renaming multiple files using the command prompt

Question

Hello,

I had a few dozen files that used a naming convention beginning with an abbreviation for a city (in this case, WI) and then an alpha-numeric sequence that was unique to each file. I wanted to rename the files to include the entire city name (in this case, Windsor) without changing the subsequent unique sequences. So I opened command prompt, traced a path to that file, typed in the "dir" command to ensure that I had found the correct folder (I had, the correct files were listed). This is the command that I entered in to change all the file names: ren WI*.* Windsor*.*

After executing that command, the result is that the first file changed names to "Windsor" but eliminated the unique alpha-numeric sequence that followed (I need the alpha-numeric to remain intact) and for every subsequent file, I got the message "A duplicate file name exists, or the file cannot be found." Obviously, I set this up wrong. Can anyone help me with the correct command structure? Thanks...

Chris

Answer 1

Hi

Welcome to Microsoft community.

It looks like you're on the right track, but the command you're using isn't preserving the unique alphanumeric sequences in each file name. The 'ren' command in Windows doesn't support wildcards in the replacement text, which is why the unique sequences are being removed.

Instead, you can use a 'for' loop with the 'ren' command to rename each file individually while preserving the unique sequences. Here's how you can do it:

for %A in (WI*.*) do ren "%A" "Windsor%~nxA" 

This command works as follows:

• for %A in (WI*.*) do  This part of the command loops through each file in the current directory that starts with 'WI' and has any extension.
• ren "%A" "Windsor%~nxA"  This part of the command renames each file, replacing 'WI' with 'Windsor' and preserving the rest of the original file name and extension.
• %~nxA This is a special variable that represents the name and extension of the current file in the loop.

Please note that you should run this command in the directory where the files you want to rename are located. Also, please ensure to back up your files before running this command, as renaming operations can't be undone.

Please feel free to let me know if you have any further updates, thanks.

Best regards

Derrick Qian | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Answer 2

Hi Derrick,

Thanks for your response! That did not work exactly as you described. After executing the command (thank you for taking the time to explain the constituent parts) the end result is that the word "Windsor" was inserted into each file name, but did not eliminate the "WI" characters, so the result is "WIWindsor...." for all the file names. Except the first one, which had "Windsor" inserted twice. So that file is now named "WindsorWindsorWI...." See attached screen shots.

Answer 3

Hi

Thanks for your reply.

I apologize for the confusion. The command provided was intended to append the word "Windsor" before the existing filename, not to replace "WI" with "Windsor". My apologies for misunderstanding your requirements.

To replace "WI" with "Windsor" in the filenames, you can use a batch script with the ren  command. However, the ren command itself doesn't support direct string replacement. You'll need a more powerful scripting language, like PowerShell.

Here's how you can do it with PowerShell:

1. Open PowerShell by clicking the Start button, typing 'PowerShell' into the search box, and pressing Enter.
2. Navigate to the directory containing your files using the  cd  command. For example:  cd C:\path\to\your\files
3. Run the following command:

    Get-ChildItem -Filter WI*.* | Rename-Item -NewName {$_.name -replace 'WI','Windsor' }
   

4. This command gets all files starting with 'WI' and renames them by replacing 'WI' with 'Windsor'.
5. Please be careful when running these commands, and make sure you have a backup of your files, as renaming operations are not easily reversible.

Answer 4

Hello,

Thanks for helping me out; unfortunately the command sequence didn't yield the results I was looking for. I typed in the command as it was in your response using PowerShell, and got an error for each file in the folder. See attached screenshot. The file names did change, but they changed to a very long string of the word "Windsor" without the "WI" repeated several times... sort of like "Wndsorndsorndsor..." ect. I'm sorry that I didn't take a screen shot for you to see the results.

At this point, I have just gone through and manually changed all the titles (painful!) Just couldn't wait any more on this project. Thanks for your effort to help me, perhaps one day I will re-engage on this when the need arises.

Chris

Answer 5

Hi

Thanks for your reply.

I don't have a better solution at the moment, and your question probably involves deeper technical issues so that I'd recommend you publish on Microsoft Learn, you can click on "Ask a question", there are experts who can provide more professional solutions in that place.  Here is a link to the forum where you can raise specific scenarios and share your idea to help solve the problem.I won't be able to help you, but I'll leave that question open in case one of our amazing volunteers has ideas for you.

Best regards

Derrick Qian | Microsoft Community Support Specialist