Rename PDF files by their content — in bulk, on your device
Invoices, receipts and scans named from their own date, number, total and sender, with the files themselves unchanged.
Free: 3 jobs per UTC day, 25 MB per file. PDF exports include a visible Made with Bindery watermark. Pro exports clean PDFs.
Prefer the full studio? Open Rename PDFs by content in the app →
A folder of scan0001.pdf, IMG_2231.pdf and invoice(3).pdf tells you nothing. Bindery reads each PDF’s own text in your browser and pulls out what a file name needs: the document date (the invoice date rather than the due date), an invoice, receipt or reference number, the total due, the sender from the top of the first page, and the title. Choose a pattern such as {date}_{from}_{number} and every file gets a name like 2025-03-14_Acme_Supplies_Ltd_INV-1042.pdf.
Each proposed name is shown next to the old one with what was found, and you can type over any of them. A field that is not found drops out of the name, and a file with nothing to read keeps its old name. The PDFs are not rewritten — only their names change — and they download as a ZIP with a CSV listing old names, new names and the fields found. Nothing is uploaded.
How it works
- Drop the PDFs and open Rename by content
- Pick a pattern, check the proposed names and type over any you want different
- Download the renamed files as a ZIP, with the list of old and new names
What is read from each file
| Field | Where it comes from |
|---|---|
| {date} | A labelled document date first — Invoice date, Date of issue, Statement date, Receipt date, Order date, or a plain Date that is not a due, expiry, delivery or payment date — else the first date on the page. Written YYYY-MM-DD so names sort in order. |
| {number} | The value after Invoice No, Receipt #, Reference, Order number, Credit note, Quote and similar labels, on the same line or in the row below the label. It must contain a digit. |
| {amount} | Amount due, Balance due, Grand total or Invoice total first, else a plain Total — never a subtotal. |
| {from} | The largest text near the top of the first page, which is usually the sender’s name or letterhead, leaving out words like Invoice and Receipt. |
| {title} | The document title from the PDF’s properties, unless it is a software placeholder such as “Microsoft Word - draft3.docx”; otherwise the largest heading on the first page. |
| {name} · {n} | The file’s current name, and its place in the list (01, 02…). |
Only the first two pages are read, so large files are quick. Labels are recognised in English with some German, Spanish, French and Italian forms.
Names that work everywhere
Accents are folded (Société becomes Societe), anything that is not a letter, digit or hyphen becomes an underscore, each field is kept under 40 characters and the whole name under 120. When two files would get the same name, the second becomes name_2 — nothing is overwritten when you unzip. A field that is not found disappears together with the separator before it, so “{date}_{from}_{number}” for a file without a number gives 2025-03-14_Acme_Supplies_Ltd rather than a name ending in an underscore.
Honest limits
- It reads text, not pictures. A letterhead that is only a logo gives no sender; run OCR on scans first.
- It guesses the sender. The largest text at the top is usually the sender, but not always — the preview is there to check.
- Ambiguous dates are read day first. 03/04/2025 becomes 3 April; type over the name if your documents are month first.
Renaming in the browser versus uploading
| Rename by content | Bindery | Upload-based tools |
|---|---|---|
| Where the file is processed | In your browser tab, on your device | Uploaded to the service’s servers |
| Your documents | Read on your device; the files are not changed | Uploaded so a server can read them |
| Checking the names | Every proposed name shown with its fields before download | Often applied without a preview |
| What exists afterwards | The original and the new file, both on your device | A server copy until the retention window ends |
| Works offline | Yes, once the app has loaded | No |
Questions people ask
Are my files changed?
No. The bytes of each PDF go into the ZIP exactly as they came in; only the names are new. Free-plan exports are otherwise watermarked, but these files are not, because nothing inside them was touched.
What if a date or number is read wrongly?
Every proposed name is shown with the fields it came from before you download, so a wrong one is easy to spot and type over. Dates with the day and month both 12 or under are read day first; change the name by hand if your documents use month first.
Does it work on scanned PDFs?
Once they have text. Run OCR on scans first — on your device, free for 5 pages a day — and then rename the searchable copies. A file with no text keeps its name unless you type a new one.
How many files can I rename at once?
As many as your browser can hold in memory; each file’s first two pages are read, so a few hundred invoices is fine on most computers. On the free plan, the rename is one of your 3 jobs a day and files can be up to 25 MB each.
Can I keep part of the old name?
Yes — put {name} in the pattern, for example {date}_{name}, to put the date in front of each file’s current name.