Renaming Git-tracked files can be done safely using Git's built-in commands. When you rename a file under Git version control, it's not just a simple operating system rename; Git tracks these changes intelligently. Instead of seeing the operation as deleting the old file and creating a new one (which would lose history), Git can recognize file renames automatically or when explicitly instructed, preserving the commit history associated with the file under its new name.

Use the command git mv old_filename new_filename to perform a safe rename directly within Git. For example, you might rename user_login.py to authentication_service.py during a codebase refactor. Alternatively, renaming a file outside Git (like in your OS file explorer or an IDE such as VS Code) and then staging both the deletion (old_filename) and the addition (new_filename) will also work. Git often auto-detects these as a rename, especially if the file content remains largely unchanged.

The key advantage is maintaining the complete version history linked to the file across its name change, crucial for understanding code evolution. A limitation is that Git's automatic rename detection relies on file similarity and might sometimes require explicit git mv on case-sensitive file systems for case-only changes like Config.py to config.py. Overall, this capability makes refactoring and reorganizing codebases significantly safer and more manageable.