How to rename multiple folders in Linux using command line nixCraft

I am new to Linux programming and bash shell commands. I have a folder structure as dir1, dir2, dir3 and I would like to rename it as dir001, dir002, dir003. How do you rename multiple folders in Linux?

The mv command (mv source target) renames the file/folder named by the source operand to the destination path named by the target operand. However, the mv works with a single file name and directory/folder name on Linux and Unix-like system. Therefore, this page shows alternate methods to rename multiple folders on Linux and Unix-like systems.

How to rename multiple folders in Linux

1. To rename multiple folders, one can use rename command from MariaDB/MySQL or Linux utilities package.
2. Another option is to use the bash for loop.

Linux rename multiple folders using rename command

The syntax is:
rename expression replacement file

rename command examples

Let us see some examples. Create some files as follows using the touch command
touch file{1..4}.txtz
List those files:
ls file*
Now correct file extension from .txtz .txt i.e. fix the extension of your .txtz files:
rename -v .txtz .txt *.txtz
Verify with the help of ls command
ls file*

Where,

• -v : Verbose output
• .txtz Match all .txtz extension
• .txt Replace with .txt
• *.txtz Work on all *.txtz file in the current working directory

Working on folders

Let us create some folders using the mkdir command:
mkdir dir{1..5}
ls -d dir*
Now rename dir1, dir2 as dir001, dir002, and so on:
rename -v dir dir00 dir?
ls -d dir*

Please note that the rename command has no safeguards options by default. Therefore, you might get the wrong file/folder names. It is advisable that you first backup all data and do dry run as follows:
rename -n -v dir dir00 dir?
Do not make any changes by passing the -n option (dry run) and we added -v option to see what would be made.

Getting help on rename command

Run man command as follows:
man rename
OR
rename --help
Sample outputs:

Options: -v, --verbose explain what is being done -s, --symlink act on the target of symlinks -n, --no-act do not make any changes -o, --no-overwrite don't overwrite existing files -i, --interactive prompt before overwrite -h, --help display this help -V, --version display version

Renaming multiple folders using bash for loop

Say you have dirs as follows:

total 0
drwxrwxr-x. 2 vivek vivek 40 May 19 11:18 'mp 4 dir 1'
drwxrwxr-x. 2 vivek vivek 40 May 19 11:18 'mp4 dir 2'
drwxrwxr-x. 2 vivek vivek 40 May 19 11:18 'music dir 1'
drwxrwxr-x. 2 vivek vivek 40 May 19 11:18 'music dir 2 '

We need remove the white spaces in the folder names. Run:

for i in *
do mv -v "$i" "${i// /}"
done

In this final example will use POSIX shell rename all *.PY file to *.py:

for j in *.PY
do mv -v -- "$j" "${j%.PY}.py
done

mmv – a Command line tool for Renaming multiple files in Linux

First install mmv using the apt command/apt-get command/yum command/apt-get command as per your distro:
sudo yum install mmv ### <--CentOS/RHEL and co ###
sudo apt install mmv ### <-- Ubuntu/Debian and co ###
sudo dnf install mmv ### <-- Fedora Linux ###
Sample outputs from Fedora 30 box:

Dependencies resolved.
============================================================================= Package Architecture Version Repository Size
=============================================================================
Installing: mmv x86_64 1.01b-30.fc30 fedora 38 k Transaction Summary
=============================================================================
Install 1 Package Total download size: 38 k
Installed size: 67 k
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Downloading Packages:
mmv-1.01b-30.fc30.x86_64.rpm 23 kB/s | 38 kB 00:01 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 13 kB/s | 38 kB 00:03 Running transaction check
Transaction check succeeded.
Running transaction test
Transaction test succeeded.
Running transaction Preparing : 1/1 Installing : mmv-1.01b-30.fc30.x86_64 1/1 Running scriptlet: mmv-1.01b-30.fc30.x86_64 1/1 Verifying : mmv-1.01b-30.fc30.x86_64 1/1 Installed: mmv-1.01b-30.fc30.x86_64 Complete!

The mvm command move, copy, append/link multiple files/dirs by wildcard patterns. The syntax is:
mmv from to
mmv [options] from to

Say you wan to make all folder names uppercase, try:
mmv "dir*" "#u1"
If you wan to make all folder names lowercase, try:
mmv "dir*" "#l1"

You can change a suffix i.e. extension from *.C to *.cpp as follows:
mmv '*.C' '#1.cpp'

the extension “.bar” is lost and the extension “.foo” is added.
The mmv command is powerful cli tool, and it has many more options. Thus, read the man page of the mmv:
man mmv

Use thunar GUI tool to rename multiple folder at once in Linux

The thunar is an easy to use file manager for the Xfce Desktop Environment. You can install it as follows:
sudo yum install thunar ### <--CentOS/RHEL and co ###
sudo apt install thunar ### <-- Ubuntu/Debian and co ###
sudo dnf install thunar ### <-- Fedora Linux ###
Sample session from thunar:

Conclusion

You learned how to rename multiple folders in Linux using various options. See my page “Linux Rename Multiple Files At a Shell Prompt” for more information. The rename command is part of the util-linux package and is available here.