How to rename files in Python

Learn different ways to rename files in Python using the os and pathlib modules.

Learn different ways to rename files in Python using the os and pathlib modules.

Rename files with os¶

You can use

os.rename(old_name, new_name)

For example we can combine it with os.path.splitext() to get the base name and file extension, and then combine it to a new name:

import os
for file in os.listdir():
    name, ext = os.path.splitext(file)
    new_name = f"{name}_new{ext}"
    os.rename(file, new_name)

Rename files with pathlib¶

The same could be achieved with the pathlib module and

Path.rename(new_name)

With a Path object we can access .stem and .suffix:

from pathlib import Path
for file in os.listdir():
    f = Path(file)
    new_name = f"{f.stem}_new{f.suffix}"
    f.rename(new_name)