Change file or folder name. GNOME Documentation Project gnome-doc-list@gnome.org Rename a file or folder
Using the the <app>File Manager</app>

Right-click on the file or folder icon. A menu will pop-up.

Left-click on the Rename option in the menu. The name of the file or folder will become highlighted.

Type the new name of the file or folder.

Press Enter.

In the case of files, only the name of the file is highlighted, not the file extention. This is because in general, you will not need to change the extention of a file.

However, in the event that it is necessary to change the extention of a file, you can follow the same steps, and when the name of the file is highlighted, hightlight the file extention with your mouse. Now, type the new file extention and press Enter.

Shortcuts

Left-click on the file or folder icon. This selects the file.

Press the F2 key. This selects the file or folder name.

Type the new name of the file or folder.

Press Enter.
Valid characters for file names

On your system, the / (slash character) is invalid for names of files and folders. All other characters can be used.

If you name a file with a . as the first character, the file will be hidden. Generally, avoid the . as the first character in a file name.

Some characters in file and folder names may not be valid in Windows and Mac OSX. Therefore, if you think a file may need to be read on these systems (like in the event you e-mail it to someone using Windows or Mac), the following characters may cause problems and should be avoided in naming files and folders: | , \ , ? , * , < , " , : , > , / .

Common problems
The item could not be renamed
The name is already used

You can't have two files with the same name in the same folder. Also, you can not have a subfolder with the same name as a file in the same folder. Therefore, if you try to rename a file to a name that already exists in the folder you are working in, the File Manager will not allow it. Use a different name.

File and folder names are case sensitive.

Example: File.txt and file.txt are different names. This is allowed.

File name too long

File names can have no more than 255 characters in their names. Use a shorter name.

The option to rename is grayed out

You do not have permission to rename the file. Generally, if you do not have the correct permissions to rename a file, you should not be renaming the file.

Using the command line

cd into the folder where the file or subfolder you wish to rename is located.

At the shell prompt type: mv -i current_filename new_filename

If you omit the -i, you may overwrite a file if you try to rename the file to a name that already exists in the folder. The -i option will ask you if you are sure that you want to overwrite the existing file. If you overwrite an existing file, there is no way you can get the original back, so be sure to use the -i option.

GNOME Documentation Project

Explain basic procedure of renaming file

Mention shortcut keys and faster ways of doing it

New section: Mention valid characters, which is basically everything except /, though there are more restrictions if the file is on e.g. a fat32 filesystem.

Common problems when renaming files (i.e. error messages, how to solve problems). Probably a new section for each problem.