Overview

os.Rename() function can be used to rename a file or folder. Below is the signature of the function.

func Rename(old, new string) error

old and new can be fully qualified as well. If the old and new path doesn’t lie in the same directory then os.Rename() function behaves the same as moving a file or folder.

Code

Renaming a file

Below is code for renaming a file

package main

import (
    "log"
    "os"
)

func main() {
    //Create a file
    file, err := os.Create("temp.txt")
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatal(err)
    }
    defer file.Close()

    //Change permission so that it can be moved
    err = os.Chmod("temp.txt", 0777)
    if err != nil {
        log.Println(err)
    }


    err = os.Rename("temp.txt", "newTemp.txt")
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatal(err)
    }
}

Output

First, it will create a file named temp.txt in the current working directory. Then it will rename it to newTemp.txt

Renaming a folder

Below is code for renaming a folder

package main

import (
    "log"
    "os"
)

func main() {
    //Create a directory
    err := os.Mkdir("temp", 0755)
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatal(err)
    }
    err = os.Rename("temp", "newTemp")
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatal(err)
    }
}

Output:

First it will create a folder named temp in current working directory. Then it will rename it to newTemp