Batch Rename a NAS Media Library over SMB or WebDAV

Why a NAS library needs renaming

Players match metadata by filename. Emby, Plex, Jellyfin and Infuse all read the title and the SxxExx marker out of the filename, so a release-group filename — resolution, codec, audio, tracker tag all mashed together — either fails to scrape or matches the wrong entry.

Doing it by hand is not realistic. One season is dozens of episodes, and with subtitles it becomes hundreds of files. This is exactly the work a batch renamer should be doing.

Step 1: pick the right share protocol

• Synology DSM: Control Panel → File Services → enable SMB, or install the WebDAV Server package
• QNAP QTS: Control Panel → Network & File Services → Win/Mac/NFS, or enable WebDAV
• TrueNAS / Unraid / OpenMediaVault: SMB shares are available out of the box, WebDAV can be enabled
• Aliyun Drive / 115: no self-hosted service needed — sign in with the official open platform OAuth login in VRenamer

SMB usually runs on port 445. If your iPhone is not on the same LAN, set up a VPN or a tunnel first — otherwise you simply cannot connect.

Step 2: add the file source in VRenamer

Open the file source screen in VRenamer and add an SMB or WebDAV source with its address, port and credentials. SMB / WebDAV services on the LAN can also be auto-discovered, so you need not type the address. VRenamer lets you browse and pick paths interactively. For Aliyun Drive and 115, add the source and sign in through the official OAuth flow instead — no address required.

                      smb://192.168.1.10/media/TV Shows
smb://nas.local/media/Movies
                    

Step 3: normalize the show folders first

This one step noticeably improves AI matching accuracy and is worth doing on its own. Put the year in the show folder name and use two-digit season folders — matching against TMDB becomes far more stable.

                      TV Shows/
├── Severance (2022)/
│   ├── Season 01/
│   │   ├── Severance.S01E01.mkv
│   │   └── Severance.S01E02.mkv
│   └── Season 02/
└── The Bear (2022)/
    └── Season 01/
                    

The full naming rules are covered in the help center article on episode naming accuracy. Here you only need title plus year.

Step 4: scan, review, rename

• Open file scanning, select the media folder and let VRenamer list the candidates
• Results are grouped by directory with video and subtitle files shown separately — confirm nothing irrelevant got picked up
• Review each AI match and fix the wrong ones with manual matching
• Run the batch rename; subtitle files are renamed together with their video

Renaming modifies files in place. For a first run, try one season folder and confirm the output format before renaming the whole library.

After the rename

• Trigger a library scan: Emby / Plex / Jellyfin re-scrape after filenames change and fill in artwork
• Infuse refreshes automatically; pull down on the library page to force it
• Lock in your naming format so later additions follow the same rules

The naming format switches worth knowing

VRenamer's output naming is not hard-coded. Format settings let you tune it to your player, once and for good.

• Year format: `2024` or `(2024)` — the parenthesized form is closer to the Emby / Plex convention
• Default and fallback language: choose the scraped language, plus what to use when it is missing
• Use both simultaneously: put the default and fallback languages in one filename, e.g. Localized.English.Name.S01E01
• Keep extra information: retain resolution, codec and similar tags in the filename (off by default for cleaner names)
• TMDB ID tag: write the TMDB ID into the name (e.g. `{tmdb-603}`) so Infuse / Emby / Plex match exactly
• TMDB ID only: append just the TMDB ID to the original name and change nothing else

A TMDB ID in the filename greatly reduces mismatches between same-title works, at the cost of a longer name — decide by taste.

Finding newly added files automatically (experimental)

Media libraries keep growing, and digging through folders after every download is tedious. VRenamer's File Scanning stores a baseline snapshot of a directory and later diffs out what appeared, listing it for renaming.

• Turn on File Scanning under Settings → Experimental Features
• Pick the file sources to watch in the scanning settings (SMB / WebDAV only for now)
• The app then surfaces newly added files from the baseline snapshot, without re-walking the whole library

File Scanning is experimental and limited to SMB / WebDAV file sources; Aliyun Drive and 115 are not covered yet.