How to Bulk Rename Files In Powershell?

To bulk rename files in PowerShell, you can use the Rename-Item cmdlet.

1. First, navigate to the directory containing the files you want to rename using the Set-Location cmdlet.
2. You can use various parameters with the Rename-Item cmdlet to rename files based on specific criteria. For example, you can use the -NewName parameter to specify the new name for the files and use wildcards to rename multiple files at once.
3. Additionally, you can use the Get-ChildItem cmdlet to filter the files you want to rename based on certain criteria, such as file extension or name pattern.
4. Once you have chosen the files you want to rename and determined the new names, you can use the Rename-Item cmdlet to bulk rename the files in PowerShell.

Best PowerShell Books to Read in November 2024

1

Rating is 5 out of 5

Learn PowerShell in a Month of Lunches, Fourth Edition: Covers Windows, Linux, and macOS

Read Book Now

2

Rating is 4.9 out of 5

PowerShell Cookbook: Your Complete Guide to Scripting the Ubiquitous Object-Based Shell

Read Book Now

3

Rating is 4.8 out of 5

Scripting: Automation with Bash, PowerShell, and Python

Read Book Now

4

Rating is 4.7 out of 5

Learn PowerShell Scripting in a Month of Lunches

Read Book Now

5

Rating is 4.6 out of 5

Mastering PowerShell Scripting - Fourth Edition: Automate and manage your environment using PowerShell 7.1

Read Book Now

6

Rating is 4.5 out of 5

Practical Automation with PowerShell: Effective scripting from the console to the cloud

Read Book Now

7

Rating is 4.4 out of 5

Mastering PowerShell Scripting - Fifth Edition: Automate repetitive tasks and simplify complex administrative tasks using PowerShell

Read Book Now

8

Rating is 4.3 out of 5

PowerShell for Sysadmins: Workflow Automation Made Easy

• Book - powershell for sysadmins: workflow automation made easy

Read Book Now

9

Rating is 4.2 out of 5

PowerShell Pocket Reference: Portable Help for PowerShell Scripters

Read Book Now

How to bulk rename files in PowerShell based on file type?

To bulk rename files in PowerShell based on file type, you can use the following script:

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17

# Specify the directory path where the files are located
$directory = "C:\path\to\directory"

# Get all the files in the specified directory
$files = Get-ChildItem -Path $directory

foreach ($file in $files) {
    # Check if the file is of a specific file type, e.g., .txt
    if ($file.Extension -eq ".txt") {
        $newName = "newname" + $file.Extension
        $newPath = $file.DirectoryName + "\" + $newName
        
        # Rename the file
        Rename-Item -Path $file.FullName -NewName $newName
        Write-Host "File renamed: $($file.FullName) -> $($newPath)"
    }
}

Replace C:\path\to\directory with the actual path to the directory where the files are located. In this script, it renames all .txt files in the specified directory to newname.txt. You can modify the script to suit your specific requirements by changing the file type (e.g., .pdf, .doc, etc.) or the new file name format.

How to bulk rename files in PowerShell by matching specific patterns in the file name?

To bulk rename files in PowerShell by matching specific patterns in the file name, you can use the Get-ChildItem cmdlet to list the files, and then use the Rename-Item cmdlet to rename them based on the matching pattern. Here's an example PowerShell script to rename files that match a specific pattern in their file name:

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17

# Set the directory path where the files are located
$directoryPath = "C:\Path\To\Directory"

# Get a list of files in the directory
$files = Get-ChildItem -Path $directoryPath

# Define the pattern to match in the file names
$pattern = "oldpattern"

# Loop through each file and rename it if it matches the pattern
foreach ($file in $files) {
    if ($file.Name -match $pattern) {
        $newName = $file.Name -replace $pattern, "newpattern"
        Rename-Item -Path $file.FullName -NewName $newName
        Write-Output "Renamed $($file.Name) to $newName"
    }
}

In this script:

1. Replace $directoryPath with the path to the directory where the files are located.
2. Change $pattern to the specific pattern you want to match in the file names.
3. Modify "newpattern" in the Rename-Item cmdlet to the new pattern you want to replace the matched pattern with.

Run the script in PowerShell, and it will identify files in the specified directory with names that match the specified pattern and rename them accordingly.

How to bulk rename files in PowerShell based on file modification date?

You can use the following PowerShell script to bulk rename files based on their modification date:

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
11

# Set the directory path where the files are located
$directory = "C:\Path\To\Directory"

# Get all files in the specified directory
$files = Get-ChildItem $directory

# Loop through each file and rename it based on its modification date
foreach ($file in $files) {
    $newName = $file.LastWriteTime.ToString("yyyyMMdd") + "_" + $file.Name
    Rename-Item -Path $file.FullName -NewName $newName
}

This script will rename each file in the specified directory with a new name that includes the modification date of the file in the format YYYYMMDD, followed by an underscore and the original file name. You can modify the date format or naming convention as needed.

How to bulk rename files in PowerShell by creating a custom naming convention?

To bulk rename files in PowerShell using a custom naming convention, you can follow these steps:

1. Open PowerShell by searching for it in the Start menu and right-clicking on it to run as administrator.
2. Navigate to the directory where the files you want to rename are located using the cd command. For example, if your files are located in the "Documents" folder, you can use the following command:

1

cd C:\Users\YourUsername\Documents

1. Use the Get-ChildItem cmdlet to list all the files in the directory. You can filter the list by file extension by using the -Filter parameter. For example, to list all .txt files, you can use the following command:

1

Get-ChildItem -Filter *.txt

1. Next, you can iterate through the list of files and rename them using the custom naming convention. You can use a loop and the Rename-Item cmdlet for this. For example, if you want to rename all .txt files to have a prefix "new_", you can use the following command:

1

Get-ChildItem -Filter *.txt | ForEach-Object {Rename-Item $_ -NewName ("new_" + $_.Name)}

1. Customize the naming convention according to your preferences. You can concatenate the current file name with a string or add a specific numbering format.
2. Verify that the files have been successfully renamed by listing them again using the Get-ChildItem cmdlet.

By following these steps, you can bulk rename files in PowerShell using a custom naming convention.