$ Linux Command

Files

rename

Rename multiple files using a Perl expression.

renamebatchfilesregexperl

Additional Notes

rename renames multiple files according to a Perl regular expression. It applies a substitution expression to filenames, making it powerful for batch renaming operations that would be cumbersome with mv.

There are two common versions of rename: the Perl version (prevalent on Debian/Ubuntu) and the util-linux version (prevalent on RHEL/CentOS/Fedora). The Perl version uses a Perl expression for the rename operation and is more flexible. The util-linux version supports simple substitution patterns. This page describes the Perl version.

Syntax

rename [options] 's/pattern/replacement/' [files...]
rename [options] 'y/search/replace/' [files...]

Parameters

  • 's/pattern/replacement/': Substitute pattern with replacement in filenames.
  • 'y/search/replace/': Transliterate characters (like tr/// in Perl).
  • files: One or more files to rename. Supports glob patterns.

Common Options

  • -n, --no-act: Dry run. Show what would be renamed without making changes.
  • -v, --verbose: Show renamed files.
  • -f, --force: Force overwrite of existing files.
  • -e: Explicitly specify the expression (useful for complex expressions).
  • -0: Read filenames from stdin separated by null bytes (for find -print0).

Examples

rename 's/\.txt$/.md/' *.txt

Rename all .txt files to .md.

rename 'y/A-Z/a-z/' *

Convert all filenames in the current directory to lowercase.

rename 's/ /_/g' *.pdf

Replace spaces with underscores in PDF filenames.

rename -n 's/photo/img/' *.jpg

Dry run: show what would happen without actually renaming.

rename -v 's/old/new/' file*.txt

Rename with verbose output showing changes.

rename 's/^/backup_/' *.conf

Prepend backup_ to all .conf filenames.

find . -name "*.jpeg" -exec rename 's/\.jpeg$/.jpg/' {} \;

Rename .jpeg extensions to .jpg recursively using find.

rename 's/(\d{4})-(\d{2})-(\d{2})/$3.$2.$1/' *.txt

Reorder date patterns from YYYY-MM-DD to DD.MM.YYYY in filenames.

rename 's/\.[^.]*$//' * 2>/dev/null; mv * .bak 2>/dev/null

Remove all file extensions (note: use with extreme caution).

Practical Notes

  • Always use -n (dry run) first to verify the rename operation before applying changes.
  • On Debian/Ubuntu, rename is the Perl version. On RHEL/CentOS/Fedora, prename or rename may be the util-linux version. Install the Perl version with sudo apt install rename or sudo yum install prename.
  • The Perl version supports full regular expressions with backreferences ($1, $2, etc.).
  • The transliteration form (y///) is useful for character replacements, like converting uppercase to lowercase.
  • For complex multi-file renames, consider using a shell loop with mv for safer operation.
  • To handle filenames with special characters or newlines, use find ... -print0 | xargs -0 rename.