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How to: Manage Digital Records

File Names Best Practices

It is important to follow best practices for file names in order to ensure your electronic files are organized and accessible. No one wants to spend extra time digging through poorly labeled folders to find a specific piece file.

Good file names:

  • Are consistent.
  • Are descriptive but short. They should be 25 charaters or less. 
  • Avoid special characters (such as !@#$%, spaces, etc.).
  • Always use leading zeroes, especially when there will be a large number of files. For example, end a file name with “001, 002, 003, …". This way, the files will automatically organize into sequential order, even into the hundreds.
  • Format dates either as YYYYMMDD or YYMMDD. By naming the year first, this will ensure that your files stay in date order when sorted by file title.
  • Uses dashes (ex. file-name) or capital letters (ex. FileName) instead of spaces (which many software programs will not recognize). Underscores (ex. file_name) should be avoided because they get covered in underlined hyperlinks.

Examples:

  • Russian-Icons-Archives.doc
  • ProjectQ-ADv002.jpg
  • ProjectQ-ADv003.jpg
  • 1982-HCAerialCampus.jpg
  • DinandFrontFacade.tif
  • 20201013-Fall20Update.pdf

Be sure to create a guide for your naming conventions to describe your schema in a clear and precise way. This will help you and your team members stay on the same page and will ensure your files stay organized. Once you create your naming convention, be sure to stick with it!

Renaming Files in Bulk

If you find yourself in a position where you need to change the name of multiple files at once, consider using a specialized software such as Bulk Rename Utility or Renamer.