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If you have just started working with Linux, you might land up with the question, how to rename a file in Linux? This guide has examples using terminal / command-line and GUI tools.
There are just two ways to rename files and directories in Linux. One being the terminal way using mv
command, whereas other method includes using a GUI tool.
There is no dedicated command in Linux for renaming files and folders.
The problem with mv
command is that you cannot use it to rename multiple files or folders in one shot. You might have to do it individually for each file and folder. Which is obviously not a great idea.
Fortunately, the Linux community is so great they have some or the other terminal commands ready to tackle a problem. So if you want to rename all those pictures from last yearâs Christmas, we have got you back.
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Letâs see quickly how can we achieve a solution to the problem.
The very basic and easiest way to rename a file in Linux is to use mv
command without any additional flags or complexity.
Even though the primary purpose of the command is to move files and folders, it serves the purpose of renaming also very well. This is because OS interprets the operation of renaming as moving files from one folder to another.
Syntax to rename files :
mv source_file_name dest_file_name
Example :
mv myfile.txt myRenamedFile.txt
Syntax to rename directories :
mv source_dir_name dest_dir_name
Example :
mv myfolder myRenamedFolder
There are some options which can be very useful while using mv
command. Few of them are :
-v
flag: It prints verbose output, as in log of all operation that are performed during mv
command execution.Syntax :
mv -v myfile.txt myRenamedFile.txt
Output :
âmyfile.txtâ -> âmyRenamedFile.txtâ
-i
flag: This will prompt you before overwriting any existing file if it exists. This helps prevent data corruption for the already existing files.Syntax :
mv -i myfile.txt myRenamedFile.txt
Output :
mv: overwrite âmyRenamedFile.txtâ? y
To see other options available with mv
com4Â mand, you can use the below command and it should help.
mv --help
or man mv
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There are ânâ numbers of tools out there for achieving the purpose of renaming files in Linux. Today we will be talking about one such tool.
Métamorphose is a file and folder renamer tool that is widely supported across many platforms.
There many people who still prefer GUI tools even on Linux or Mac OS to do most of their operations. Tool is specifically targeted for them. Métamorphose is quite a powerful tool that can be used.
Head to its website and download the installer package based on your Linux distro. You get an option to download a .deb
package for Debian based distros whereas .rpm
package for Fedora, Mandriva, and SUSE.
After downloading just run the app package and then follow the steps provided below.
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I hope this would have helped you rename files and folders. Let us know if there are some other ways to achieve the same.