{"id":2525,"date":"2013-11-22T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2013-11-22T00:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.technet.microsoft.com\/heyscriptingguy\/2013\/11\/22\/use-powershell-to-rename-files-in-bulk\/"},"modified":"2013-11-22T00:01:00","modified_gmt":"2013-11-22T00:01:00","slug":"use-powershell-to-rename-files-in-bulk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/use-powershell-to-rename-files-in-bulk\/","title":{"rendered":"Use PowerShell to Rename Files in Bulk"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary<\/strong>: Learn how to use Windows PowerShell to rename files in bulk.\nMicrosoft Scripting Guy, Ed Wilson, is here. Matt Tisdale<\/a> is back today with another solution to a situation at work…\nI received a call from a gentleman named Cristofer this afternoon. He had a business need and he heard from someone that Windows PowerShell could help. I told him that I am sure Windows PowerShell can help—and that was before I even heard the question.\nHis immediate need was to rename almost 250 files that are located in various folders on the file system. He needed to find all files with a specific character string in the name and replace this character string with a new character string. For example purposes, let’s say he needed to find all files with “current” in the name and replace “current” with “old”.\nI have never attempted this specific task, but by using Get-Command <\/strong>and Get-Help<\/strong>, <\/strong>we were able to find exactly how to do this in a couple of minutes. Assuming we need to find all files located under C:temp (including all subfolders) with “current” in the name and rename them using “old” in place of “current”, here are the steps.<\/p>\n

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  1. Open Windows PowerShell.<\/li>\n
  2. Navigate to C:temp.<\/li>\n
  3. Run the following Windows PowerShell command:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Get-ChildItem -Filter “*current*” -Recurse | Rename-Item -NewName {$_.name -replace ‘current’,’old’ }\n      4. Sit back and let Windows PowerShell do all of the work for you.\nAnyone who has access to modify the files and is running Windows 7 can follow these steps. No special tools or elevated rights are required.\nLet’s pick the command apart and explain each piece.<\/p>\n