Ren (command)

Quality 0.50 · 1 view · Updated 2 months ago

Shell command for renaming a file or directory

title: "Ren (command)" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["cp/m-commands", "internal-dos-commands", "msx-dos-commands", "os/2-commands", "reactos-commands", "windows-commands", "microcomputer-software", "windows-administration"] description: "Shell command for renaming a file or directory" topic_path: "technology/operating-systems" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren_(command)" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Shell command for renaming a file or directory ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox software"]

FieldValue
nameren / rename
screenshotReactOS-0.4.13 ren command 667x434.png
captionThe ReactOS ren command
developerVarious open-source and commercial developers
operating systemOpenVOS, RT-11, OS/8, RSX-11, ISIS-II, iRMX 86, TOPS-20, Z80-RIO, FLEX, CDOS, OS-9, FlexOS, PC-MOS, 4690 OS, MPE/iX, THEOS/OASIS, OpenVMS, CP/M, MP/M, TRIPOS, AmigaDOS, DOS, MSX-DOS, SISNE plus, OS/2, Windows, ReactOS, SymbOS, DexOS
platformCross-platform
genreCommand
::

| name = ren / rename | logo = | screenshot = ReactOS-0.4.13 ren command 667x434.png | screenshot size = | caption = The ReactOS ren command | developer = Various open-source and commercial developers | released = | latest release version = | latest release date = | operating system = OpenVOS, RT-11, OS/8, RSX-11, ISIS-II, iRMX 86, TOPS-20, Z80-RIO, FLEX, CDOS, OS-9, FlexOS, PC-MOS, 4690 OS, MPE/iX, THEOS/OASIS, OpenVMS, CP/M, MP/M, TRIPOS, AmigaDOS, DOS, MSX-DOS, SISNE plus, OS/2, Windows, ReactOS, SymbOS, DexOS | platform = Cross-platform | genre = Command | license = | website = ren (or rename) is a shell command for renaming a file and in some implementations (such as AmigaDOS) a directory.

Some shells with also provide a [move](move-command) command that provides for moving between directories. On systems that do not support a move command (such as MS-DOS older than 6.00), the user could copy a file to a new destination and then delete the original file. In DOSBox, ren can move files.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/RT-11_help.jpg" caption="VT100]]."] ::

The command is in various shells such as COMMAND.COM, Command Prompt, 4DOS, 4NT and PowerShell. In MS-DOS, the command is available in versions 1 and later. In PowerShell, ren is a predefined alias for the Rename-Item Cmdlet which serves the same essential purpose.

Similar commands are available in many operating systems. The command is available in the CP/M, MP/M, Cromemco DOS, TRIPOS, OS/2, ReactOS, SymbOS, and DexOS. Multics includes a rename command to rename a directory entry, which could be contracted to rn. A command which in some cases can be contracted to ren is provided in Stratus VOS, RT-11, OS/8,"Concise Command Language" (CCL).{{cite web |url=http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/dec/pdp8/os8/OS8_Handbook_Apr1974.pdf |title=OS/8 Handbook |date=April 1974 |access-date=28 November 2017}} RSX-11, ISIS-II, iRMX 86, TOPS-20,{{cite web |url=http://www.textfiles.com/bitsavers/pdf/dec/pdp10/TOPS20/V6.1/AA-FP65A-TM_tops20CmdsRef.pdf |title=TOPS-20 Command manual |access-date=2018-07-18 |archive-date=2020-08-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809103116/http://www.textfiles.com/bitsavers/pdf/dec/pdp10/TOPS20/V6.1/AA-FP65A-TM_tops20CmdsRef.pdf |url-status=dead

Example

The following renames file to .

::code[lang=doscon]

ren foo bar ::

The following renames a file specified by a fully qualified path. The first parameter may contain drive and path information, but the second parameter must be only a file name.

::code[lang=doscon]

rename "C:\Users\Public\Videos\Sample Videos\Wildlife.wmv" Wildlife2.wmv ::

The following removes abcd of a file name in Command Prompt based on the following rules:

  • Same number of / as the number of characters to remove
  • Requries double quotes for both arguments
  • Won't remove **.** from a file name

::code[lang=doscon]

rename "abcd*.txt" "////*.txt" ::

References

References

  1. (September 19, 1988). "AmigaDOS quick reference". Grand Rapids, Mi : Abacus.
  2. (11 September 2009). "Microsoft TechNet Rename (ren) article".
  3. (2003). "Running MS-DOS Version 6.22 (20th Anniversary Edition), 6th Revised edition". [[Microsoft Press]].
  4. (22 October 2009). "Microsoft TechNet PowerShell Rename-Item (ren) article".
  5. "Manual".
  6. Digital Research. (July 1981). "MP/M - Multi-Programming Monitor Control Program - User's Guide". [[Digital Research]].
  7. Digital Research. (1981-09-25). "MP/M-86 Operating System - User's Guide". [[Digital Research]].
  8. [http://www.hartetechnologies.com/manuals/Cromemco/CDOSv1.PDF CDOS USER'S MANUAL]
  9. "Manual".
  10. "JaTomes Help - OS/2 Commands".
  11. (3 January 2022). "reactos/reactos".
  12. "Multics Commands".
  13. "Manual".
  14. "RT-11 HELP FILE".
  15. John F. Pieper. (1987). "RSX A Guide for Users". Digital Equipment Corporation.
  16. [http://bitsavers.org/pdf/intel/ISIS_II/9800306-06_ISIS-II_Users_Guide_May81.pdf ISIS II Users Guide]
  17. [https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_inteliRMX1_19819263 iRMX™86 INTRODUCTION AND OPERATOR'S REFERENCE MANUAL For Release 6]
  18. "Z80-RIO OPERATING SYSTEM USER'S MANUAL".
  19. "FLEX 2.0 User's Manual".
  20. Paul S. Dayan. (1992). "The OS-9 Guru - 1 : The Facts". Galactic Industrial Limited.
  21. (1986). "FlexOS User's Guide".
  22. "Users guide".
  23. "MPE/iX Command Reference Manual".
  24. [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/phaseOneSystems/THEOS_OASIS_Users_Handbook_1985.pdf THEOS/OASIS User's Handbook]
  25. [https://www.itec.suny.edu/scsys/vms/OVMSDOC073/v73/6489/6489pro_005.html OpenVMS User's Manual]{{Dead link. (October 2022)
  26. (1980). "86-DOS - Disk Operating System for the 8086 - User's Manual". [[Seattle Computer Products, Inc.]].
  27. [https://www.4corn.co.uk/archive/docs/DR%20DOS%206.0%20User%20Guide-opt.pdf DR DOS 6.0 User Guide Optimisation and Configuration Tips]
  28. [https://github.com/roelandjansen/pcmos386v501/blob/master/DOCS/v4/PCMOSv4UserManual.pdf PC-MOS User Guide]
  29. Jansen, Roeland. (8 February 2018). "pcmos386v501: PC-MOS/386 v5.01 final release including cdrom driver sources".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

cp/m-commandsinternal-dos-commandsmsx-dos-commandsos/2-commandsreactos-commandswindows-commandsmicrocomputer-softwarewindows-administration