Find Replace Text in a File Name - Powershell

Question

i have a need to replace different string in file names. Is there a way to modify a file name using a find replace function in Powershell?

I have done this in a .bat file but would for this to be done in PS instead.

i know that will get the all the text in a file, but i just want to do the find replace on the file name itself. — Greg K
– Greg K, Commented Aug 20, 2014 at 18:14
possible duplicate of Find characters and rename file name using Powershell — Cole9350
– Cole9350, Commented Aug 20, 2014 at 18:53

Alexander Obersht · Accepted Answer · 2014-08-20 19:01:49Z

3

You didn't provide any details so here's a generic example:

$pattern = "foo"

# Getting all files that match $pattern in a folder.
# Add '-Recurse' switch to include files in subfolders.
$search_results = Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\folder" `
    | Where-Object { ((! $_.PSIsContainer) -and ($_.Name -match $pattern)) } 

foreach ($file in $search_results) {
    $new_name = $file.Name -replace $pattern, "bar"

    # Remove '-WhatIf' switch to commit changes.
    Rename-Item -WhatIf -Path $file.FullName -NewName $new_name
}

Note that $pattern will be treated as a regular expression so escape special characters if you need to catch them.

answered Aug 20, 2014 at 19:01

Alexander Obersht

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2 Comments

Greg K Over a year ago

exactly was i was looking for, sorry for the vagueness of the question. Thanks you

Keith Hill Over a year ago

You can simplify this by piping directly to rename-item and using a scriptblock e.g. ... | Where {...} | Rename-Item -NewName {$_.Name -replace $pattern,'bar'} -whatif.

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