File Name Generator
Create tidy, predictable file names in bulk. Enter titles or existing names, or drop files to use their names, and apply a pattern with tokens such as {date}, {n} and {name}, a case style such as kebab-case or snake_case, and ASCII clean-up. Names are checked against the rules of Windows, macOS and Linux, duplicates are numbered, and you can download a PowerShell or bash script that performs the renaming.
- Runs in your browser
- No sign-up
- Free to use
How to use File Name Generator
- Enter names or drop files (only their names are used).
- Write a pattern with tokens such as {date}_{name}_{n}.
- Choose the case style, date format and counter.
- Copy the names or download a rename script.
File Name Generator features
Pattern tokens
{name}, {n}, {date}, {time}, {ext}, {random} and {parent}.
Case styles
kebab-case, snake_case, camelCase, PascalCase or lower case.
Cross-platform safe
Removes forbidden characters, trailing dots and reserved names like CON.
ASCII clean-up
Café becomes Cafe; symbols are removed.
Unique names
Duplicates get a number automatically.
Rename scripts
PowerShell, bash (no overwriting) or a CSV mapping.
When to use File Name Generator
- Renaming a folder of photos to date-and-number names.
- Creating URL-friendly names for website images and downloads.
- Standardising document names for a shared drive.
- Preparing file names for a system that rejects spaces or accents.
File Name Generator FAQ
Are my files renamed or uploaded?
No. Dropped files are used only for their names. To rename the real files, run the generated script in the folder that contains them.
Which characters are not allowed?
Windows forbids < > : " / \ | ? * and control characters, and names cannot end with a dot or space. Names like CON, PRN, AUX, NUL, COM1 and LPT1 are reserved. The generator avoids all of them.
Why use kebab-case?
Lower-case words joined with hyphens work everywhere: in URLs, on case-sensitive Linux servers and in search engines, which treat hyphens as word separators.
Is the rename script safe?
The bash script uses mv -n so it never overwrites an existing file, and names are quoted for both shells. Review it before running, and keep a backup.
What does {parent} do?
It inserts the name of the folder a dropped file came from, useful when files from several folders end up together.
How long can names be?
Most systems allow 255 characters, but shorter names are easier to handle; the default limit is 80.
Good file names
File names travel further than we expect. A document saved on a laptop ends up on a Linux web server, in an e-mail attachment, in a ZIP archive opened on another system and in a URL. Characters that are fine in one place break things in another: spaces become %20 in links, accents get mangled by old tools, colons are forbidden on Windows, and Linux treats Report.pdf and report.pdf as different files.
A naming convention avoids these problems. Lower-case ASCII letters and digits, with hyphens or underscores between words, work everywhere. Dates written as year-month-day sort chronologically, and counters with leading zeros, such as 007, sort numerically. A consistent pattern also makes files easier to find and scripts easier to write.
The generator applies such a convention in bulk. The pattern decides the structure and the tokens fill in the parts: the original name, a counter, the date or time, the extension, a random suffix or the parent folder. The case style then joins the words, and ASCII clean-up turns letters such as é, ü and ß into plain equivalents and removes other symbols.
Safety checks run on every name. Characters forbidden on Windows are removed, as are trailing dots and spaces, names that Windows reserves for devices get a suffix, overly long names are shortened while keeping the extension, and duplicates receive a number so that no file overwrites another.
To apply the names to real files, choose a rename script. The PowerShell version uses Rename-Item with literal paths, and the bash version uses mv -n so existing files are never overwritten; both quote names correctly. A CSV mapping is also available for other renaming tools.