Rename PDF Files
Rename many PDFs at once from their content — title, date, invoice number or any text — and download them as a ZIP.
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Add as many PDFs as you like. Free tier supports up to 50MB in total.
Processed in your browser — files never leave your device. How it works
How to Rename PDF Files Automatically by Their Content
Downloaded PDFs arrive with names like "document(7).pdf", "scan_0042.pdf" or a long string of numbers, and renaming them one by one means opening every file to see what it is. PDFDoco reads each PDF for you — the document properties and the text on the first page — and builds a clear name from what it finds: the title, the date, the invoice or order number, the author, or text you capture yourself. You see every new name before downloading, can change any of them, and get all the files back in one ZIP. Everything happens in your browser, so your files are never uploaded.
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Add your PDFs
Drop in one file or hundreds — invoices, statements, papers, scans with text.
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Build a name pattern
Combine the title, date, invoice number, author, a counter or your own text.
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Check the new names
Every file shows its old and new name. Edit any name by hand before downloading.
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Download as a ZIP
All files are renamed in one ZIP. Their contents are exactly as they were.
Reads the document for you
Finds titles, dates in many formats and invoice, order or reference numbers on page 1.
Preview every name
An editable old → new table, automatic duplicate handling and safe file names.
Nothing is uploaded
Files are read and zipped in your browser — ideal for invoices and private records.
Invoices, receipts and statements
Bookkeeping is where automatic renaming saves the most time. A pattern like {date} {text} {number} turns a folder of supplier invoices into "2026-10-14 Acme INV-20931.pdf", "2026-10-21 Acme INV-21007.pdf" and so on — sorted by date and easy to match against your bank statement. The number detector looks for labels such as Invoice No., Order #, Receipt, PO, Reference and Account, and ignores dates and years so they aren't mistaken for numbers.
Dates that sort properly
Whatever format a document uses — 03/11/2026, 3 November 2026, Nov 3, 2026 or 2026-11-03 — the date is written into the name as YYYY-MM-DD. That ISO format sorts correctly in every file browser, so putting the date first lines files up in chronological order. If a page has several dates, a labelled one ("Invoice date", "Issued", "Date:") wins over the first date mentioned.
Research papers, reports and e-books
For articles and reports, {author} - {title} works well. The title comes from the document properties when it is meaningful; if it is missing or generic ("Untitled", "Microsoft Word - draft.docx"), the largest heading on the first page is used instead. Long titles are shortened at a word boundary so names stay readable.
Advanced: capture anything with a pattern
If the text you need has a label — "Customer: Jane Doe", "Case ref 2026/118", "Patient ID 55-1234" — open More options and enter a regular expression such as Customer:\s*(.+). The first capture group (or the whole match) becomes the {regex} piece. The pattern is case-insensitive and is checked as you type.
Safe names, untouched files
Names are cleaned so they work on Windows, macOS, Linux and in cloud storage: forbidden characters are removed, reserved names like CON or NUL are avoided, trailing dots and spaces are trimmed and very long names are shortened. Duplicates get (2), (3)… automatically. The PDFs themselves are copied into the ZIP exactly as they were — no re-saving, so digital signatures stay valid.
Pro tip: scanned PDFs have no text to read. Run them through OCR first, or rename them with a pattern like {text}_{counter} — the counter follows the order of the list.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I rename multiple PDF files at once?
Add all the PDFs, choose a name pattern such as {date} {title} or {number} - {title}, check the list of new names, and click Download. You get one ZIP file containing every PDF with its new name. You can edit individual names in the list before downloading.
Can it rename PDFs by the text inside them?
Yes — that's what it's for. It reads the document properties and the text on the first page, then picks out the title (the document title, or else the biggest heading on page 1), the first line, a date, and an invoice, order or reference number. For anything else, the advanced pattern option lets you capture any text with a regular expression.
Which date formats are recognised?
Common written and numeric formats, including 2026-11-03, 03/11/2026, 11/03/2026, 3.11.2026, 3 November 2026, Nov 3, 2026 and 03-Nov-2026. Dates labelled "Date", "Invoice date" or "Issued" are preferred. Every date is written as YYYY-MM-DD so files sort in date order. For ambiguous dates like 03/04/2026 you choose whether the day or the month comes first.
Does renaming change the PDF itself?
No. Only the file name changes. The ZIP contains the original files byte for byte, so signatures, form data, attachments and metadata are all untouched.
What happens if two files get the same name?
Duplicates are detected automatically — ignoring upper and lower case, as Windows and macOS do — and numbered: Invoice.pdf, Invoice (2).pdf, Invoice (3).pdf. Characters that aren't allowed in file names, such as / : * ? " < > |, are removed so the names work on every system.
Why didn't it find any text in my PDF?
Scanned PDFs are pictures of pages and contain no text until they are run through text recognition (OCR). For those files, the pattern falls back to the pieces that don't need text — like the original name, a counter or your own text — and you can type a name by hand. Password-protected files are handled the same way and are still included in the ZIP.
How many files can I rename?
As many as your browser can hold in memory — usually hundreds of typical PDFs. Only the first page of each file is read, so even long documents are quick.