Powershell rename with variable and special characters

Question

I’m trying to rename some files. In the path and filename there are symbols like [, ] and spaces. The rename command says it can´t find the file.

There is a main file with the symbols and a "temp" file. The main file should be deleted and the name of the temp file should be from the original.

my code is:

$onlypath = Split-Path -Path $_.FullName Rename-Item $onlypath + "\TEMP" $_.Name

and testet many other syntax like

Rename-Item -Path "$onlypath\TEMP" -NewName $_.Name or Rename-Item -Path $onlypath"\TEMP" -NewName $_.Name or Rename-Item -Path $onlypath + "\TEMP" -NewName $_.Name

the error is everytime, that the file is not at this place. i tried the command in a shell and the same error but if i add ` as escape char before the symbols it works.

greetings

Your syntax is all wrong. Please read about Rename-Item before asking a question. — harrymc
– harrymc, Commented Feb 3, 2023 at 12:44
i read this and i tried diffrent types of syntax. (i updated the question). every time the same error — Err0r
– Err0r, Commented Feb 3, 2023 at 12:54

Theo · Accepted Answer · 2023-02-03 15:34:57Z

Looking at your code, I think you do not want to rename the file, but Move it to a new path. Rename-Item is for well.. renaming a file where it actually is located. You then give it a new file name, it is not for changing the path.

Also, if the file has symbols like [,], you need to specify -LiteralPath instead of -Path

Try

$sourcePath = 'X:\Somewhere\Here[123]' $destination = Join-Path -Path $sourcePath -ChildPath 'Temp' # make sure the destination folder exists $null = New-Item -Path $destination -ItemType Directory -Force # get the files and move them to the destination Get-ChildItem -LiteralPath $sourcePath -File | ForEach-Object { Move-Item -LiteralPath $_.FullName -Destination $destination }

thanks! i switched to move with -force. and the -LiteralPath fixed it :-) — Err0r
– Err0r, Commented Feb 3, 2023 at 15:31
@Err0r Sorry, forgot to add -Force to the New-Item cmdlet. Added it now — Theo
– Theo, Commented Feb 3, 2023 at 15:36

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