Rename Hyper-v VM

Question

Rename Hyper-v VM

Handian Sudianto 7,361

How / Can we rename the Hyper-V VM with the file name? Example i have VM-01 then i want change to VM-100 and the files will be changed to VM-100 also.

In vmware this can be done by moving the VM to other datasore.

0 comments

3 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

HLBui 11,090 Independent Advisor

Hi Handian Sudianto

How is everything? Have you been able to solve the problem? If you have, it's really appreciated to "Accept the answer" as a way to share your experience with the community. If you need more information, feel free to leave a message. We are happy to help!

0 comments

Answer 2

Good day Handian Sudianto

Hyper‑V doesn’t handle VM renaming quite the same way VMware does. In Hyper‑V, when you rename a VM in the manager, it only changes the display name you see in the console, not the underlying folder or file names. The actual configuration files, checkpoints, and VHDX files keep their original names unless you manually move or rename them. If you want the VM files to match the new name (like VM‑100 instead of VM‑01), you’ll need to shut down the VM, export it, and then re‑import it with the new name that process will create a fresh folder structure aligned with the new VM name. Another option is to manually rename the VHDX and config files, but you’ll have to update the VM settings to point to the renamed files, otherwise Hyper‑V won’t know where to find them.

It’s more manual compared to VMware’s datastore move, but the export/import route is the cleanest and least error‑prone. Just make sure you’ve got backups before doing any file renaming, because Hyper‑V can be picky if paths don’t line up. Once you’ve re‑imported, you’ll see both the VM name and the file structure reflect the new naming convention.

If everything is okay, don't forget to share your experience with the issue by "Accept answer". If you need more information, feel free to leave a message. We are happy to help!

Answer 3

Hyper-V supports renaming the VM object; this does not automatically rename all underlying files. Renaming the VM and renaming/moving its files are separate operations.

To rename the VM itself, use the Rename-VM cmdlet from the Hyper-V module. For example:

Rename-VM -ComputerName Server1 -Name VM-01 -NewName VM-100

or, using the pipeline and returning the updated VM object:

Get-VM VM-01 | Rename-VM -NewName VM-100 -PassThru

This changes the VM name as seen in Hyper-V Manager and PowerShell. Any renaming or relocation of the associated configuration, snapshot, and VHD/VHDX files must be done manually (for example, by shutting down the VM, moving/renaming files in storage, and updating the VM configuration or creating a new VM that uses the existing disks). Hyper-V does not provide a single built-in operation equivalent to VMware’s “move to another datastore and rename files” behavior.

References: