SharePoint Online: Rename Files in Document Library using PowerShell
Requirement: Rename files in the SharePoint document library using PowerShell.
How to rename a document in SharePoint Online?
In SharePoint Online, you can rename files in the browser or with PowerShell. In this blog post, we will walk you through the process of renaming files in SharePoint Online. We will also demonstrate how to rename files in a document library using PowerShell, with some code examples that you can use as a reference.
Renaming a file in the SharePoint Online document library is pretty straightforward. The quickest way to rename a document is:
- Right-click on your desired File and Choose the “Rename” option. (Or Select the File >> Click on “Rename” button in the Toolbar)
- You can also rename a document in SharePoint by selecting the file >> Click on three little dots in the toolbar and then click on the “Rename” button. Provide a new name to the file in the Rename pop-up and click Save. Pretty simple right?
SharePoint Online also provides rename options through the properties pane and by opening the file in Office web apps!
PowerShell CSOM Script to rename a file in SharePoint Online:
While renaming files in SharePoint Online is a fairly simple process, it can be tedious, especially if you’re trying to rename a lot of them. By using PowerShell, it’s super easy to rename files on SharePoint Online!
#Load SharePoint CSOM Assemblies
Add-Type -Path "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.dll"
Add-Type -Path "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.Runtime.dll"
#Set Variables for Site URL, Old File Name and New File Name
$SiteURL= "https://crescent.sharepoint.com/sites/sales/"
$OldFileURL="/sites/Sales/Documents/Legal.docx"
$NewFileURL="/sites/Sales/Documents/LegalTemplate.docx"
#Setup Credentials to connect
$Cred = Get-Credential
$Cred = New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.SharePointOnlineCredentials($Cred.UserName,$Cred.Password)
Try {
#Setup the context
$Ctx = New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.ClientContext($SiteURL)
$Ctx.Credentials = $Cred
#Rename the File
$File = $Ctx.Web.GetFileByServerRelativeUrl($OldFileURL)
$File.MoveTo($NewFileURL, [Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.MoveOperations]::Overwrite)
$Ctx.ExecuteQuery()
write-host -f Green "File Renamed successfully!"
}
Catch {
write-host -f Red "Error Renaming File!" $_.Exception.Message
}
This script renames the given document to a new name. How about renaming all files from a SharePoint Online document library?
SharePoint Online rename files in bulk using PowerShell:
Say, in SharePoint Online, you want to rename all documents that have a specific string in their names.
#Load SharePoint CSOM Assemblies
Add-Type -Path "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.dll"
Add-Type -Path "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.Runtime.dll"
#Set Variables for Site URL, Library Name and Item ID
$SiteURL= "https://crescent.sharepoint.com/sites/sales/"
$LibraryName="Documents"
$OldString="National"
$NewString="Crescent"
#Setup Credentials to connect
$Cred = Get-Credential
$Cred = New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.SharePointOnlineCredentials($Cred.UserName,$Cred.Password)
Try {
#Setup the context
$Ctx = New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.ClientContext($SiteURL)
$Ctx.Credentials = $Cred
#Get the web and Library
$Web=$Ctx.Web
$List=$web.Lists.GetByTitle($LibraryName)
#Get all items
$Query = [Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.CamlQuery]::CreateAllItemsQuery()
$ListItems = $List.GetItems($Query)
$Ctx.Load($ListItems)
$Ctx.ExecuteQuery()
#Rename each file matching given old string
Foreach($Item in $ListItems)
{
#Replace string in the File Name
if($Item["FileRef"].ToString().Contains($OldString))
{
$CurrentURL=$Item["FileRef"].ToString()
$NewURL = $CurrentURL.Replace($OldString,$NewString)
$Item.File.MoveTo($NewURL, [Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.MoveOperations]::Overwrite)
$ctx.ExecuteQuery()
Write-host -f Green "Renamed: "$CurrentURL
}
}
}
Catch {
write-host -f Red "Error Renaming File!" $_.Exception.Message
}
SharePoint Online: Rename a File using PnP PowerShell
To rename a file in SharePoint Online, use the Rename-PnPFile cmdlet.
#Config Variables
$SiteURL = "https://Crescent.sharepoint.com/sites/marketing"
$FileURL= "Shared Documents/Active/Office 365 Proposal.pdf"
$NewFileName ="Office 365 Proposal V2.pdf"
#Connect to PnP Online
Connect-PnPOnline -Url $SiteURL -Credentials (Get-Credential)
#Rename the File
Rename-PnPFile -SiteRelativeUrl $FileURL -TargetFileName $NewFileName -Force
Use the “-OverwriteIfAlreadyExists” switch to perform rename and replace the original file if it exists! Also, you can use the “-ServerRelativeUrl” parameter to provide a server relative URL of the source file. Similarly, we can rename all files in a document library using PnP PowerShell, as:
#Config Variables
$SiteURL = "https://crescent.sharepoint.com/sites/marketing"
$LibraryName = "Documents"
#Connect to PnP Online
Connect-PnPOnline -Url $SiteURL -Credentials (Get-Credential)
#Get All Files from the document library
$Files = Get-PnPListItem -List $LibraryName -PageSize 1000 | Where {$_["FileLeafRef"] -like "*.*"}
#Loop through each File
Write-host -f Green "Number of Files Found:"$Files.Count
ForEach($File in $Files)
{
Write-Host ("Renaming File '{0}' at {1}" -f $File["FileLeafRef"], $File["FileRef"])
#Rename File
Rename-PnPFile -ServerRelativeUrl $File["FileRef"] -TargetFileName "Old_$($File['FileLeafRef'])" -OverwriteIfAlreadyExists -Force
}
This can be useful if you need to change the name of a large number of files at once.
Hi Salaudeen, I would like to use the PnP script to rename files, in my case, files were migrated in SPO with no extension from FileNet. I have the file names and extensions in a CSV along with their URLs which are spread across multiple libraries in a site. Could you help me understand how can I use the CSV as an input file for the PnP script?
If I do the rename in any of these options, will the link changed?
In Modern SharePoint Online sites, If you rename a file, All links in Quick launch/top navigation/Web parts like Quick links get updated automatically!