---
title: "Renaming a Folder or File With WCN"
slug: "renaming-a-folder-or-file-with-wcn"
description: "This article provides information about renaming a local file or folder with Wasabi Cloud NAS (WCN)."
updated: 2026-08-21T16:12:35Z
published: 2026-08-21T16:12:35Z
canonical: "docs.wasabi.com/renaming-a-folder-or-file-with-wcn"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.wasabi.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Renaming a Folder or File With WCN

When you rename a local file or folder, standard S3 APIs are used to copy the original file with the new name to Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage then delete the original file in Wasabi. Unlike an instant metadata update on a local filesystem, all data is fully re-copied. When you rename a folder, you rename every file within the folder and under that prefix. Because renaming uses a copy-then-delete operation, there is a brief window where both the old and new keys exist. In the event that the delete operation fails, you may have a duplicate file(s).

> The process of renaming a large file (or folder of files) may take time and may incur data transfer/request costs.

If versioning is enabled on the bucket, the deletion adds a delete marker to the object(s) in the bucket and does not erase data. Older versions remain unless explicitly purged. For more information, see [Managing File Deletion in WCN](https://docs.wasabi.com/docs/managing-file-deletion).

Before renaming an object or restructuring a folder, determine whether you need to move data or change how you reference/query data. To avoid the need to rename folders/files, be sure to design a key structure upfront.