How to batch rename layers in After Effects
After Effects can't rename several layers at once: you select a layer, press Enter (Return on a Mac), type the name and repeat. Batch renaming needs a script or a panel. In the mouzeclick workspace on Windows, the Rename tab renames layers, comps and project items from a pattern, with find and replace, seven name tokens, numbering and case, and shows a preview first.
- Native renaming is one item at a time: select it, press Enter, type.
- Rename tab tokens: {name}, {source}, {type}, {label}, {n}, {index} and {comp}.
- Scope: the selected layers, every layer in this comp, or every comp in the project.
- Label colors by type colour-labels layers by type and selects them by label colour. Windows only, like the rest of the workspace.
Can After Effects rename multiple layers at once?
No. After Effects renames one layer at a time: select it in the timeline, press Enter on the main keyboard (Return on a Mac), type, and press Enter again. Comps and footage rename the same way in the Project panel.
Before you rename anything, know how After Effects names things:
- Layer name and source name are different things. Click the Layer Name column heading and it switches to Source Name. A layer you've never renamed shows its source's name in square brackets.
- Renaming a comp shows up in its precomp layers. Layers that still use the source name follow the new comp name; layers you renamed keep theirs.
- Output file names come from comp names. By default the Render Queue names the file after the comp, so tidy comp names mean tidy deliverables.
For ten layers, the Enter key is fine. For 80 layers across 12 comps, or a template where every layer needs a prefix, you want a pattern.
How do I batch rename layers in After Effects with mouzeclick?
Use the Rename tab in the Timeline section of the mouzeclick workspace for After Effects. It renames layers, comps and project items from a pattern, with find and replace, case and numbering, and shows a preview before anything changes.
- Install mouzeclick on Windows; it adds the workspace to After Effects.
- Open Window › Extensions › mouzeclick workspace, go to Timeline and pick the Rename sub-tab.
- Choose the scope: the selected layers, every layer in this comp, or every comp in the project.
- Type a pattern, a find-and-replace pair, or both. Set the numbering and the case.
- Read the preview, then rename.
Case options are Keep, UPPER, lower and Title Case. You can limit a run to any of 11 layer types (video, image, audio, solid, null, text, shape, adjustment, precomp, camera and light) or to one of 17 label colours. Find and replace also takes regular expressions, and there are switches to strip file extensions and trim spaces from imported footage names.
The workspaces are Windows only; the Mac app does not include them. Since 0.58.40 they come with every mouzeclick licence on Windows, at no extra cost.
What can I put in a layer rename pattern?
Plain text plus seven tokens, each filled in per layer when you rename:
| Token | What it puts in the name |
|---|---|
| {name} | The layer's current name |
| {source} | The name of its source: the footage, solid or precomp |
| {type} | Its layer type, such as text or shape |
| {label} | Its label colour |
| {n} | A running number |
| {index} | Its layer number in the timeline |
| {comp} | The name of the comp it's in |
Four patterns that earn their place:
- {comp} {name} before a handoff, so every layer says where it lives when someone searches the project.
- {type} {n} on a messy template, to see at a glance which layers are text and which are shapes.
- Find "Shape Layer", replace with "BG" on the layers After Effects named for you.
- {source} to put footage layers back to their file names after someone renamed them by hand.
A pattern run on every comp in the project touches a lot of names at once, so read the preview before you press Rename.
How do I colour-label layers by type in After Effects?
Set defaults for new layers in the preferences, then fix existing layers by hand or with a tool. On Windows, Edit › Preferences › Labels has a Label Defaults list that gives each kind of item its own colour. Layers you already have keep the colour they were given.
To change existing layers, select them and click one of their label swatches in the timeline, or use Edit › Label. To select every layer of one colour, click a label swatch and choose Select Label Group. Paired with solo, that's a quick way to check every text layer in a busy comp.
Label colors by type, in the workspace's Timeline section, colour-labels layers by type in one pass and selects layers by their label colour. It works with all 17 label colours, including none.
What should I check before batch renaming layers in After Effects?
Anything that finds layers or comps by name. Three checks:
- Expressions. thisComp.layer("Title") stops working when there's no layer called Title any more. Check every expression that names a layer or comp after a bulk rename, and watch for names built from text in code, such as "Card " + index, which no rename tool can follow.
- Templates and scripts. A client's template, or a script you run on the project, may expect exact layer names. Rename a copy first.
- A way back. File › Increment and Save before a project-wide rename keeps the old version one file back, whatever happens next.
Renaming is usually the last step of a cleanup, not the first. If the comp is nested too deep to read, unprecompose it first; if you've split a title into letters with Text exploder, rename the new layers with {name} and a number so the order is obvious. For expressions you rely on, the expressions library guide covers the 25 recommended ones in the workspace.
Can I batch rename layers on a Mac?
Not with the Rename tab: it's in the mouzeclick workspace, which is Windows only, and the Mac app does not include it. On a Mac, mouzekit covers numbering. It's one of the mouzeclick extensions for After Effects, runs on Windows and Mac, and has 28 tools in seven groups, one undo step each, including Rename with numbering.
On Windows, the workspace's command console has a shortcut for the same job: press Ctrl+K and run the rename command.
See what mouzeclick does on a Mac, and for the rest of the After Effects panel, the all-in-one After Effects extension guide.
Rename a whole project from one pattern, on Windows. One plan with everything included, $25 a month, or $249 for a year.
Questions people ask
How do I rename a layer in After Effects?
Select the layer in the timeline, press Enter on the main keyboard (Return on a Mac), type the new name and press Enter again. Comps, footage and folders rename the same way in the Project panel. It works on one item at a time; renaming many at once needs a script or a panel such as the mouzeclick Rename tab.
How do I number layers in After Effects?
After Effects has no numbering command. In the mouzeclick workspace on Windows, add {n} to a pattern in the Rename tab, or run the rename command from the command console (Ctrl+K). On Windows and Mac, mouzekit's Rename with numbering does it in one step.
Can I find and replace text in layer names?
Not with After Effects' own commands. The Rename tab in the mouzeclick workspace has find and replace, and you can combine it with tokens, numbering and a case change in the same pass. The preview shows every new name before anything changes, which is the part you'll want on a project-wide run.
Why are some layer names in square brackets?
Square brackets mean the layer has never been renamed and is showing its source's name: the file, solid or comp it comes from. Rename the layer and the brackets go. Click the Layer Name column heading to switch to Source Name if you want to see what each layer really points at.
Can I rename comps and footage in bulk too?
Yes, in the mouzeclick workspace on Windows. The Rename tab renames layers, comps and project items, and its widest scope covers every comp in the project. Use {comp} and {source} to build names from what's already there, and read the preview before you apply a project-wide change.
How do I select all layers with the same label colour?
Click the label swatch of one layer in the timeline and choose Select Label Group; every layer with that colour in the comp is selected. Label colors by type in the mouzeclick workspace on Windows also selects layers by label colour, and can colour-label them by type first.
Does renaming layers break expressions?
It can. An expression that calls a layer by name, such as thisComp.layer("Logo"), breaks if no layer has that name any more. Check expressions after a bulk rename, test on a copy of the project, and use File › Increment and Save first so the old version is one file away.
Does the Rename tab cost extra?
No. It's part of the mouzeclick workspace for After Effects, which comes with every mouzeclick licence on Windows. There's one plan with everything included: $25 a month, $249 a year, or $499 once for a lifetime key, which works for as long as mouzeclick runs. Try it free for 3 days with no card. Details are in the pricing section.