Thanks to the -n option, the users will never have to put their files at risk (or their nerves at stake) since it offers a safe and useful preview of what the renamed files will look like.

Using the rename command boils down to mixing a few basic patterns to achieve the desired result.

To do it in the reverse, just switch the “oldname” and “newname” parts of the regular expression. In Debian-based Linux, type this in your terminal: If you are unable to use it in yours, you will have to install it. In many distributions of Linux, the rename command may not be available by default. That may sound scary, but don’t give up on rename just yet – it can be used for plain batch renaming simply by following tutorials like this one. This command to rename files in Linux is slightly more advanced than mv because it requires the knowledge of, or at least a basic familiarity with, regular expressions.

Options are written after mv but before the filenames. There’s also the -v (verbose) option, which lists all changes that have been made by mv. An extra layer of protection is provided by the -i (interactive) option, which asks the user to confirm the file rename before it’s actually applied. In the case of system files and folders, the user needs to obtain root permissions to rename files by prepending mv with sudo. Note that the mv command requires write permission for the folder containing the files. Mv /home /user /Files /filename1.ext /home /user /Files /filename2.ext

Rename command line