AutoRename is a Nextcloud app that automatically renames and organizes files based on user-defined rules.
AutoRename processes files when they are uploaded, moved, or renamed in a folder containing a .rename.conf file. Rules in this file use regular expressions (regex) to match file names and define how they should be renamed or moved. These rules are applied during the next background job.
- 📝 Define renaming rules using powerful regular expressions.
- 📂 Move files to subfolders specified in the new name (e.g., subfolder/new_name).
- 📅 Insert metadata like dates, EXIF data, or file modification times into filenames using placeholders.
- 🔄 Transform filenames to uppercase or lowercase.
- Install AutoRename via the Nextcloud App Store or manually place the app in the
apps-extra/directory. - Enable the app in the Nextcloud admin panel under Settings > Apps.
- Ensure background jobs (cron) are configured for Nextcloud.
Create a .rename.conf file in the desired folder. The file can contain multiple rules, processed in order, but only one rule is applied per file.
Rules are defined using regular expression (regex) patterns to match the original file name, and replacement strings to define the new file name.
A rule can be one of the following:
-
A single
pattern:replacementpair on one lineSearches the file name for matches to the pattern and replaces them with replacement.
-
A group of multiple
pattern:replacementpairs within{}:{ pattern1:replacement1 pattern2:replacement2 }If the first pattern in the group has any match to the original file name, all pattern:replacement pairs are applied in order:
- Each
patternis replaced by its correspondingreplacement. - Each replacement operates on the result of the previous one (not the original file name).
- Each
- Once a rule matches and is applied, no further rules are evaluated for that file
- If the new name includes a subfolder (e.g.,
subfolder/new_name), the file is moved to that subfolder. - If no rule matches, the file name remains unchanged.
See Writing rules for detailed guidance.
# Sort PDF invoices by year/month: e.g. rename "Invoice_2025_04.pdf" to "Invoices/2025/04/Invoice_2025_04.pdf"
^Invoice_(\d{4})_(\d{2})\.pdf$:Invoices/$1/$2/$0
# Fallback: Move other invoice-related PDFs not matched above to "Invoices/Unsorted"
# The pattern uses (?i) for case-insensitive matching, so it also catches "invoice", "Invoice", "INVOICE", etc.
(?i)^.*invoice.*\.pdf$:Invoices/Unsorted/$0
# Change date format in filename from dd.mm.yyyy to yyyy-mm-dd, e.g. rename "01.02.2024" to "2024-02-01"
(\d{2})\.(\d{2})\.(\d{4}):$3-$2-$1
# Rename "report.pdf" to include the current date, e.g. "2025-04-11_report.pdf"
^(report)(\.pdf)$:{date|Y-m-d}_$1$2
# Prefix photos with EXIF capture date and time, e.g. rename "IMG_1234.jpg" to "25-04-11 15-30-00 IMG_1234.jpg"
# The pattern only matches, if the filename doesn't already start with a timestamp in that format
^(?!\d{2}-\d{2}-\d{2}(\s|_)\d{2}-\d{2}-\d{2}).*\.(jpg|JPG|jpeg)$:{photoDateTime|y-m-d H-i-s} $0
# Example to rename "Report_January_2022.pdf" to "2022-01_Report.pdf"
# The first line reformats the filename to "2022-January_Report.pdf"
# Then each following line replaces a month name with its numeric equivalent
{
^Report_(\w+)_(\d{4})\.pdf$:$2-$1_Report.pdf
January:01
February:02
March:03
April:04
May:05
June:06
July:07
August:08
September:09
October:10
November:11
December:12
}
-
- Need help writing rules?
- How can I test the rules?
- What placeholders can I use in the replacement string?
- How can I customize the date/time format of the placeholder?
- How do I rename files with upper/lowercase changes?
- Which regex syntax is supported?
- How can I avoid infinite renaming loops?
- How can I use
:in the pattern and replacement? - How can I use
/in the pattern and replacement?
Contributions are welcome! Feel free to submit issues and pull requests.
The file will not be renamed to avoid overwriting existing files.
The target folder will be created automatically to ensure the file can be moved there.
No, AutoRename is currently restricted to files and does not rename or move folders.
Try asking ChatGPT or other AI tools for help with writing rules. Provide a clear example and context, like this:
Use the README https://github.com/powerflo/files_autorename/blob/main/README.md to answer the following request. Only answer if you have access to the README.
Write a rule to rename the file report_10.10.2010.pdf to 2010-10-10_report.pdf.
If needed, you can also ask the community for additional support.
Writing regex can be tedious and error-prone. Always test your patterns and replacements on regex101.com using the PHP flavor (PCRE2).
To test replacements, open the "Substitution" tab in the left panel—this simulates exactly how your replacement will behave.
You can use the following placeholders to automatically inject metadata into the new file name:
| Placeholder | Description |
|---|---|
{photoDateTime} |
Original date/time the photo was taken from EXIF metadata. If that's not available, it falls back to the file modification time. |
{exifDateTimeOriginal} |
Original date/time the photo was taken, extracted from EXIF metadata. Returns an empty string if EXIF data is not available. Note: The Photos app must be installed for EXIF metadata to be available. |
{fileModifiedAt} |
The file's last modified timestamp, from the file system. |
{date} |
The current date and time. |
To insert a date or time in a specific format, use the syntax {placeholder|format}, where format follows PHP's date formatting options.
{date|Y-m-d}→2025-02-10(default format){date|m/d/y}→02/10/25{date|Y-m-d_H-i-s}→2025-02-10_14-30-15(Year-Month-Day_Hour-Minute-Second)
d: Day of the month, two digits (e.g.,01to31)m: Month, two digits (e.g.,01to12)Y: Year, four digits (e.g.,2025)y: year, two digits (e.g.,25)H: Hour in 24-hour format (e.g.,00to23)i: Minute, two digits (e.g.,00to59)s: Second, two digits (e.g.,00to59)
For a full list of formatting options, refer to the official PHP documentation: https://www.php.net/manual/en/datetime.format.php.
You can use upper(...) and lower(...) to transform parts of the replacement string to uppercase or lowercase.
Example rule to rename file.txt to FILE.txt:
^(.*)\.txt$:upper($1).txt
The AutoRename app passes the patterns and replacements defined in .rename.conf directly to PHP’s preg_replace function to determine the new file name. This means your regex must follow the PCRE2 (Perl Compatible Regular Expressions) syntax.
While regex patterns in PHP code are typically written with delimiters (like /pattern/), patterns in the .rename.conf file must be written without these delimiters. Just use the raw pattern, like:
^foo_(.*)\.txt$
Make sure your rules are designed so that the new file name does not match the pattern again, or the renaming will repeat in a loop.
For example, if you want to prepend a timestamp to the filename, make sure to exclude files that already start with a timestamp. Here's a rule that does just that:
^(?!\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}_\d{2}-\d{2}-\d{2}).*:{date|Y-m-d_H-i-s}_$0
This rule appends the current date and time (e.g., 2025-04-10_15-30-00_) to the beginning of the file name—but only if it doesn’t already start with a timestamp in that format.
The : character is used as a delimiter between the pattern and replacement in the .rename.conf file.
If you want to match a colon in the file name (i.e., use it in the pattern), you need to escape it with a backslash, like so: \:.
In the replacement part, you can use a literal : without escaping.
For example this rule renames Chapter: 01.txt to Chapter_01.txt.
^Chapter\: (\d+)\.txt$:Chapter_$1.txt
Use / directly in the pattern and replacement without escaping, as no delimiters are required.
When testing on regex101.com, change the default delimiter from / to another character (e.g., # or ~) to include / literally without escaping.
- Open your Nextcloud and navigate to the folder where you want to set up rename rules.
- Click the “+ New” button at the top and choose “New text file”.
- Name the file
.rename.conf(including the dot at the beginning) and click Create. - You can now add your rename rules directly in the file.
Alternatively, you can create the .rename.conf file locally on your computer and upload it to the desired folder in Nextcloud — just like you would with any other file.
Files that start with a dot (like .rename.conf) are hidden by default.
To view hidden files in Nextcloud:
- Click Settings at the bottom left corner of the file browser.
- Enable the “Show hidden files” option.
-
Please note that the renaming process happens in a background job, so it may take some time to complete. You can check the last run of the background job under "Administration Settings" > "Basic Settings" to see if it's in progress or has failed.
-
Test your renaming rules to ensure they are working as expected. For more information on testing your rules, refer to the "How can I test the rules?" FAQ entry.
-
Check the Log reader for any entries related to the AutoRename app. This may help identify any issues or errors that occurred during the renaming process.
No — existing files are not renamed automatically when a .rename.conf file is added or modified.
The AutoRename application is only triggered when:
- A file is uploaded into the folder
- A file is moved into the folder
- A file is renamed within the folder
In these cases, AutoRename checks for the presence of a .rename.conf file in the target folder and applies matching rules if found.
To apply new rules to existing files, you must manually trigger the renaming by either renaming the files (e.g., adding a character) or moving them out of and back into the folder.
If files are copied directly to the external storage, AutoRename can not trigger the renaming process. Instead, upload files through the Nextcloud web interface, mobile app, or desktop client.