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I have numerous files in a very complex directory structure, and for reasons not worth discussing I need to rename all files with the extension of ".inp" to have ".TXT" extensions. There are numerous other files with other extensions that I do not want to be touched, and I want to do it recursively down at least 5 levels.

So far I have:

for /d %%x in (*) do pushd %%x & Ren *.inp *.TXT & popd

...but this only goes down one level of directories.

Can anyone help? Thanks in advance!

Raiden616
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4 Answers4

43

On Windows 7, the following one-line command works for me, to rename all files, recursively, in *.js to *.txt:

FOR /R %x IN (*.js) DO ren "%x" *.txt
john smith
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    This worked, the selected answer didn't, said "%%i was inexpected". Thanks for this ! – Steve Chamaillard Nov 12 '15 at 13:32
  • Got same error "%%i was inexpected" from the code in the accepted answer. Note you'll have to cd to the start directory – brunettdan Apr 01 '16 at 12:53
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    @SteveChamaillard : That's because the selected answer assumes the line is in a batch file. If it's executed from the prompt, you need to change each `%%` to `%` – Magoo Mar 29 '17 at 08:48
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    @brunettdan : : That's because the selected answer assumes the line is in a batch file. If it's executed from the prompt, you need to change each `%%` to `%` – Magoo Mar 29 '17 at 08:48
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for /r startdir %%i in (*.inp) do ECHO ren "%%i" "%%~ni.txt"

should work for you. Replace startdir with your starting directoryname and when you've checked this works to your satisfaction, remove the echo before the ren to actually do the rename.

For the downvoters: executing a batch file differs from excuting from the command prompt in that each %%x where x is the metavariable (loop-control variable) needs to be reduced to %, so

for /r startdir %i in (*.inp) do ECHO ren "%i" "%~ni.txt"

should work if you execute this from the prompt. Please read the note about echo.

Magoo
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  • @Magoo... i think I love you. Thanks for this solution to a problem which took 2 days of my life, excellent work thanks! – Neville Feb 07 '15 at 10:16
  • i love this echo option. I was trying to run this, initially in a wrong directory. And echo option saved me. – jrh May 14 '20 at 12:35
  • I wish this explained what the `~ni` is for – FirstVertex Aug 31 '21 at 15:27
  • @HDog : See the documentation `for /?` from the prompt. `~n` modifies the metavariable `i` to select only the `Name` part. – Magoo Sep 11 '21 at 14:04
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John Smith's answer is excellent, and it works. But to be completely clear (I had to re-read magoo's notes to figure out the correct syntax), here is exactly what you need to do...

BATCH FILE:
FOR /R %%x IN (*.js) DO ren "%%x" *.txt

COMMAND LINE:
FOR /R %x IN (*.js) DO ren "%x" *.txt

Up vote their responses, I am but a lowly formater...

Roger Hill
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0

Sometimes the renaming is necessary to change invalid characters inside the files and names. If you need to change a single character recursively:

Change character "╞" for "ã" in folder names recursively:

FOR /R /D %x in (*╞*) do @for /f "tokens=1-3* delims=╞" %B in ("%x") DO ren "%x" "%~nBã%C"

Change character "╞" for "ã" in file names recursively:

FOR /R %x in (*╞*.*) do @for /f "tokens=1-3* delims=╞" %B in ("%x") DO ren "%x" "%~nBã%C"

Change the chars for whatever you need. If you want to test your renaming commands before executing, just put an @echo between DO and ren:

DO @echo ren "%x" "%~nBã%C"

This will output the commands instead of executing them

Luis Costa
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