PowerShell Rename-Item

Introduction to PowerShell Rename-Item

Rename-Item cmdlet in PowerShell is used to rename items like files, folders, registry, certificates, etc. This cmdlet just renames items but not their actual content or cannot move items to a different location.

Syntax:

Rename-Item
[-Path] <String>
[-LiteralPath] <String>
[-NewName] <String>
[-Force] [-PassThru] [-Credential <PSCredential>] [-WhatIf] [-Confirm] [-UseTranscation] [<CommonParameters>]

Parameters in PowerShell Rename-Item

Following are the parameters for the PowerShell Rename-Item:

• Path: Source path of the Item. This path should be in a string format and must be identical. You can specify wildcard character (*) but path should resolve only one item instead of multiple items.
• NewName: Destination file name. By default, it will take the same source path, when you explicitly specify different paths it will generate an error. You cannot use a wildcard (*) character in a new name. It is possible to rename multiple files and extensions.
• Force: Renames item name that cannot be changed. Files or folders which are read-only or hidden, this parameter allows them to rename forcefully. This parameter cannot change constant alias or the variable.
• PassThru: By default, Rename-Object doesn’t generate any output. This parameter allows the output to display in the console.
• Credential: If your destination item is in a different domain or work-group, you can use this parameter to connect the destination path with different credentials.
• Whatif: This parameter is used to notify what operation going to perform if this command runs, without actually running the command.
• LiteralPath: This parameter also specifies the path of an item to rename. No characters are interpreted as wildcard characters. If the path includes the special character then they need to be enclosed in a single quotation so PowerShell will not interpret any character as escape sequences.
• Confirm: This parameter prompts the user before performing the rename operation on the item.
• UseTranscation: This parameter includes the command in the active transaction. This parameter is valid only when the transaction is in progress.
• <CommonParameters>: The below parameters are supported by common parameters. ErrorAction, ErrorVariable, WarningAction, WarningVariablem OutBuffer, PipelineVariable, and OutVariable.

Examples to Implement PowerShell Rename-Item

Below is the example to implement in PowerShell Rename-Item:

Example #1 –  Rename-Item

Code:

Rename-Item D:\Temp\Putty.log -NewName Putty1.log

In the above example, when you don’t provide the destination path for the file to rename, it will by default take the same source path. You can also rename items without specifying –Newname parameter. To do so, just provide the space between the old name and new name. For example,

Rename-Item D:\Temp\Putty.log Putty1.log

You can also rename the folder as shown below.

Rename-Item D:\Temp -NewName Temp1

Example #2 – Rename-Item with Passthru parameter

To check the output of the command in the console, use -Passthru parameter.

Code:

Rename-Item D:\Temp\Putty.log -NewName Putty1.log -PassThru

Output:

If you provide the different destination path then it will generate an error because this cmdlet can’t perform the move operation.

Rename-Item D:\Temp\putty.log -NewName D:\putty1.log -PassThru

Output:

Example #3 – Rename-ChildItem with Whatif Parameter

When you use the whatif parameter, it will show you the action command is going to perform, without actually running the command.

Rename-Item D:\Temp\cars.xml -NewName cars1.xml -PassThru -WhatIf

Output:

Example #4 – Rename-ChildItem with Confirm parameter

This parameter will ask for user confirmation before renaming the item.

Code:

Rename-Item D:\Temp\cars.xml -NewName cars1.xml –Confirm

Output:

You can also provide the value $true or $false to confirm the parameter. When $true value is provided it will prompt for user confirmation. When you $false value is provided, it will not prompt for the user confirmation and directly rename the item and this is the default option in –confirm parameter.

Rename-Item D:\Temp\cars.xml -NewName cars1.xml -Confirm:$true

Rename-Item D:\Temp\cars.xml -NewName cars1.xml -Confirm:$false

Example #5 – Rename registry value

Like file rename, you can also rename registry values.

Code:

Rename-Item HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\test -NewName Test2

Rename-Item HKLM:\SECURITY\Policy\Data -NewName Data1

Example #6 – Rename multiple files extension with Rename-Item

To rename multiple files extension, you can use the below command to replace them.

Code:

PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> Get-ChildItem D:\Temp\* -Include *.html | Rename-Item -NewName {$_.Name -replace '.html','.htm'} -PassThru

To rename multiple files or folders you need to use the loop.

Output:

Conclusion

Rename-Item is a good tool to rename single or multiple files, extensions, folders, registry, etc. But it cannot move or copy the files. For them, there are different cmdlets available.

Recommended Articles

This is a guide to PowerShell Rename-Item. Here we discuss the basic introduction, parameter, examples to implement with appropriate codes and outputs. You can also go through our other related articles to learn more –

1. Set Variable in PowerShell
2. Variable in PowerShell
3. Hashtable in PowerShell
4. Examples to Implement PowerShell New-Item