# Numbers in file names: now officially endorsed **URL:** \ **Category:** Concepts\ **Created:** [March 11, 2022, 4:34am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/numbers-in-file-names-now-officially-endorsed/398 "2022-03-11T04:34:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/johnnydecimal/32/1759_2.png) [@johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/johnnydecimal)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 4:34am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/numbers-in-file-names-now-officially-endorsed/398/1 "2022-03-11T04:34:33Z")
I’ll expand on my smug tweet [edit: now gone, as I have my tweets delete on a schedule] earlier regarding the question of putting numbers in file names. Earlier this week the boss mailed me a couple of old Project schedule files. “Got any later versions of these?”, was the request. The file names included the number: `31.91 [whatever].mpp`. They were last updated in 2017. We haven’t touched that project in years, but I still have the SharePoint folder bookmarked. So, basically as fast as my hand could move the mouse, I found that folder. (The answer was ‘no’, those were the latest files.) Now I _might_ have been able to find those files if the numbers hadn’t been in the file name, but for sure it would have taken longer. And now I realise that having the numbers there made me convinced that, were I to look, I would find them. Whereas with no numbers it’s just a lottery and you don’t know when to give up. Remember, these files are now five years old. So, for a certain class of files – those that might be shared at work is squarely in that class – I am now convinced that putting the number in the file name is what you should do. This won’t apply to everything, and I’ll think on this for the next few weeks. What does everyone else do? Do we have any numbers-in-file-names people here? ---
**Author:** ![dixonge](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/a698b9/32.png) [@dixonge](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/dixonge)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 11:55am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/numbers-in-file-names-now-officially-endorsed/398/2 "2022-03-11T11:55:58Z")
I’d probably be more consistent with this if I would stop moving things around lol - renaming tons of files is a pain. As it is, it’s a mixed bag. I mostly use Alfred to find anything, and it normally works fine. However, in testing this quickly, I immediately discovered a use case where numbers would probably solve my issue (assuming I could _remember_ the number). I searched for ‘Account’ in Alfred. I’m looking for my main spreadsheet where I track net liquid assets. This brings up nine files, two of which are older versions (one in Numbers, one in Excel) of this file. The current version is in Numbers, but this file is stored in Google Drive, not iCloud. Alfred only finds the one in iCloud. It seems to be blind to the local copy of my file in Google Drive (MyDrive). After opening the file once it now shows up in Alfred, but still as the second option behind the iCloud Drive version. And in JD my iCloud Drive is _not_ numbered. I mainly let apps store things there as needed, like metadata, etc. Or files I don’t care to track. For the majority of files, Google Drive only. But Alfred wants to prioritize iCloud for some reason. I may be able to tweak that in Alfred, but if my files were numbered it would do two things: 1. It would quickly distinguish between JD files and other files 2. It might help me remember the number (eventually) Of course, once the number is remembered I just type _that_ into Alfred and all the other versions disappear. Also, need to rename and/or archive these previous versions as well. So I guess now I need to do a lot of renaming _sob_ Thanks? ---
**Author:** ![johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/johnnydecimal/32/1759_2.png) [@johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/johnnydecimal)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 10:09pm UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/numbers-in-file-names-now-officially-endorsed/398/3 "2022-03-11T22:09:23Z")
> [@dixonge](#): > > So I guess now I need to do a lot of renaming Can you script it? I’m no good at bash/zsh scripting so my go-to is to drop the list of stuff out to Excel and just `CONCATENATE()` me some commands that I can then dump back in to the Terminal. Bit janky but it works and I’m never afraid that I’ll accidentally delete my life. ---
**Author:** ![dixonge](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/a698b9/32.png) [@dixonge](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/dixonge)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2022, 3:37am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/numbers-in-file-names-now-officially-endorsed/398/4 "2022-03-12T03:37:41Z")
Not that many files really. I use Finder first, then Forklift. If it’s more tricky I break out VSCode for regex. ---
**Author:** ![jdnumbers](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@jdnumbers](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/jdnumbers)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2022, 1:13pm UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/numbers-in-file-names-now-officially-endorsed/398/5 "2022-03-18T13:13:07Z")
I’ve put the numbers in some files. The problem is that when I move the folder to a different section, I often dont have the time to renumber the files. The other issue I had is that I’m trying to be more intentional when naming files, so I actually know what the file is, and when putting numbers, some filenames got way too long. ---
**Author:** ![jdnumbers](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@jdnumbers](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/jdnumbers)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2022, 1:14pm UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/numbers-in-file-names-now-officially-endorsed/398/6 "2022-03-18T13:14:22Z")
I found Pathfinder to be better than Forklift for this task. I recently did some batch renumbering and Forklift couldn’t do what I was trying to achieve. Nicer interface than Pathfinder, but they’re the king for renumbering. ---
**Author:** ![warrenthrush](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/warrenthrush/32/245_2.png) [@warrenthrush](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/warrenthrush)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2022, 12:59pm UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/numbers-in-file-names-now-officially-endorsed/398/7 "2022-03-21T12:59:43Z")
Hey guys, I know a lot of folks use the Mac for their personal and work lives. Because of what I do I use Windows and found a useful utility that was helpful if I needed to add JD numbers into old file names. I use software called Advanced Renamer. It’s free for personal use but I registered it to support the developer. I’m not connected to the developer or anything like that, I just thought it was worth mentioning a useful tool for this task. ---
**Author:** ![Craftidore](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/45deac/32.png) [@Craftidore](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/Craftidore)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2022, 7:40pm UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/numbers-in-file-names-now-officially-endorsed/398/8 "2022-06-03T19:40:27Z")
I’m of two minds about this. I should start out by saying I use a slightly modified JD system. I don’t disallow files inside AC folders, but those files get explicit AC.ID numbers. I do this for things that I’ll only ever need the single file for. For example, if I have an plot overview of a book I’m writing, that’s a single file, and I want it to have a specific AC.ID number. As to adding numbers to actual files inside a AC.ID folder… rarely, but sometimes. There are three cases. 1. It will be sent/stored elsewhere. Sometimes I have to put files outside my main folder system organized by JD. Likewise, if it’s something that I’m pretty sure I’ll be sharing with others and may need to later know where I got the file I sent, then I’ll definitely add a AC.ID number to the file. 2. I want file order. For example, I have notes on [Sanderson’s Lectures on Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cf-qdZ7GbA&list=PLSH_xM-KC3Zv-79sVZTTj-YA6IAqh8qeQ). Those lectures have an order to them and I want to maintain that order, so I do add numbers, just not AC.ID numbers. 3. I want some sort of explanation of what the AC.ID folder is that needs to be separate from my [Indeces](https://johnnydecimal.com/concepts/tracking-your-numbers/). I’ll give that file the same number and name as it’s outer folder. ---
**Author:** ![awaldraff](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@awaldraff](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/awaldraff)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2025, 3:36pm UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/numbers-in-file-names-now-officially-endorsed/398/9 "2025-11-24T15:36:07Z")
I have created tags for each AC.ID that I have created and [Hazel](https://www.noodlesoft.com) takes care of the filing for me. But I’m now doubting if I should include some kind of reference to AC.ID in the file name to make it easier to find. The issue is the lack of automation tools in my iPad/iPhone. ---
**Author:** ![johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/johnnydecimal/32/1759_2.png) [@johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/johnnydecimal)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2025, 6:00am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/numbers-in-file-names-now-officially-endorsed/398/10 "2025-11-25T06:00:58Z")
Oh neat idea having Hazel do it. That’s a great little utility. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff-LovettSundries](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/jeff-lovettsundries/32/1198_2.png) [@Jeff-LovettSundries](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/Jeff-LovettSundries)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2025, 8:00pm UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/numbers-in-file-names-now-officially-endorsed/398/11 "2025-11-25T20:00:12Z")
I pretty much always put the numbers in the file names for exactly this reason. It’s also a handy key for my colleagues, who are less digitally inclined, to track down files. For instance, I print the AC.ID on our inventory tracking stickers so when someone needs to print more it’s easy to find. As I’ve changed the system here and there over the last couple of years I’ve had to do a lot of renaming, but there’s a great app for windows called Bulk Rename Utility that is very capable for someone who’s not comfortable with command line work. > **[Bulk Rename Utility - Free File Renaming Software](https://www.bulkrenameutility.co.uk/)** > > Bulk Rename Utility: Free File Rename Utility for Windows. Bulk Rename Utility allows you to easily batch rename files and folders based upon many flexible criteria. Free Download. I’m a huge fan of this software! ---
**Author:** ![johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/johnnydecimal/32/1759_2.png) [@johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/johnnydecimal)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2025, 10:00am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/numbers-in-file-names-now-officially-endorsed/398/12 "2025-11-26T10:00:11Z")
Nice, and just for the record there’s a basic version of this built in to macOS. Select 2+ files, right-click and Rename…, and you’ll see this dingus. ![z-CleanShot 2025-11-26 17-58-46@2x](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/uploads/default/original/2X/f/f6be0cfcf2d16ddacc77c571b538ac19e63cd73b.jpeg) Funny enough I used it not 10 minutes ago, adding `22.00.0170.` to the front of every image that started `19`. (For context, [latest blog post](https://johnnydecimal.com/20-29-communication/22-blog/22.00.0170-lucy-tgif-annual-reports/).)