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Python - os.rename "FileNotFoundError: [WinError 2]"

I'm trying to batch rename some photos and I wanna the second part only, e.g. renaming from 1234 - Photo_Name.jpg to Photo_Name.jpg.

This is my code:

import os

folder = r"C:\Users\yousef\Downloads\Pictures\\"
files = os.listdir(folder)
for file_name in files:
    new_filename = file_name.split(' - ')[1]
    os.rename(file_name, new_filename)

But I get this Error

File "c:\Users\yousef\Downloads\code.py", line 7, in <module>
    os.rename(file_name, new_filename)
FileNotFoundError: [WinError 2] The system cannot find the file specified: '1234 - Photo_Name.jpg' -> 'Photo_Name.jpg'
Solution

  • It's trying to rename the file in the current directory, not the folder you listed. Use os.path.join() to combine a directory with a filename.

    import os

folder = r"C:\Users\yousef\Downloads\Pictures\\"
files = os.listdir(folder)
for file_name in files:
    new_filename = file_name.split(' - ')[1]
    os.rename(os.path.join(folder, file_name), os.path.join(folder, new_filename))