How can I bulk change file names from underscores to hyphens?

Topic summary

A webshop owner wants to bulk rename files by replacing underscores with hyphens for SEO purposes.

Proposed approach:

  • Export filenames to a CSV/spreadsheet
  • Perform find-and-replace operations (underscores → hyphens)
  • Re-import the modified filenames

Key constraint:

  • The user is satisfied with current filenames and wants to avoid using dedicated file renaming applications
  • Seeks a simple spreadsheet-based solution for bulk editing

The discussion appears to be seeking validation of this method or alternative suggestions for efficiently handling the filename conversion task.

Summarized with AI on November 15. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.

When I started the webshop I made the mistake of using underscores in my file names. I want to fix that by changing the underscores to a hyphen. I was hoping that I could export the filenames to a CSV, make the changes in a spreadsheet and import again. I am happy with my filenames, so I don’t want to use an app that composes filenames. Basically I want to do a good old “search and replace”.