Command Line Parameters — Magic File Renamer Help

This page documents launching the desktop UI with optional paths and flags. For the console program (mfrc) that renames with a saved preset, see Console Mode.

Desktop UI

Launch the graphical app with optional paths and flags. Paths on the command line add items to the Rename List so you can preview and press GO in the UI. The desktop app does not accept preset, dry-run, confirm, or commit options — those belong to mfrc.

Usage

mfr.exe [<SOURCES>…] [--file-list <PATH>] [--initial-folder <PATH>] [-l|--log-level <LEVEL>] [add options]

SOURCES are one or more files, directories, or wildcards (space-separated). Quote paths that contain spaces.

Startup intents

Argument / option	Description
`<SOURCES>…`	Files, folders, or wildcards that seed the Rename List (same role as console sources, without running a preset).
`--file-list <PATH>`	UTF-8 text file with one filesystem path per line (blank lines skipped; path text is not trimmed). Lines are appended after any positional SOURCES.
`--initial-folder <PATH>`	Open the File List at this directory. Does not add paths by itself (UI-only; the console has no File List). When both sources and this option are set, sources still seed the Rename List and this path sets the File List folder.
`-l`, `--log-level <LEVEL>`	Minimum log level for this process: debug, info, warn, or error (same names as console; default info). Applies to this launch only.

Argument / option

Description

<SOURCES>…

Files, folders, or wildcards that seed the Rename List (same role as console sources, without running a preset).

--file-list <PATH>

UTF-8 text file with one filesystem path per line (blank lines skipped; path text is not trimmed). Lines are appended after any positional SOURCES.

--initial-folder <PATH>

Open the File List at this directory. Does not add paths by itself (UI-only; the console has no File List). When both sources and this option are set, sources still seed the Rename List and this path sets the File List folder.

-l, --log-level <LEVEL>

Minimum log level for this process: debug, info, warn, or error (same names as console; default info). Applies to this launch only.

After a successful add, if --initial-folder was not set, the File List opens the folder that contains the first added item and selects that item.

Add modifiers

These options use the same names as the console. They apply only when seeding from SOURCES or --file-list. When omitted, the desktop UI uses the matching Options preferences (Add files, Add folders, Add folder contents, Include hidden/system files).

Option	Description
`--files <yes\|no>`	Include files from sources (when omitted: Options — Add files).
`--folders <yes\|no>`	Include folders from sources (when omitted: Options — Add folders).
`-r`, `--recursive`	Expand directory sources recursively (when omitted: Options — Add folder contents).
`--include-hidden`	Include hidden and system items when expanding sources (when omitted: Options — Include hidden/system files).

Option

Description

--files <yes|no>

Include files from sources (when omitted: Options — Add files).

--folders <yes|no>

Include folders from sources (when omitted: Options — Add folders).

-r, --recursive

Expand directory sources recursively (when omitted: Options — Add folder contents).

--include-hidden

Include hidden and system items when expanding sources (when omitted: Options — Include hidden/system files).

Examples

mfr.exe D:\music\*.mp3 mfr.exe D:\photos --files yes --folders no -r mfr.exe --initial-folder D:\photos mfr.exe D:\batch\a.jpg D:\batch\b.jpg --initial-folder D:\batch mfr.exe --file-list D:\temp\paths.txt mfr.exe --log-level debug