingTemplates value of today date in format YYYY-MM-DD like 2021-11-28 ?
Create the given bat file. Place it in the autorun or create a shortcut for autorun.
The format of the date output will depend on your short date settings. Change the format to your desired one. Attached is the file.
 

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  • Change Name New Folder Default Date.bat
    436 bytes · Views: 127

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
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    Hewlett-Packard HP Pavilion g7 1372sr
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Create the given bat file. Place it in the autorun or create a shortcut for autorun.
The format of the date output will depend on your short date settings. Change the format to your desired one. Attached is the file.
Sorry for the stupid question but what is the code for day, month or year? ( If there is any! )
I tried searching but they didn't work ( Maybe I made a mistake )

My time format is MM/DD/YYYY and it doesn't work properly ( you can't have / in folder's name)
I just want to use this: New Folder [MM.DD.YYYY] or maybe New Folder [MM-DD-YYYY]
Is this possible?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
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    Custom
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    Intel Core i9 9900K
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I just want to use this: New Folder [MM.DD.YYYY] or maybe New Folder [MM-DD-YYYY]
Is this possible?
Yes. You can. Choose a short date like in the screenshot, but without the "/". Change my bat file as in the second screenshot.
 

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  • Short Date.jpg
    Short Date.jpg
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  • Bat File.jpg
    Bat File.jpg
    27.5 KB · Views: 127

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Hewlett-Packard HP Pavilion g7 1372sr
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2450M CPU @ 2.50GHz
    Motherboard
    Hewlett-Packard 1672 09.4C
    Memory
    8 Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 3000, AMD Radeon HD 7400M Series
    Sound Card
    Устройство с поддержкой High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Универсальный монитор PnP
    Screen Resolution
    1600x900
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 870 EVO 500GB, KINGSTON SA400S37240G
Yes. You can. Choose a short date like in the screenshot, but without the "/". Change my bat file as in the second screenshot.
Is there a way to do it without changing the system format?
 

My Computer

System One

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    Intel Core i9 9900K
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    Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 32GB [ 4 x 8GB ] DDR4 3600MHz CL18
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    MSI GeForce GTX 1660Ti Ventus XS 6GB OC @ +120/+500
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    SSD: Samsung 980 Pro 250GB
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    Cooler Master MWE 550W White
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    Cooler Master MasterCase H500P Mesh ARGB
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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
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    PC/Desktop
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    Hewlett-Packard HP Pavilion g7 1372sr
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    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2450M CPU @ 2.50GHz
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    Hewlett-Packard 1672 09.4C
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    Intel(R) HD Graphics 3000, AMD Radeon HD 7400M Series
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    Samsung SSD 870 EVO 500GB, KINGSTON SA400S37240G
I believe this is the complaint perhaps? The registry key cannot contain a dynamic value like date

1643665205894.png


Echoing the %date% on a US English system returns slashes that are invalid on a Windows system.

1643663842638.png



You could use a more advanced batch file to create a date and time if wanted. But you'd still need to call that batch file every time before you created a new folder. Using F2 and renaming the folder would be just as easy unless you were wanting to create folders based on date.

It may take a little getting used to but I'd recommend creating folders based on YYYY-MM-DD that way they properly sort by date on Windows, Linux, and Mac across many years.

The following batch file will create a new DATE, TIME, SS, MS if that's what you're looking for.

It provides output similar to the following

1643665490927.png


How the Registry looks once the batch has run

1643665821444.png



Code:
@Echo Off
Set /A "Jan=1,Feb=2,Mar=3,Apr=4,May=5,Jun=6,Jul=7,Aug=8,Sep=9,Oct=10,Nov=11,Dec=12"
Set /A "Mon=1,Tue=2,Wed=3,Thu=4,Fri=5,Sat=6,Sun=7"
Type Nul >"%TEMP%\~.ddf"
Makecab /D RptFileName="%TEMP%\~.rpt" /D InfFileName=Nul /F "%TEMP%\~.ddf" >Nul
Set /P "timestamp=" <"%TEMP%\~.rpt"
For /F "tokens=3-9 delims=: " %%a In ("%timestamp%") Do (
Set /A "year=%%g,month=%%b,day=1%%c-100,weekday=%%a"
Set /A "hour=1%%d-100,minute=1%%e-100,second=1%%f-100"
)
Del /Q "%TEMP%\~.*"
Set newdir=%year%-%month%-%day%

@ECHO off
SETLOCAL ENABLEEXTENSIONS
for /f "tokens=1-4 delims=:,.-/ " %%i in ('echo %time%') do (
set 'hh'=%%i
set 'mm'=%%j
set 'ss'=%%k
set 'ff'=%%l)
ENDLOCAL & SET v_Hour=%'hh'%& SET v_Minute=%'mm'%& SET v_Second=%'ss'%& SET v_Fraction=%'ff'%
set timestring=%V_Hour%%V_Minute%%v_Second%.%v_Fraction%
Set newdir=%newdir%_%timestring%

:: remove the double colons to enable the line below to modify the registry

:: reg add "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\NamingTemplates" /v RenameNameTemplate /t REG_SZ /d "%newdir%" /f >nul

:: add double colon to stop the pause or remove the pause command in production

pause
:EOF
 

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