How to: Rename a File in Visual Basic

Use the RenameFile method of the My.Computer.FileSystem object to rename a file by supplying the current location, file name, and the new file name. This method cannot be used to move a file; use the MoveFile method to move and rename the file.

To rename a file

• Use the My.Computer.FileSystem.RenameFile method to rename a file. This example renames the file named Test.txt to SecondTest.txt.

  ' Change "c:\test.txt" to the path and filename for the file that 
  ' you want to rename.
  My.Computer.FileSystem.RenameFile("C:\Test.txt", "SecondTest.txt")
  

This code example is also available as an IntelliSense code snippet. In the code snippet picker, the snippet is located in File system - Processing Drives, Folders, and Files. For more information, see How to: Insert Snippets Into Your Code (Visual Basic).

Robust Programming

The following conditions may cause an exception:

• The path is not valid for one of the following reasons: it is a zero-length string, it contains only white space, it contains invalid characters, or it is a device path (starts with \\.\) (ArgumentException).

• newName contains path information (ArgumentException).

• The path is not valid because it is Nothing (ArgumentNullException).

• newName is Nothing or an empty string (ArgumentNullException).

• The source file is not valid or does not exist (FileNotFoundException).

• There is an existing file or directory with the name specified in newName (IOException).

• The path exceeds the system-defined maximum length (PathTooLongException).

• A file or directory name in the path contains a colon (:) or is in an invalid format (NotSupportedException).

• The user lacks necessary permissions to view the path (SecurityException).

• The user does not have the required permission (UnauthorizedAccessException).

See Also

Tasks

How to: Move a File in Visual Basic

How to: Move a Collection of Files in Visual Basic

How to: Create a Copy of a File in the Same Directory in Visual Basic

How to: Create a Copy of a File in a Different Directory in Visual Basic

Reference

My.Computer.FileSystem.RenameFile Method

Other Resources

Creating, Deleting, and Moving Files and Directories in Visual Basic