How to Rename Files and Folders Using PowerShell

1. Filtering Files and Folders in PowerShell
2. Renaming Files in PowerShell

Renaming files and folders is most likely one of the basic functionalities of the Windows operating system. We can rename files and folders through the GUI by right-clicking on a file and selecting "Rename".

If we need multiple files to be renamed, it is more efficient to tackle it through automation. This article will discuss filtering files and folders and how to rename the file names and change the file extension using Windows PowerShell.

Filtering Files and Folders in PowerShell

The Windows PowerShell Get-ChildItem command gets the operating system items in a specified directory or location. In addition, the location specified in the cmdlet can be a registry, file system, or certificate store.

We will focus our examples more on files and folders for this article.

Syntax:

Get-ChildItem -Path C:\PS\Temp

In the above command, the Get-ChildItem cmdlet gets all items from the supplied value of the -Path parameter. The Get-ChildItem cmdlet when executed, display files, directories with their Mode, LastWriteTime, Length (file size), and Name properties on the PowerShell console.

Output:

Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
d----l        18/01/2022   8:52 pm                Microsoft
d----l        20/12/2021   3:36 pm                Cisco
-a---l        30/12/2021   3:24 pm          (151) backup_phrase.txt
-a---l        17/06/2021   3:23 am       (410049) CEF17501168.pdf
-a---l        16/05/2021   3:32 am          (677) default.txt
-a---l        21/08/2020   9:06 am         (2240) test.csv
-a---l        26/06/2021   8:25 am        (63399) banner.jpg
-a---l        09/03/2021  10:48 pm          (143) inventory.xlsx
<SNIP>

Using the -Filter parameter, we can narrow our search results with just a single expression. We can also use the alias gci as a substitute for the Get-ChildItem command for a more seamless writing experience.

Example Code:

gci -Filter C:\PS\Temp\* -Filter *.xlsx

Output:

Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
-a---l        09/03/2021  10:48 pm          (143) inventory.xlsx
<SNIP>

We can use the -Include parameters, which accept multiple conditions. Therefore, we can say the -Include parameter is better than the -Filter parameter.

However, the -Include parameter requires the -Path parameter to be present in the expression.

Example Code:

gci -Path C:\PS\Temp\* -File -Include CEF*.pdf, *.xlsx, *.txt

Output:

Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
-a---l        17/06/2021   3:23 am       (410049) CEF17501168.pdf
-a---l        16/05/2021   3:32 am          (677) default.txt
-a---l        09/03/2021  10:48 pm          (143) inventory.xlsx
<SNIP>

The path should include a wildcard asterisk (*) at the end when using the’- Include’ switch parameter. This wildcard denotes that we are querying for all the child path items with the specific extension defined in the -Include parameter.

Renaming Files in PowerShell

The Windows PowerShell rename command, Rename-Item, works to rename the filenames of operating system items such as files and folders. For example, we will change the TestFile.txt name to RenamedFile.txt.

Example Code:

Rename-Item -Path '.\TestFile.txt' -NewName 'RenamedFile.txt'
gci -Filter 'RenamedFile.txt'

Now, if we will initiate a gci command to filter a specific item, it should give us verification that the file has been renamed.

Output:

Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
-a----        12/10/2021  11:38 PM           2982 RenamedFile.txt

The Rename-Item cmdlet doesn’t only rename the filename of a specific file but can also change the format of files. For example, the snippet of code below uses the combination of Get-ChildItem and Rename-Item commands by filtering all files with .txt format and changing their file format to .csv.

Example Code:

gci *.txt | Rename-Item -NewName { $_.Name -replace '.txt', '.csv' }
gci -Filter *.csv

Output:

Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
-a----        12/10/2021  11:38 PM           2982 RenamedFile.csv