如何重命名 Windows CMD 中的文件（命令提示符）

Question

Renaming files in Windows explorer is easy but when you need to rename many files it can become quite tedious. A command prompt (terminal) makes it easier.

Answer 1

Renaming 1 file in cmd is very easy:
In this example we have a sample1.txt and we want to change its name to sample2.txt :

    in command prompt type:
    c:\temp> ren sample1.txt sample2.txt [enter]

Let's say the filename is sample1-some-unwanted-text-1234.txt and we want to change it to sample1.txt :

    in command prompt, type:
    c:\temp> ren sample1-some-unwanted-text-1234.txt sample1.txt

Renaming 1 file by replacing multiple unwanted characters using a star :
Let's say the filename is sample1-some-unwanted-text-1234.txt and we want to change it to sample1.txt without having to type the whole filename:

    in command prompt:
    c:\temp> ren sample1*.txt sample1.txt

This * basically means any characters inbetween sample1 and .txt will be replaced.

Renaming multiple files with similar names
If you want to rename multiple files, ie sample1 2020-08-01.txt , sample2 2020-08-05.txt , sample3 2020-08-10.txt , sample4 2020-08-13.txt , you want to keep the first 7 characters you want to get rid of the dates:

    in command prompt:
    c:\temp> ren sample?*.txt sample?.txt

In this example, you want to keep the word sample and the number X (where X can be any number or character). Using a? will leave the number in place and * instructs the rename-command to replace any characters in between sampleX and .txt

Warning: It happens very quickly that a command prompt rename operation renames too many files and you can't undo it. So, when renaming multiple files it is advisable to make a copy of all the files you want to rename, put them in a temp folder, then run your rename commands in the temp folder, and when you're certain that it works, go back and rename the original files.

Answer 2

in order to rename any folder you need to cd to your folder directory and then just type one of thes: ex,

• Desktop>ren "My file" "Your file"
• Desktop> rename "hello.txt" "goodbye.txt"
• Desktop> ren "why.txt" "because.docx" and click the Enter button