Smart Rename: file names from content
How Smart Rename builds a file name from what's in the file, and how to check the names before they're applied, on Mac and Windows.
Smart Rename tidies up file names without you deciding how they should look. NameQuick reads each file and suggests a clear name from what the file shows. It needs no setup, and new installs start with it.
If you want your files named your own way, such as every invoice as date, vendor and invoice number, build a Preset instead. Smart Rename is for everything else: mixed files that just need a better name.
You can use Smart Rename for files you drop on NameQuick, for files you select in All Files and for any watched folder.
How Smart Rename builds a name#
NameQuick first works out what kind of file it is, then builds the name in this order:
- Documents and forms: the date on the document, who it's from, the type of document, then a short subject if there is one. For invoices and statements, the date is the issue date, not the start or end of the period covered.
- Personal records, such as payslips, bank statements, certificates and employment contracts: the same, with the person's name at the end. Invoices, receipts and tickets never get the customer's name.
- Screenshots: the app or website, then what the screen shows.
- Photos and images: the main subject, then the event or setting. A date is added only when one shows in the picture itself.
- Anything else: 2 to 5 words about what the file clearly shows.
Every Smart Rename name also follows these rules:
- Dates are written as 2026-09-01, or as 2026-09 or 2026 when only the month or year is printed. When the file doesn't make clear which number is the day and which the month, the date stays as printed.
- Words are separated by spaces. NameQuick 3.0.35 and later.
- A part is left out when the file doesn't show it. NameQuick doesn't guess a date, a sender or a document type.
- The file extension stays the same.
What NameQuick can read depends on the file format and your AI setup. See Supported Formats.
Try it on a few copies first#
Quick Rename is the window that opens when you drop files on NameQuick. It only changes the names: the files stay where they are and don't appear in All Files. The walkthrough shows it on your platform, with Review first, so the names wait for you.
Choose Smart Rename and Review first
SettingsRenamingSet Files processing mode to Smart Rename and Apply suggestions from files you add to Review first. New installs rename automatically, and then Quick Rename doesn't open at all: NameQuick renames dropped files in the background and only shows you the ones it couldn't name.
Drag the copies onto NameQuick
A sheet called Rename 3 files opens, the number matching your files, and NameQuick starts reading them straight away.
Check each name
Click a file to see its new name, its old name and a preview side by side. Untick any file whose name you don't want; it keeps its old name.
Rename the rest
Click the Rename button. It counts the ticked files, such as Rename 3 files.
Choose Smart Rename
SettingsRenamingSet Files processing mode to Smart Rename. You choose Review first in Quick Rename itself.
Drag the copies onto NameQuick
Quick Rename opens with your files, not read yet. In the bar at the bottom, choose Review first, so the names wait until you apply them. This is the same setting as Apply suggestions from files you add in Settings, so it stays for the next files you drop.
Untick what to leave out, then get the names
Untick any file you want to leave as it is: it isn't read and keeps its name. Then click the Rename button. It counts the ticked files, such as Rename 3 files.
Check each name, then apply
Each file shows its new name, with the old one under it. Click Apply 3 names, the number matching the names. This applies every name in the list, so if one is wrong, see the next section first.
When a name is wrong#
- Before you apply it, on Mac: untick the file, and it keeps its old name. If NameQuick couldn't read a file or is missing part of a name, the file waits under Needs you; click its name there to type your own.
- Before you apply it, on Windows: you can only untick a file before you click Rename. Once the names are there, Apply N names applies all of them. To keep one file out, apply the names and then undo that file in History.
- To try a Preset instead: on Mac, pick a Preset from the menu at the top of Quick Rename, and NameQuick names the files again with it. On Windows, pick it from the menu at the bottom before you click Rename. Either way, it also becomes your Files processing mode for the next files you drop.
- If the name is already taken: NameQuick never overwrites another file. When you apply a name that a file in the same folder already has, NameQuick tells you, and your file keeps its old name. A name applied automatically gets a number added instead, such as
_2. - To start over: Clear empties the Quick Rename list. The files themselves don't change.
- After you apply it: open History and undo that rename. Undo can fail when the file has been moved since, when another file now has the old name, or when the file is open in another app. See Undo & Rename History.
Language and fixed name parts#
All under SettingsRenaming
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Output language › Always use your language | Writes every name in the language you pick under Language, which starts as your system language. |
| Output language › Match the document | Uses each file's own language when it's clear, and the language you picked otherwise. |
| Filename prefix / Filename suffix | Adds fixed text before or after every suggested name, in Smart Rename and with Presets. The text is added exactly as you type it, so end a prefix with a space, such as Project , if you want one. |
| Write tags & comments into files | Off unless you turn it on. Saves the tags and short description NameQuick suggests into the file: as Finder tags and comments on Mac, and as file properties in Explorer on Windows for Office files, images, audio and video. On Windows, PDFs and plain text keep them in History only. |
When a Preset fits better#
Smart Rename decides how each name looks. When you want to decide, for example invoices always named by date, vendor and invoice number, build a Preset. A Preset also lets you choose what happens when a value is missing, and you can test it on a sample file before you use it.
AI processing and privacy
Managed processes in the EU cloud, with no AI training. Self-Managed with a cloud API sends content to the provider you chose; a local model processes it on your device. More in Data & Privacy.