Open a folder full of materials from a few months ago and it’s easy to see how vague file names fail. File names such as report, new report, final report, and final report 2 work at the time they’re created, but say very little afterwards. What type of document is it? Who does it relate to? When was it made? Is it an original or a revised copy? What is its current status? You’ll have to open each file to find out.
Before building a file naming convention, take ten examples of a single activity, for example, invoices, meeting minutes, or incoming correspondence. Change their names to a similar format. An example might be: Date, Document Type, Subject, Reference Number, Version, Status. Some types of documents don’t need all the elements, but the format should still be the same. Look at your newly named files. Are they easy to read? Do related files sit near each other?
Pay close attention to the dates. Different date formats can break the ability to sort alphabetically. For example, files named 2026-08-05 will sort correctly. However, 05-08-26 may be sorted differently depending on the regional settings of the computer you use. The date also needs to be unambiguous. Does it refer to when the document was created, received, approved, issued, or registered? Choose one and stick to it for all documents in a certain record group.
The version and status sections need to be different. The version tells you which iteration of the file you are looking at; the status explains if the file is a working draft, approved copy, reference copy, or outdated copy. Policy_Update_2026-08-05_v03_Draft is more helpful than Policy_Update_Final. Once the file has been approved, give it an appropriate status instead of calling it Final again. Keep the older versions around, move them, or delete them according to your file plan and policies.
Names aren’t always better if they’re long. File names can be too long if they duplicate information already available in the folder structure or document register. Shorten file names with abbreviations, but make sure they are clear and used consistently. INV, Invoice, and Invc are all very different. Don’t use characters that won’t be recognised in all systems. Use one separator character, like a hyphen or underscore, instead of lots of different ones.
After putting the file naming convention into practice, evaluate it during searches, not just based on how it looks. Give someone a particular subject, date, reference number, or status and ask them to find the corresponding document. Find out what worked well about the file name and what needed clarification. Then tweak the file naming convention before implementing it more widely. A good file naming convention should allow you to slot the next file into place without needing to come up with a new rule each time.
