Renaming Excel files programmatically is a common task in various applications. Whether you're organizing files, automating tasks, or managing data, having the ability to rename Excel files through code can be highly beneficial. In this article, we'll explore how to rename Excel files using IronXL library from Iron Software.

How to Rename Excel WorkSheet in C#

1. Create a Visual Studio Project to rename Excel sheets.
2. Install IronXL library from Iron Software.
3. Rename Excel sheets using IronXL.

IronXL library from Iron Software

IronXL is a powerful C# Excel library developed by Iron Software. It allows you to work with Excel documents in your .NET projects without the need for Microsoft Office or Excel Interop.

Key Features of IronXL

1. Read, Edit, and Create Excel Files: IronXL enables you to read, generate, and edit Excel spreadsheet files (including XLSX, XLS, XLSM, XLTX, CSV, and TSV formats) directly from your C# or VB.NET code.

2. No Office Interop Required: You won't need to install Microsoft Office or deal with the complexities of Office Interop. IronXL provides a hassle-free experience.

3. Cross-Platform Support: IronXL is designed for .NET 8, 7, 6, Core, Framework, and Azure. Whether you're building console applications, web apps, or desktop software, IronXL has you covered.

4. User-Friendly API: The intuitive API allows you to perform tasks like reading cell values, calculating aggregate values, working with formulas, creating charts, and more. Let's briefly examine an example:

   using IronXL;
   
   namespace RenameExcelSheets
   {
       public class Program
       {
           public static void Main()
           {
               Console.WriteLine("Rename Excel Sheets Using IronXL");
                
               // Load an existing Excel file into a WorkBook object
               WorkBook workBook = WorkBook.Load("sample.xlsx"); // sample excel file
                
               // Select the specified worksheet (first sheet)
               WorkSheet workSheet = workBook.WorkSheets[0];
                
               // Read a cell value from the workbook
               int cellValue = workSheet["A2"].IntValue;
                
               // Iterate through a range of cells and print their values
               foreach (var cell in workSheet["A2:A10"])
               {
                   Console.WriteLine($"Cell {cell.AddressString} has value '{cell.Text}'");
               }
                
               // Calculate aggregate values
               decimal sum = workSheet["A2:A10"].Sum();
               decimal max = workSheet["A2:A10"].Max(c => c.DecimalValue);
                
               // Save as a new workbook
               workBook.SaveAs("sampleResult.xlsx");
           }
       }
   }

   C#

5. Excel Functionality Without the Hassle: IronXL allows you to create, load, save, and manipulate spreadsheets effortlessly. Whether you're dealing with metadata, permissions, formulas, or styling, IronXL simplifies the process.

Remember, IronXL is trusted by millions of engineers worldwide for its accuracy, ease of use, and speed. If you're working with Excel files in C# or VB.NET, IronXL is your go-to library!

Setting Up the Environment

Before diving into the coding part, make sure you have the necessary tools installed:

1. Visual Studio: Install Visual Studio or any other preferred C# IDE.
2. Microsoft Excel: Make sure Microsoft Excel is installed on your system.

To demonstrate a real-world example of renaming an Excel file, let us write a program to take a folder containing all the files to rename and use IronXL to rename all the files, then store them in the output folder.

Step 1: Create Visual Studio Project to rename Excel sheets.

Open Visual Studio and create a new project for the demo. Select Console app from the below template.

Provide names to the Project and path to store the files.

Select the required .NET version.

Step 2: Install IronXL library from Iron Software.

IronXL library can be installed from Visual Studio Package manager as below.

Or can be installed from NuGet Package Manager with command.

dotnet add package IronXL.Excel --version 2024.4.4

Once installed the project is ready to start coding for renaming Excel worksheets.

Step 3: Rename Excel sheets using IronXL

Below is the program to rename all the files and worksheets in a directory for business applications.

Input:

using System;
using System.IO;
using IronXL;

namespace RenameExcelSheets
{
    public class Program
    {
        public static void Main()
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Demo Rename Excel Sheets Using IronXL");
            Console.WriteLine("Enter Folder where Excel Files are present to rename to FinancialReport2024");
            
            // Getting input folder path from user
            var folderPath = Console.ReadLine();

            // Check if the provided path is not empty
            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(folderPath))
            {
                throw new ArgumentException("Path is empty");
            }

            // Check if the given folder path exists
            if (!Directory.Exists(folderPath))
            {
                throw new ArgumentException("Path is Wrong");
            }

            // Get all files in the directory
            var files = Directory.GetFiles(folderPath);
            
            // Define output directory for renamed files
            var outputPath = Path.Combine(folderPath, "output");
            Directory.CreateDirectory(outputPath); // Ensures the output directory exists

            var index = 0;
            foreach (var file in files)
            {
                // Load an existing Excel file
                WorkBook workBook = WorkBook.Load(file);

                // Select the first worksheet (index 0)
                WorkSheet workSheet = workBook.WorkSheets[0];

                // Rename the worksheet
                workSheet.Name = "FinancialReport2024"; // change the name property

                // Save the modified workbook with a new name in the output folder
                workBook.SaveAs(Path.Combine(outputPath, $"FinancialReport2024_{index++}.xlsx"));
            }
        }
    }
}

using System;
using System.IO;
using IronXL;

namespace RenameExcelSheets
{
    public class Program
    {
        public static void Main()
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Demo Rename Excel Sheets Using IronXL");
            Console.WriteLine("Enter Folder where Excel Files are present to rename to FinancialReport2024");
            
            // Getting input folder path from user
            var folderPath = Console.ReadLine();

            // Check if the provided path is not empty
            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(folderPath))
            {
                throw new ArgumentException("Path is empty");
            }

            // Check if the given folder path exists
            if (!Directory.Exists(folderPath))
            {
                throw new ArgumentException("Path is Wrong");
            }

            // Get all files in the directory
            var files = Directory.GetFiles(folderPath);
            
            // Define output directory for renamed files
            var outputPath = Path.Combine(folderPath, "output");
            Directory.CreateDirectory(outputPath); // Ensures the output directory exists

            var index = 0;
            foreach (var file in files)
            {
                // Load an existing Excel file
                WorkBook workBook = WorkBook.Load(file);

                // Select the first worksheet (index 0)
                WorkSheet workSheet = workBook.WorkSheets[0];

                // Rename the worksheet
                workSheet.Name = "FinancialReport2024"; // change the name property

                // Save the modified workbook with a new name in the output folder
                workBook.SaveAs(Path.Combine(outputPath, $"FinancialReport2024_{index++}.xlsx"));
            }
        }
    }
}

Imports System
Imports System.IO
Imports IronXL

Namespace RenameExcelSheets
    Public Class Program
        Public Shared Sub Main()
            Console.WriteLine("Demo Rename Excel Sheets Using IronXL")
            Console.WriteLine("Enter Folder where Excel Files are present to rename to FinancialReport2024")

            ' Getting input folder path from user
            Dim folderPath = Console.ReadLine()

            ' Check if the provided path is not empty
            If String.IsNullOrEmpty(folderPath) Then
                Throw New ArgumentException("Path is empty")
            End If

            ' Check if the given folder path exists
            If Not Directory.Exists(folderPath) Then
                Throw New ArgumentException("Path is Wrong")
            End If

            ' Get all files in the directory
            Dim files = Directory.GetFiles(folderPath)

            ' Define output directory for renamed files
            Dim outputPath = Path.Combine(folderPath, "output")
            Directory.CreateDirectory(outputPath) ' Ensures the output directory exists

            Dim index = 0
            For Each file In files
                ' Load an existing Excel file
                Dim workBook As WorkBook = WorkBook.Load(file)

                ' Select the first worksheet (index 0)
                Dim workSheet As WorkSheet = workBook.WorkSheets(0)

                ' Rename the worksheet
                workSheet.Name = "FinancialReport2024" ' change the name property

                ' Save the modified workbook with a new name in the output folder
                workBook.SaveAs(Path.Combine(outputPath, $"FinancialReport2024_{index}.xlsx"))
                index += 1
            Next
        End Sub
    End Class
End Namespace

Imports System
Imports System.IO
Imports IronXL

Namespace RenameExcelSheets
    Public Class Program
        Public Shared Sub Main()
            Console.WriteLine("Demo Rename Excel Sheets Using IronXL")
            Console.WriteLine("Enter Folder where Excel Files are present to rename to FinancialReport2024")

            ' Getting input folder path from user
            Dim folderPath = Console.ReadLine()

            ' Check if the provided path is not empty
            If String.IsNullOrEmpty(folderPath) Then
                Throw New ArgumentException("Path is empty")
            End If

            ' Check if the given folder path exists
            If Not Directory.Exists(folderPath) Then
                Throw New ArgumentException("Path is Wrong")
            End If

            ' Get all files in the directory
            Dim files = Directory.GetFiles(folderPath)

            ' Define output directory for renamed files
            Dim outputPath = Path.Combine(folderPath, "output")
            Directory.CreateDirectory(outputPath) ' Ensures the output directory exists

            Dim index = 0
            For Each file In files
                ' Load an existing Excel file
                Dim workBook As WorkBook = WorkBook.Load(file)

                ' Select the first worksheet (index 0)
                Dim workSheet As WorkSheet = workBook.WorkSheets(0)

                ' Rename the worksheet
                workSheet.Name = "FinancialReport2024" ' change the name property

                ' Save the modified workbook with a new name in the output folder
                workBook.SaveAs(Path.Combine(outputPath, $"FinancialReport2024_{index}.xlsx"))
                index += 1
            Next
        End Sub
    End Class
End Namespace

Code Explanation

1. The program prompts the user to enter a folder path where Excel files are located.
2. It checks if the folder path is an empty string and if the folder actually exists.
3. It retrieves all the files from the specified folder.
4. It iterates through these files, loading each one into a WorkBook object from the IronXL library.
5. For each workbook, it renames the first worksheet.
6. It saves each modified workbook in an "output" folder within the original folder.

Output

In the below output, you can see all the 3 files are renamed and the Excel sheet inside them is also renamed to FinancialReport2024.

Advantages of renaming Excel sheets programmatically include

• Efficiency: Automation reduces manual effort and human errors associated with manual renaming, saving time and resources.
• Consistency: Automated renaming ensures uniformity and adherence to naming conventions across sheets, enhancing data organization and readability.
• Scalability: Programmatically renaming sheets allows for bulk renaming and scalability, making it suitable for handling large datasets or repetitive tasks.
• Integration: Integration with existing workflows or applications enables seamless data processing and enhances overall productivity.
• Customization: Automation provides flexibility to customize renaming logic based on specific business requirements or criteria.

Licensing

IronXL is an enterprise library that works with a license agreement. More on license can be found here. The license key needs to be placed in the appsettings.json file here.

{
  "IronXL.License.LicenseKey" : "IRONXL-MYLICENSE-KEY-1EF01"
}

{
  "IronXL.License.LicenseKey" : "IRONXL-MYLICENSE-KEY-1EF01"
}

Conclusion

Renaming Excel files using C# is a straightforward process. By leveraging the IronXL library from Iron Software, you can easily rename Excel files within your C# applications. This library is a handy tool for developers for all Excel sheet operations, be it reading, writing, or managing.

Now that you've learned how to rename Excel files programmatically, you can incorporate this feature into your C# projects to streamline file management tasks and improve automation capabilities.