The mv command is available on all Linux systems and is the most practical way of renaming files as it doesn’t rely on any additional software packages being present. To use it to rename more than one file at a time, a for loop statement can be used to iterate over multiple files and execute the mv command on each to rename them.Ĭheck out this article for more ways to use the Bash for loop. It moves and renames files and directories. How to Rename Multiple Files with mvįirst up, the mv command. Read on to find out what those tools are and how they can be used.Įach tool has differences in how the renaming operations are defined which makes them appropriate for different scenarios.īefore trying out any of these commands, make sure you’ve backed up your files, just in case something goes wrong! Renaming files is essentially moving them to a new location a typo could result in them being moved somewhere you can’t find them. While it can be done with the mv command, some tools are built specifically for the task. However, renaming multiple files at once is a bit more complex.

We’ve already covered moving and renaming files and directories using the mv command.

This guide will show you how to rename multiple files in Linux – renaming files sequentially, changing the extension, adding the date, and other renaming tasks.

Bash rename multiple files