Step-by-step guide

How to rename a PDF

File names are the first index most people use. A folder of scan001.pdf files is technically searchable and practically useless. Rename can take text from the document and put it in the filename, so the name describes the content.

Step by step

  1. 1

    Upload your PDF

    Drag your PDF onto the box or click Choose file. It is sent over an encrypted connection and only used for this task.

  2. 2

    Set the options

    Adjust name pattern. Every field has a sensible default, so you can usually run the tool straight away.

  3. 3

    Run it and download

    Press Rename and the page shows progress while it works. When it finishes you get a download link — nothing is emailed and nothing is stored longer than it needs to be.

Pick text that identifies the document

Use a client name, invoice number or reference that appears consistently on the page. The pattern uses a text token from the document; the exact field or region should be stable across files. Check the first and last file in a batch: a name that works for one invoice may pick up a header from the next.

Patterns and safe characters

Keep the pattern short and avoid characters that operating systems reserve, such as slashes or colons. A date or reference prefix sorts a folder predictably; a person’s name makes it easy to find. Do not include sensitive identifiers in a name that will be shared outside the organisation.

Check for collisions

Download a batch and look for duplicate names. Two files with the same text token will collide; add a counter or a date. Open one renamed file to confirm the name matches its contents. The original PDF is unchanged, so a wrong pattern can be re-run safely.

Good habits for Rename

  • OCR runs in your browser, so scanned documents are never uploaded.
  • Straighten the scan first — deskewed pages give noticeably better OCR.
  • A 300 DPI scan is the sweet spot between accuracy and speed.

Common questions

Is this tool free?

Yes. Every tool on this site is free to use, with no sign-up, no watermark and no daily task limit.

Do I need to install anything?

No. The tools run in your browser and are processed by this server.

What happens to my files?

They are stored under an unguessable id and swept automatically after a couple of hours. Nothing is shared or indexed.

Does it work on a phone?

Yes. The page pickers and editors are built for touch, so dragging, rotating and selecting pages all work without a mouse.

What does Rename do exactly?

Sets the document title from the text on its first page.

Can I rename a scanned PDF?

Only if the text is available. Run OCR first so the extractor can read the page text, or use a manual name pattern.

Does renaming change the PDF contents?

No. It creates a new file name for the download; the document itself is unchanged.

What if two files get the same name?

Add a counter or date token to the pattern. Check the download list for collisions before filing the copies.

Open Rename All PDF guides

More tool information

What the other tools do

OCR

Adds a real text layer behind the images of a scanned PDF, so the document becomes searchable, selectable and copyable while looking exactly the same. Recognition runs in the browser by default.

BETAWorkflows

Chains the one-shot tools into a pipeline and runs it on a document in a single pass — rotate, crop, resize, n-up, flip, grayscale, deskew, watermark, header and footer, page numbers, Bates, metadata, bookmarks, annotation removal, compress, repair, flatten, protect and unlock.

Delete Pages

Removes pages from a copy of the document. The pages you keep are copied whole, and bookmarks pointing at them come along unless you tick the discard box.

Split by pages

Splits a document by page ranges you write yourself — one group per line. Each group becomes its own file, named from a pattern such as [BASENAME]-[CURRENTPAGE].

Keep reading

Related Blog Posts

More PDF tools