Why can't I rename files on the desktop on ubuntu 22.04 (LTS)

**thestrongfork** · April 24th, 2022

Hi,

I am running Ubuntu 22.04 on a VMware virtual machine.

I have a text file on the desktop that I want to rename, but for some reason when I press the rename button nothing happens.

Is this a bug that I can solve?
Or at least rename the file in a different way?

**mIk3_08** · April 24th, 2022

Try run this command in your terminal; To access terminal just press ctrl, alt + t in you Linux Ubuntu desktop or go to your installed application and find terminal. Then run the command below.

Code:

echo "This is a test" >~/Desktop/desktoptextfile.txt

Regards and Cheers.

**Impavidus** · April 24th, 2022

I don't know about rename buttons. I do all file management from the command line.

Open a terminal and change to the desktop:

Code:

cd Desktop

The name could be something else if your computer hasn't been set to English.

Then rename the file:

Code:

mv oldname newname

The mv command can both rename files and move them to a different directory.

**mIk3_08** · April 26th, 2022

Originally Posted by thestrongfork

Hi,
I am running Ubuntu 22.04 on a VMware virtual machine.
I have a text file on the desktop that I want to rename, but for some reason when I press the rename button nothing happens.
Is this a bug that I can solve?
Or at least rename the file in a different way?

You can also move your file by using this command below in your terminal.

Code:

sudo mv '/home/desktopusername/documents/filename' '/home/desktopusername/desktop'

To access your terminal in your desktop you can directly press ctrl and alt + t or you can find it in your Linux Ubuntu installed applications. Regards and cheers.

**Impavidus** · April 26th, 2022

Originally Posted by mIk3_08

You can also move your file by using this command below in your terminal.

Code:

sudo mv '/home/desktopusername/documents/filename' '/home/desktopusername/desktop'

To access your terminal in your desktop you can directly press ctrl and alt + t or you can find it in your Linux Ubuntu installed applications. Regards and cheers.

But don't use sudo when you don't need it and keep in mind that Linux is case sensitive: desktop ≠ Desktop.

**ActionParsnip** · April 26th, 2022

What is the output of:

Code:

ls -la ~/Desktop/*

**mIk3_08** · April 27th, 2022

Originally Posted by Impavidus

But don't use sudo when you don't need it and keep in mind that Linux is case sensitive: desktop ≠ Desktop.

Yes. sorry for that. you can change it then. you can easily then use mv to move any file to your desktop.

Code:

mv '/home/username/downloads/filename' '/home/username/Desktop'

If you want to perform any administrative task use sudo then. Regards and cheers

**ActionParsnip** · April 27th, 2022

The d in downloads needs to be capitalised

**mIk3_08** · April 28th, 2022

Originally Posted by ActionParsnip

The d in downloads needs to be capitalised

Thanks ActionParsnip for the reminder. And this also can be followed in the nautilus folder names. I'm not particular in case sensitive when it comes to folders but when encounter some error like this I can easily manage it. Thanks and regards.