Rename a file or folder

  1. Open the file manager.

  2. Right-click on a file or folder and select Rename, or select the file and press F2.

  3. Type the new name and press Enter.

You can also rename a file from the properties window.

When you rename a file, only the first part of the name of the file is selected, not the file extension (the part after the "."). The extension normally denotes what type of file it is (e.g. file.pdf is a PDF document), and you usually do not want to change that. If you need to change the extension as well, select it with your mouse, or press Ctrl+A to select the entire file name.

Valid characters for file names

You can use any character except the / (slash) character in file names. Some devices, however, use a file system that has more restrictions on file names. For example, USB flash drives are often formatted with the FAT32 file system. On these devices, or if you intend to share files with people who use another operating system, you should avoid the following characters: |, \, ?, *, <, ", :, >, /.

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

Common problems

The name is already used

You can't have two files or folders with the same name in the same folder. 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. For example, File.txt and file.txt are different names. This is allowed, though it's not always a good idea.

The file name is too long

On some file systems, file names can have no more than 255 characters in their names. Use a shorter name.

The option to rename is grayed out

If 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 it. See Set file permissions.