Change the Finder's default name for duplicated files

Sep 04, '07 07:30:00AM

Contributed by: ClarkGoble

I hate the name that the Finder gives duplicate files, as it adds copy at the end of the name but before the extension. This makes renaming files a bit more of a pain. Rather than creating a name like my file copy.ext, I'd like it to be copy of my file.ext, so I can easily select the beginning and have copied files all sorted together.

The way to fix this is easy. Go to /System » Library » CoreServices » Finder.app, control-click on Finder.app, and select Show Package Contents from the pop-up menu. This will open up a new window with all the files inside the Finder. Be aware that you can mess up the Finder up by modifying these files.

Go to Contents » Resources » English.lproj » Localizable.strings, and edit it in your favorite editor (I used Smultron). Search for N4, and you'll find a line that looks like this:

"N4" = "^0 copy";
I changed mine to:
"N4" = "copy of ^0";
Save the file, restart the Finder (using Activity Monitor or Terminal), and you should find duplicated files are now named according to your preferred string.

[robg adds: As long as you're editing that file, you might want to change the default new folder name as well.]

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