1<page xmlns="http://projectmallard.org/1.0/"
2      type="topic" style="task"
3      id="files-rename">
4
5  <info>
6    <link type="guide" xref="files#common-file-tasks"/>
7
8    <revision pkgversion="3.5.92" version="0.2" date="2012-09-19" status="review"/>
9    <revision pkgversion="3.13.92" date="2014-09-22" status="review"/>
10    <revision pkgversion="3.18" date="2015-09-29" status="final"/>
11
12    <credit type="author">
13      <name>GNOME Documentation Project</name>
14      <email>gnome-doc-list@gnome.org</email>
15    </credit>
16    <credit type="author">
17      <name>Shaun McCance</name>
18      <email>shaunm@gnome.org</email>
19    </credit>
20    <credit type="author">
21      <name>Jim Campbell</name>
22      <email>jwcampbell@gmail.com</email>
23    </credit>
24    <credit type="editor">
25      <name>Michael Hill</name>
26      <email>mdhillca@gmail.com</email>
27    </credit>
28    <credit type="editor">
29      <name>David King</name>
30      <email>amigadave@amigadave.com</email>
31    </credit>
32
33    <include href="legal.xml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"/>
34
35    <desc>Change file or folder name.</desc>
36  </info>
37
38  <title>Rename a file or folder</title>
39
40  <p>As with other file managers, you can use <app>Files</app> to change the
41  name of a file or folder.</p>
42
43  <steps>
44    <title>To rename a file or folder:</title>
45    <item><p>Right-click on the item and select <gui>Rename</gui>, or select
46    the file and press <key>F2</key>.</p></item>
47    <item><p>Type the new name and press <key>Enter</key> or click
48    <gui>Rename</gui>.</p></item>
49  </steps>
50
51  <p>You can also rename a file from the
52  <link xref="nautilus-file-properties-basic">properties</link> window.</p>
53
54  <p>When you rename a file, only the first part of the name of the file is
55  selected, not the file extension (the part after the last <file>.</file>).
56  The extension normally denotes what type of file it is (for example,
57  <file>file.pdf</file> is a PDF document), and you usually do not want to
58  change that. If you need to change the extension as well, select the entire
59  file name and change it.</p>
60
61  <note style="tip">
62    <p>If you renamed the wrong file, or named your file improperly, you can
63    undo the rename. To revert the action, immediately click the menu button in
64    the toolbar and select <gui>Undo Rename</gui>, or press
65    <keyseq><key>Ctrl</key><key>Z</key></keyseq>, to restore the former
66    name.</p>
67  </note>
68
69  <section id="valid-chars">
70    <title>Valid characters for file names</title>
71
72    <p>You can use any character except the <file>/</file> (slash) character in
73    file names. Some devices, however, use a <em>file system</em> that has more
74    restrictions on file names. Therefore, it is a best practice to avoid the
75    following characters in your file names: <file>|</file>, <file>\</file>,
76    <file>?</file>, <file>*</file>, <file>&lt;</file>, <file>"</file>,
77    <file>:</file>, <file>&gt;</file>, <file>/</file>.</p>
78
79    <note style="warning">
80    <p>If you name a file with a <file>.</file> as the first character, the
81    file will be <link xref="files-hidden">hidden</link> when you attempt to
82    view it in the file manager.</p>
83    </note>
84
85  </section>
86
87  <section id="common-probs">
88    <title>Common problems</title>
89
90    <terms>
91      <item>
92        <title>The file name is already in use</title>
93        <p>You cannot have two files or folders with the same name in the same
94        folder. If you try to rename a file to a name that already exists in
95        the folder you are working in, the file manager will not allow it.</p>
96        <p>File and folder names are case sensitive, so the file name
97        <file>File.txt</file> is not the same as <file>FILE.txt</file>.
98        Using different file names like this is allowed, though it is not
99        recommended.</p>
100      </item>
101      <item>
102        <title>The file name is too long</title>
103        <p>On some file systems, file names can have no more than 255
104        characters in their names.  This 255 character limit includes both the
105        file name and the path to the file (for example,
106        <file>/home/wanda/Documents/work/business-proposals/…</file>), so you
107        should avoid long file and folder names where possible.</p>
108      </item>
109      <item>
110        <title>The option to rename is grayed out</title>
111        <p>If <gui>Rename</gui> is grayed out, you do not have permission to
112        rename the file. You should use caution with renaming such files, as
113        renaming some protected files may cause your system to become unstable.
114        See <link xref="nautilus-file-properties-permissions"/> for more
115        information.</p>
116      </item>
117    </terms>
118
119  </section>
120
121</page>
122