Change name of photos on iPad

I did a quick test:

From iPadOS 26.2 Photos take a fresh new image and then Export Unmodified Original to iCloud Drive (or to a SSD).

Either in Preview.app or in Files.app Rename the image and press the "v" in iPad keyboard to confirm that.

It seems Preview does not have "Save Image" which saves to Photos (only Copy etc) so I used Files.app view for that. BTW I have set Files.app to open images in its "Quick Look" instead Preview so I can scroll many images like in earlier iPadOS and macOS.

I did not delete the existing duplicate of the image but the renamed image(s) did appear in Photos.

BUT iPad Photos renames such copied or imported images with the next filename the camera roll uses so the old image was IMG_0945 and the images I had renamed were forced as IMG_0946 and IMG_0947. So that is a futile attempt.

And why do you want to rename Photos images in the first place?

jla930 wrote: "...Am I missing something?"

jla ~ Yes, you're missing Apple's very useful Shortcuts app! ...There's no need for the Files app – as Shortcuts can rename your photos directly in the Photos app.

I created and use the custom shortcut linked below on my iPhone with iOS 18, but it should also work on iPad with iPadOS 26:

Rename Photo or Video

..."When the recipient taps the link, a description of the shortcut is displayed. When the recipient taps Get Shortcut, the shortcut is added to their shortcuts collection."

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If you’re renaming files that happen to be photos, use the Files app.

If you’re renaming photos already loaded into the Photos library and synced from iCloud, extract the photo, delete it from your library, rename the extracted photo, and reload it.

But to repeat Matti's question? Why do you want to rename the photos in Photos? It may be easier to achieve this purpose without renaming the photos. For example, if you want to share photos with a more useful filename, share them from the Files.app after renaming them.

Or, if you are trying to rename the photos to save additional information with the photos in Photos, add the additional information to the caption.

Yes, when I use the search in iOS26 and search for some text, that I have added to a caption, the search will find these photos. But I am not sharing photos to websites, so I cannot tell you, if the captions will be useful when trying to find photos for uploading.

Set the comment and title in the Exif via the ℹ️ control.

You’ll want to send feedback to the website if they’re using the filename for much of anything, and if they don’t use the Exif and provide some means to add a comment or title.

Your upload will (should) strip much of (all of) the sensitive Exif data, too.

Any website needs to be cautious about even accepting files with certain filenames, too. Accepting what the user provided is risky.

jla930 wrote: "...1) When the Quick Look comes up, the photo name is still showing IMG_XXXX. Is that to be expected?..."

No, not if you typed in the new name to replace the original – as in the second screenshot here:

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I wonder if there's a difference in the shortcut 'actions' between iOS 18 & 26 such that yours need 'tweaking'.

...Is the same section of the shortcut shown below identical to yours, or is there some red warning text? (Note: I've expanded some actions to show their details by tapping the " > in a circle" symbol.)

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