Rename directory from command line

https://www.windows-commandline.com/rename-directory-from-command-line/

Rename directory from command line

by SRINI

In Renaming files from command line we saw how to rename files using Rename command. We can use Rename command to rename directories too. See the syntax below.

Rename  dir_oldname  dir_newname

Example:

G:\data>mkdir dir1
G:\data>dir /b
dir1
G:\data>rename dir1 dir2
G:\data>dir /b
dir2
G:\data>

Note that, with rename command, we can’t move the files to another drive or directory. This command just renames the existing file/folder and does not create a new file. That is why it does not accept full path for the target file name. If you try to do that you will get the error – “The syntax of the command is incorrect.”

Example:

C:\docs>ren 1.txt c:\docs\2.txt
The syntax of the command is incorrect.

The below rename command works fine.

C:\docs>ren c:\docs\1.txt 2.txt
C:\docs>dir /b
2.txt

We can also use ren (the short form of rename) for rename operations. Both Ren and Rename refer to the same command.

This command can be used to rename files or directories on all Windows OS editions i.e Windows 2000, XP, Vista and Windows 7.

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Delete directory from Windows command line16 comments… add one

  • Thai

    Can we use wildcats when renaming directoriesREPLY LINK

  • Sumeeth Tewar

    rename *.txt *.doc will definetely work :) it does accept wild cards.REPLY LINK

  • Techblogger

    Thanks for correcting me Sumith. Removed my earlier comment.REPLY LINK

  • Anonymous

    how do you deal with spaces in the directory you need to rename?REPLY LINK

  • Techblogger

    Specify the directory name in quotes. See below examples

    ren "directory with spaces" newdir

    ren "directory with spaces" "another directory with spaces"REPLY LINK

  • Anonymous

    In Win 7 you cannot rename directories! It just returns “Access denied”REPLY LINK

  • Anonymous

    Please ignore my previous comment. rename works fine.REPLY LINK

  • Guillaume Drolet

    What causes Access denied exactly? I somehow got it to work. I used rename then I tried again move and move was working after that. I have no idea what I was doing wrong because I tried everything I did at first with move and it didn’t give me access denied again.

    Of course I did start the command prompt with administrator rights (well at first I didn’t but I restarted it with admin rights and it was still giving me the same error)REPLY LINK

  • Prasad Shetty

    thanksREPLY LINK

  • Nathan

    Thanks this helped a lot, we have a network and I “think” the back up here sometimes locks files even though nobody has them open.

    @Guillaume Drolet I got “Access denied” when the folder was highlighted in Explorer. Not sure if that’s what caused it.REPLY LINK

  • Owen

    Wildcards in W7 do NOT work.

    For example: ren *.RDX *.REP from within the relevant folder (not root) gets ‘syntax error’.

    Also tried: ren ??????.RDX ??????.REP with same result….REPLY LINK

  • Doug

    You must use cmd in administrator mode. Right click on cmd and select run as administrator

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