{"id":9560,"date":"2021-06-13T17:51:20","date_gmt":"2021-06-13T12:21:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pynative.com\/?p=9560"},"modified":"2024-01-25T14:45:53","modified_gmt":"2024-01-25T09:15:53","slug":"python-rename-file","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pynative.com\/python-rename-file\/","title":{"rendered":"Rename Files in Python"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In this tutorial, you will learn how to rename files and folders in Python.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>After reading this article, you&#8217;ll learn<\/strong>: &#8211;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Renaming a file with rename() method<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How to rename single and multiple files.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Renaming files that match a pattern<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Renaming all the files in a folder<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Renaming only the files in a list<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Renaming and moving a file<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-yoast-seo-table-of-contents yoast-table-of-contents\"><h2>Table of contents<\/h2><ul><li><a href=\"#h-steps-to-rename-file-in-python\" data-level=\"2\">Steps to Rename File in Python<\/a><ul><li><a href=\"#h-os-rename\" data-level=\"3\">os.rename()<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-example-renaming-a-file-in-python\" data-level=\"3\">Example: Renaming a file in Python<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-rename-a-file-after-checking-whether-it-exists\" data-level=\"2\">Rename a file after checking whether it exists<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-rename-multiple-files-in-python\" data-level=\"2\">Rename Multiple Files in Python<\/a><ul><li><a href=\"#h-example-change-the-names-of-all-files-from-a-directory\" data-level=\"3\">Example: Change the names of all files from a directory<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-renaming-only-a-list-of-files-in-a-folder\" data-level=\"2\">Renaming only a list of files in a folder<\/a><ul><li><a href=\"#h-example-renaming-only-a-specific-files-in-a-folder\" data-level=\"3\">Example: Renaming only a specific files in a folder<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-renaming-multiple-files-with-a-pattern\" data-level=\"2\">Renaming multiple files with a pattern<\/a><ul><li><a href=\"#h-example-renaming-files-that-follow-specific-name-patterns\" data-level=\"3\">Example: Renaming files that follow specific name patterns<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-renaming-files-with-a-timestamp-0\" data-level=\"2\">Renaming files with a timestamp<\/a><ul><li><a href=\"#h-example-renaming-files-with-a-timestamp-0\" data-level=\"3\">Example: Renaming files with a timestamp<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-renaming-the-extension-of-the-files\" data-level=\"2\">Renaming the Extension of the Files<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-renaming-and-then-moving-a-file-to-a-new-location\" data-level=\"2\">Renaming and then moving a file to a new location<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-practice-problem-renaming-an-image-file\" data-level=\"2\">Practice Problem: Renaming an image file<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading stepsh\" id=\"h-steps-to-rename-file-in-python\">Steps to Rename File in Python<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns steps is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-1 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"schema-how-to wp-block-yoast-how-to-block\"><p class=\"schema-how-to-description\">To rename a file, please follow these steps:<\/p> <ol class=\"schema-how-to-steps\"><li class=\"schema-how-to-step\" id=\"how-to-step-1623071602523\"><strong class=\"schema-how-to-step-name\">Find the path of a file to rename<\/strong> <p class=\"schema-how-to-step-text\">To rename a file, we need its path. The path is the location of the file on the disk.<br\/>An <strong>absolute path<\/strong> contains the complete <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Directory_(computing)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">directory<\/a> list required to locate the file.<br\/>A <strong>relative path<\/strong> contains the current directory and then the file name.<\/p> <\/li><li class=\"schema-how-to-step\" id=\"how-to-step-1623291388091\"><strong class=\"schema-how-to-step-name\">Decide a new name<\/strong> <p class=\"schema-how-to-step-text\">Save an old name and a new name in two separate variables.<br\/><code>old_name = 'details.txt'<\/code><br\/><code>new_name = 'new_details.txt'<\/code><\/p> <\/li><li class=\"schema-how-to-step\" id=\"how-to-step-1623072196137\"><strong class=\"schema-how-to-step-name\">Use rename() method of an OS module<\/strong> <p class=\"schema-how-to-step-text\">Use the <code>os.rename()<\/code> method to rename a file in a folder. Pass both the old and new names to the <code>os.rename(old_name, new_name)<\/code> function to rename a file.<\/p> <\/li><\/ol><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-os-rename\"><code>os.rename()<\/code><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>We can rename a file in Python using the <code>rename<\/code>() method available in the <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.python.org\/3\/library\/os.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">os module<\/a>. The <code>os<\/code> module provides functionalities for interacting with the operating systems. This module comes under Python&#8217;s standard utility modules.<\/p>\n\n\n<pre id=\"syntax\" class=\"wp-block-code language-python\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-1\" data-shcb-language-name=\"Python\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"python\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-python\">os.rename(src, dst, *, src_dir_fd=<span class=\"hljs-literal\">None<\/span>, dst_dir_fd=<span class=\"hljs-literal\">None<\/span>)<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-1\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">Python<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">python<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n<p>The following are the parameters that we need to pass for the <code>os.rename()<\/code> method<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><code>src<\/code> :  Path for the file that has to be renamed<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><code>dst<\/code> : A destination path for the newly renamed file<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><code>src_dir_fd<\/code> : (Optional) Source file directory<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><code>dst_dir_fd<\/code> : (Optional) Destination file directory<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#c9e8f5\"><strong>Note<\/strong>: If the <code>dst<\/code> already exists then the <code>FileExistsError<\/code> will be thrown in Windows and in the case of UNIX an <code>OSError<\/code> will be thrown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-example-renaming-a-file-in-python\">Example: Renaming a file in Python<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In this example, we rename <strong>&#8220;detail.txt&#8221;<\/strong> to <strong>&#8220;new_details.txt&#8221;<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"hljstoolbar\"><pre id=\"code1\"  class=\"wp-block-code language-python\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-2\" data-shcb-language-name=\"Python\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"python\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-python\"><span class=\"hljs-keyword\">import<\/span> os\n\n<span class=\"hljs-comment\"># Absolute path of a file<\/span>\nold_name = <span class=\"hljs-string\">r\"E:\\demos\\files\\reports\\details.txt\"<\/span>\nnew_name = <span class=\"hljs-string\">r\"E:\\demos\\files\\reports\\new_details.txt\"<\/span>\n\n<span class=\"hljs-comment\"># Renaming the file<\/span>\nos.rename(old_name, new_name)<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-2\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">Python<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">python<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre><button class=\"hljs-copy-button\" onclick=\"copy_code('code1', this);\"><i class=\"far fa-copy1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/button><button class=\"hljs-run-button\" onclick=\"run_code('code1');\"><i class=\"far fa-play-circle\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i> Run<\/button><\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>Output<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-2 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><strong>Before rename<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"287\" height=\"201\" src=\"https:\/\/pynative.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/before_file_rename.png\" alt=\"Before renaming a file\" class=\"wp-image-9609\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">before renaming a file<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><strong>After rename<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"342\" height=\"172\" src=\"https:\/\/pynative.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/after_file_rename.png\" alt=\"After renaming a file\" class=\"wp-image-9607\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pynative.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/after_file_rename.png 342w, https:\/\/pynative.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/after_file_rename-300x151.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 342px) 100vw, 342px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">After renaming a file<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-rename-a-file-after-checking-whether-it-exists\">Rename a file after checking whether it exists<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The <code>os.rename()<\/code> method raises the FileExistsError or OSError when the destination file name already exists. This can be avoided by wrapping our code in the <code>try-except<\/code> block. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Use the <a href=\"https:\/\/pynative.com\/python-check-if-file-exists\/\">isfile(&#8216;path&#8217;)<\/a> function before renaming a file. It returns true if the destination file name already exists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We can use the following two approaches to continue with renaming by removing the old file or stop without renaming it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol>\n<li>Use <code>os.path.isfile()<\/code> in an <code>if<\/code> condition<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Write rename code in the try-except block.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Example 1<\/strong>: Use <code>os.path.isfile()<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"hljstoolbar\"><pre id=\"code2\"  id=\"norun\" class=\"wp-block-code language-python\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-3\" data-shcb-language-name=\"Python\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"python\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-python\"><span class=\"hljs-keyword\">import<\/span> os\n\nold_name = <span class=\"hljs-string\">r\"E:\\demos\\files\\reports\\details.txt\"<\/span>\nnew_name = <span class=\"hljs-string\">r\"E:\\demos\\files\\reports\\new_details.txt\"<\/span>\n\n<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">if<\/span> os.path.isfile(new_name):\n    print(<span class=\"hljs-string\">\"File name already exists. Cannot rename\"<\/span>)\n<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">else<\/span>:\n    <span class=\"hljs-comment\"># Rename the file<\/span>\n    os.rename(old_name, new_name)<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-3\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">Python<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">python<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre><button class=\"hljs-copy-button\" onclick=\"copy_code('code2', this);\"><i class=\"far fa-copy1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/button><\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>Output<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\">File name already exists. Cannot rename<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Example 2<\/strong>: The same code could be wrapped in the try-except block as below.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"hljstoolbar\"><pre id=\"code3\"  id=\"norun\" class=\"wp-block-code language-python\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-4\" data-shcb-language-name=\"Python\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"python\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-python\"><span class=\"hljs-keyword\">import<\/span> os\n\nold_name = <span class=\"hljs-string\">r\"E:\\demos\\files\\reports\\details.txt\"<\/span>\nnew_name = <span class=\"hljs-string\">r\"E:\\demos\\files\\reports\\new_details.txt\"<\/span>\n\n<span class=\"hljs-comment\"># enclosing inside try-except<\/span>\n<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">try<\/span>:\n    os.rename(old_name, new_name)\n<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">except<\/span> FileExistsError:\n    print(<span class=\"hljs-string\">\"File already Exists\"<\/span>)\n    print(<span class=\"hljs-string\">\"Removing existing file\"<\/span>)\n    <span class=\"hljs-comment\"># skip the below code if you don't' want to forcefully rename<\/span>\n    os.remove(new_name)\n    <span class=\"hljs-comment\"># rename it<\/span>\n    os.rename(old_name, new_name)\n    print(<span class=\"hljs-string\">'Done renaming a file'<\/span>)<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-4\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">Python<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">python<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre><button class=\"hljs-copy-button\" onclick=\"copy_code('code3', this);\"><i class=\"far fa-copy1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/button><\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>Output<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\">File already Exists\nRemoving existing file\nDone renaming a file<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-rename-multiple-files-in-python\">Rename Multiple Files in Python<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sometimes, we need to <strong>rename all files from a directory<\/strong>. Consider a folder with four files with different names, and we wanted to rename all file names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We can rename multiple files in a folder using the <code>os.listdir()<\/code> and <code>os.rename()<\/code> method by following the below steps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/pynative.com\/python-list-files-in-a-directory\/\">Get the list of files in a directory<\/a> using <code>os.listdir()<\/code>. It returns a list containing the names of the entries in the given directory.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Iter over the <a href=\"https:\/\/pynative.com\/python-lists\/\">list<\/a> using a <a href=\"https:\/\/pynative.com\/python-for-loop\/\">for loop<\/a> to access each file individually.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Rename each file<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-example-change-the-names-of-all-files-from-a-directory\">Example: Change the names of all files from a directory<\/h3>\n\n\n<div class=\"hljstoolbar\"><pre id=\"code4\"  id=\"norun\" class=\"wp-block-code language-python\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-5\" data-shcb-language-name=\"Python\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"python\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-python\"><span class=\"hljs-keyword\">import<\/span> os\n\nfolder = <span class=\"hljs-string\">r'E:\\demos\\files\\reports\\\\'<\/span>\ncount = <span class=\"hljs-number\">1<\/span>\n<span class=\"hljs-comment\"># count increase by 1 in each iteration<\/span>\n<span class=\"hljs-comment\"># iterate all files from a directory<\/span>\n<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">for<\/span> file_name <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">in<\/span> os.listdir(folder):\n    <span class=\"hljs-comment\"># Construct old file name<\/span>\n    source = folder + file_name\n\n    <span class=\"hljs-comment\"># Adding the count to the new file name and extension<\/span>\n    destination = folder + <span class=\"hljs-string\">\"sales_\"<\/span> + str(count) + <span class=\"hljs-string\">\".txt\"<\/span>\n\n    <span class=\"hljs-comment\"># Renaming the file<\/span>\n    os.rename(source, destination)\n    count += <span class=\"hljs-number\">1<\/span>\nprint(<span class=\"hljs-string\">'All Files Renamed'<\/span>)\n\nprint(<span class=\"hljs-string\">'New Names are'<\/span>)\n<span class=\"hljs-comment\"># verify the result<\/span>\nres = os.listdir(folder)\nprint(res)<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-5\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">Python<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">python<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre><button class=\"hljs-copy-button\" onclick=\"copy_code('code4', this);\"><i class=\"far fa-copy1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/button><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-3 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><strong>Output<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\">All Files Renamed\nNew Names are\n['sales_0.txt', 'sales_1.txt', 'sales_2.txt', 'sales_3.txt']<\/pre>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"284\" height=\"175\" src=\"https:\/\/pynative.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/after_renaming_all_files.png\" alt=\"After renaming all files\" class=\"wp-image-9608\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">After renaming all files<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-renaming-only-a-list-of-files-in-a-folder\">Renaming only a list of files in a folder<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>While renaming files inside a folder, sometimes we may have to rename only a list of files, not all. We need to follow the following steps for renaming only a set of files inside a folder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Providing the list of files that need to be renamed<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Iterate through the list of files in the folder containing the files<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Check if the file is present in the list<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If present, rename the file according to the desired convention. Else, move to the next file.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-example-renaming-only-a-specific-files-in-a-folder\">Example: Renaming only a specific files in a folder<\/h3>\n\n\n<div class=\"hljstoolbar\"><pre id=\"code5\"  id=\"norun\" class=\"wp-block-code language-python\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-6\" data-shcb-language-name=\"Python\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"python\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-python\"><span class=\"hljs-keyword\">import<\/span> os\n\nfiles_to_rename = &#91;<span class=\"hljs-string\">'sales_1.txt'<\/span>, <span class=\"hljs-string\">'sales_4.txt'<\/span>]\nfolder = <span class=\"hljs-string\">r\"E:\\demos\\files\\reports\\\\\"<\/span>\n\n<span class=\"hljs-comment\"># Iterate through the folder<\/span>\n<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">for<\/span> file <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">in<\/span> os.listdir(folder):\n    <span class=\"hljs-comment\"># Checking if the file is present in the list<\/span>\n    <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">if<\/span> file <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">in<\/span> files_to_rename:\n        <span class=\"hljs-comment\"># construct current name using file name and path<\/span>\n        old_name = os.path.join(folder, file)\n        <span class=\"hljs-comment\"># get file name without extension<\/span>\n        only_name = os.path.splitext(file)&#91;<span class=\"hljs-number\">0<\/span>]\n\n        <span class=\"hljs-comment\"># Adding the new name with extension<\/span>\n        new_base = only_name + <span class=\"hljs-string\">'_new'<\/span> + <span class=\"hljs-string\">'.txt'<\/span>\n        <span class=\"hljs-comment\"># construct full file path<\/span>\n        new_name = os.path.join(folder, new_base)\n\n        <span class=\"hljs-comment\"># Renaming the file<\/span>\n        os.rename(old_name, new_name)\n\n<span class=\"hljs-comment\"># verify the result<\/span>\nres = os.listdir(folder)\nprint(res)\n<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-6\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">Python<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">python<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre><button class=\"hljs-copy-button\" onclick=\"copy_code('code5', this);\"><i class=\"far fa-copy1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/button><\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>Output<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\">['sales_1_new.txt', 'sales_2.txt', 'sales_3.txt', 'sales_4_new.txt']<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-renaming-multiple-files-with-a-pattern\">Renaming multiple files with a pattern<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sometimes, we wanted to <strong>rename only those files that match a specific pattern<\/strong>. For example, renaming only pdf files or renaming files containing a particular year in their name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The pattern matching is done using the <a href=\"https:\/\/pynative.com\/python-glob\/\">glob module<\/a>. The glob module finds the files and folders whose names follow a specific pattern. We can rename multiple files that match a pattern using the glob module.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We can rename files that match a pattern using the following steps: &#8211;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Write a pattern using wildcard characters<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Use a <a href=\"https:\/\/pynative.com\/python-glob\/#h-python-glob-method-to-search-files\">glob() method<\/a> to find a list of files that matches a pattern.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Iterate through the files in the folder.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Change the name according to the new naming convention.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-example-renaming-files-that-follow-specific-name-patterns\">Example: Renaming files that follow specific name patterns<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In this example, we <strong>rename all text files starting with the word \u201csales\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0inside the \u201creports\u201d folder with the new name \u201crevenue\u201d and a counter.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"hljstoolbar\"><pre id=\"code6\"  id=\"norun\" class=\"wp-block-code language-python\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-7\" data-shcb-language-name=\"Python\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"python\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-python\"><span class=\"hljs-keyword\">import<\/span> glob\n<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">import<\/span> os\n\npath = <span class=\"hljs-string\">r\"E:\\demos\\files\\reports\\\\\"<\/span>\n<span class=\"hljs-comment\"># search text files starting with the word \"sales\"<\/span>\npattern = path + <span class=\"hljs-string\">\"sales\"<\/span> + <span class=\"hljs-string\">\"*.txt\"<\/span>\n\n<span class=\"hljs-comment\"># List of the files that match the pattern<\/span>\nresult = glob.glob(pattern)\n\n<span class=\"hljs-comment\"># Iterating the list with the count<\/span>\ncount = <span class=\"hljs-number\">1<\/span>\n<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">for<\/span> file_name <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">in<\/span> result:\n    old_name = file_name\n    new_name = path + <span class=\"hljs-string\">'revenue_'<\/span> + str(count) + <span class=\"hljs-string\">\".txt\"<\/span>\n    os.rename(old_name, new_name)\n    count = count + <span class=\"hljs-number\">1<\/span>\n\n<span class=\"hljs-comment\"># printing all revenue txt files<\/span>\nres = glob.glob(path + <span class=\"hljs-string\">\"revenue\"<\/span> + <span class=\"hljs-string\">\"*.txt\"<\/span>)\n<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">for<\/span> name <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">in<\/span> res:\n    print(name)<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-7\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">Python<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">python<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre><button class=\"hljs-copy-button\" onclick=\"copy_code('code6', this);\"><i class=\"far fa-copy1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/button><\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>Output<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\">E:\\demos\\files\\reports\\revenue_1.txt\nE:\\demos\\files\\reports\\revenue_2.txt<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-renaming-files-with-a-timestamp-0\">Renaming files with a timestamp<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In some applications, the data or logs will be stored in the files regularly in a fixed time interval. It is a standard convention to append a timestamp to file names to make them easy to store and use later. We can use the datetime module in Python to work with dates and times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Please follow the below steps to append the timestamp to the file name:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Get the current timestamp using a datetime module and store it in a separate variable<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Convert timestamp into a string<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Append timestamp to file name by using the concatenation operator<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Now, rename a file with a new name using a <code>os.rename()<\/code><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Consider the following example where we add the timestamp in the <code>%d-%b-%Y<\/code> format.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-example-renaming-files-with-a-timestamp-0\">Example: Renaming files with a timestamp<\/h3>\n\n\n<div class=\"hljstoolbar\"><pre id=\"code7\"  id=\"norun\" class=\"wp-block-code language-python\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-8\" data-shcb-language-name=\"Python\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"python\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-python\"><span class=\"hljs-keyword\">import<\/span> os\n<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">from<\/span> datetime <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">import<\/span> datetime\n\n<span class=\"hljs-comment\"># adding date-time to the file name<\/span>\ncurrent_timestamp = datetime.today().strftime(<span class=\"hljs-string\">'%d-%b-%Y'<\/span>)\nold_name = <span class=\"hljs-string\">r\"E:\\demos\\files\\reports\\sales.txt\"<\/span>\nnew_name = <span class=\"hljs-string\">r\"E:\\demos\\files\\reports\\sales\"<\/span> + current_timestamp + <span class=\"hljs-string\">\".txt\"<\/span>\nos.rename(old_name, new_name)<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-8\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">Python<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">python<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre><button class=\"hljs-copy-button\" onclick=\"copy_code('code7', this);\"><i class=\"far fa-copy1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/button><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-renaming-the-extension-of-the-files\">Renaming the Extension of the Files<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We can change only the extension of the files using the <code>rename()<\/code> method. This is done by getting the list of the files and then get only the file name using the <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.python.org\/3\/library\/os.path.html#os.path.splitext\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">splitext()<\/a> method of the os module.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This method returns the root and extension separately. Once we get the root\/base of the filename, we can add the new extension to it while renaming it using the <code>rename()<\/code> method<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Use the below steps to rename only extension: &#8211;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Get List file names from a directory using a <code>os.listdir(folder)<\/code><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Next, Iterate each file from a list of filenames<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Construct current file name using<code> os.path.join()<\/code> method by passing file name and path<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Now, use the <code>replace()<\/code> method of a <code>str<\/code> class to replace an existing extension with a new extension in the file name<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>At last, use the <code>os.rename()<\/code> to rename an old name with a new name<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Let&#8217;s see the example.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"hljstoolbar\"><pre id=\"code8\"  id=\"norun\" class=\"wp-block-code language-python\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-9\" data-shcb-language-name=\"Python\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"python\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-python\"><span class=\"hljs-keyword\">import<\/span> os\n\nfolder = <span class=\"hljs-string\">r\"E:\\demos\\files\\reports\\\\\"<\/span>\n<span class=\"hljs-comment\"># Listing the files of a folder<\/span>\nprint(<span class=\"hljs-string\">'Before rename'<\/span>)\nfiles = os.listdir(folder)\nprint(files)\n\n<span class=\"hljs-comment\"># rename each file one by one<\/span>\n<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">for<\/span> file_name <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">in<\/span> files:\n    <span class=\"hljs-comment\"># construct full file path<\/span>\n    old_name = os.path.join(folder, file_name)\n\n    <span class=\"hljs-comment\"># Changing the extension from txt to pdf<\/span>\n    new_name = old_name.replace(<span class=\"hljs-string\">'.txt'<\/span>, <span class=\"hljs-string\">'.pdf'<\/span>)\n    os.rename(old_name, new_name)\n\n<span class=\"hljs-comment\"># print new names<\/span>\nprint(<span class=\"hljs-string\">'After rename'<\/span>)\nprint(os.listdir(folder))\n<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-9\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">Python<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">python<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre><button class=\"hljs-copy-button\" onclick=\"copy_code('code8', this);\"><i class=\"far fa-copy1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/button><\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>Output<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\">Before rename\n['expense.txt', 'profit.txt', 'revenue_1.txt', 'revenue_2.txt']\nAfter rename\n['expense.pdf', 'profit.pdf', 'revenue_1.pdf', 'revenue_2.pdf']<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-renaming-and-then-moving-a-file-to-a-new-location\">Renaming and then moving a file to a new location<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>With the help of the <code>rename()<\/code> method we can rename a file and then move it to a new location as well. This is done by passing the new location to the <code>rename()<\/code> method&#8217;s <code>dst<\/code> parameter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Consider the below example where we are defining two different folders as the source and destination separately. Then using the <code>rename() method,<\/code> we are changing the name and the location of the file.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally when we print the files in the new location we can see the file in the list.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"hljstoolbar\"><pre id=\"code9\"  id=\"norun\" class=\"wp-block-code language-python\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-10\" data-shcb-language-name=\"Python\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"python\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-python\"><span class=\"hljs-keyword\">import<\/span> glob\n<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">import<\/span> os\n\n<span class=\"hljs-comment\"># Old and new folder locations<\/span>\nold_folder = <span class=\"hljs-string\">r\"E:\\demos\\files\\reports\\\\\"<\/span>\nnew_folder = <span class=\"hljs-string\">r\"E:\\demos\\files\\new_reports\\\\\"<\/span>\n\n<span class=\"hljs-comment\"># Old and new file names<\/span>\nold_name = old_folder + <span class=\"hljs-string\">\"expense.txt\"<\/span>\nnew_name = new_folder + <span class=\"hljs-string\">\"expense.txt\"<\/span>\n\n<span class=\"hljs-comment\"># Moving the file to the another location<\/span>\n\nos.rename(old_name, new_name)<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-10\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">Python<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">python<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre><button class=\"hljs-copy-button\" onclick=\"copy_code('code9', this);\"><i class=\"far fa-copy1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/button><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-practice-problem-renaming-an-image-file\">Practice Problem: Renaming an image file<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We can rename any file in a folder and files of any type using the <code>os.rename()<\/code>. In the below example we will change the name of an image file inside the folder.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"hljstoolbar\"><pre id=\"code10\"  id=\"norun\" class=\"wp-block-code language-python\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-11\" data-shcb-language-name=\"Python\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"python\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-python\"><span class=\"hljs-keyword\">import<\/span> os\n<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">import<\/span> glob\n\nfolder = <span class=\"hljs-string\">\"\/Users\/sample\/eclipse-workspace\/Sample\/Files\/Images\/\"<\/span>\n<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">for<\/span> count, filename <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">in<\/span> enumerate(os.listdir(folder)):\n    oldname = folder + filename   \n    newname = folder + <span class=\"hljs-string\">\"Emp_\"<\/span> + str(count + <span class=\"hljs-number\">1<\/span>) + <span class=\"hljs-string\">\".jpg\"<\/span>\n    os.rename(oldname, newname)\n\n<span class=\"hljs-comment\"># printing the changed names<\/span>\nprint(glob.glob(folder + <span class=\"hljs-string\">\"*.*\"<\/span>))<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-11\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">Python<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">python<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre><button class=\"hljs-copy-button\" onclick=\"copy_code('code10', this);\"><i class=\"far fa-copy1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/button><\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>Output<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\">['\/Users\/sample\/eclipse-workspace\/Sample\/Files\/Images\/Emp_2.jpg', '\/Users\/sample\/eclipse-workspace\/Sample\/Files\/Images\/Emp_1.jpg'] <\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>In this article we have covered the basics of renaming a file, the method used for renaming. We also saw how to rename a file with a particular pattern, naming all the files in a folder and adding a date to the file. We also with example how to change the extension of the file and how to move a file to a new location after changing the name.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this tutorial, you will learn how to rename files and folders in Python. After reading this article, you&#8217;ll learn: &#8211; Steps to Rename File in Python os.rename() We can rename a file in Python using the rename() method available in the os module. The os module provides functionalities for interacting with the operating systems. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9610,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[22,33],"tags":[34],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.6 (Yoast SEO v22.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Rename Files in Python &#8211; PYnative<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pynative.com\/python-rename-file\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rename Files in Python\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In this tutorial, you will learn how to rename files and folders in Python. After reading this article, you&#8217;ll learn: &#8211; Steps to Rename File in Python os.rename() We can rename a file in Python using the rename() method available in the os module. The os module provides functionalities for interacting with the operating systems. 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I am a Python developer and I love to write articles to help developers. | All the best for your future Python endeavors!\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/pynative.com\"]},{\"@type\":\"HowTo\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pynative.com\/python-rename-file\/#howto-1\",\"name\":\"Rename Files in Python\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pynative.com\/python-rename-file\/#article\"},\"description\":\"To rename a file, please follow these steps:\",\"step\":[{\"@type\":\"HowToStep\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pynative.com\/python-rename-file\/#how-to-step-1623071602523\",\"name\":\"Find the path of a file to rename\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"HowToDirection\",\"text\":\"To rename a file, we need its path. 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Pass both the old and new names to the os.rename(old_name, new_name) function to rename a file.\"}]}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Rename Files in Python &#8211; PYnative","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pynative.com\/python-rename-file\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Rename Files in Python","og_description":"In this tutorial, you will learn how to rename files and folders in Python. After reading this article, you&#8217;ll learn: &#8211; Steps to Rename File in Python os.rename() We can rename a file in Python using the rename() method available in the os module. The os module provides functionalities for interacting with the operating systems. 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I am a Python developer and I love to write articles to help developers. | All the best for your future Python endeavors!","sameAs":["https:\/\/pynative.com"]},{"@type":"HowTo","@id":"https:\/\/pynative.com\/python-rename-file\/#howto-1","name":"Rename Files in Python","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pynative.com\/python-rename-file\/#article"},"description":"To rename a file, please follow these steps:","step":[{"@type":"HowToStep","url":"https:\/\/pynative.com\/python-rename-file\/#how-to-step-1623071602523","name":"Find the path of a file to rename","itemListElement":[{"@type":"HowToDirection","text":"To rename a file, we need its path. 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