Renaming files and directories

Renaming files and folders

How to rename a file from terminal in Linux?

Using vifm

vifm (a tool that works with vim shortcuts) is an alternative to this. Using vifm, we can change the name of a file or folder using `cw` (change word).

Other options:

In order to rename a file in Linux you can use either of two approaches

Copy the existing file with a new name and delete the old file

1. Create a copy of the existing file with the new desired name and then delete the old file.

   $ cp oldfile newfile
   

   This creates a copy of the same file with a new name in the same location.

   $ rm oldfil
   

   This will delete the old file keeping the newfile intact.

Using mv command

1. Rename a file by moving it with the mv command.

   Rename by moving

   $mv old-file-name  new-file-name
   

   This just moves the old file, to a new name.

2. Rename a directory on Linux, use the mv command and specify the directory to be renamed as well as the destination for your directory.

   mv <source_directory> <target_directory>