{"id":36354,"date":"2026-07-31T15:41:38","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T22:41:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/?p=36354"},"modified":"2026-07-31T15:41:38","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T22:41:38","slug":"rename-files-numbers-george","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/2026\/07\/rename-files-numbers-george\/","title":{"rendered":"Renaming Scanned Files Using Numbers \u2014 George from Tulsa"},"content":{"rendered":"

George from Tulsa here to share a couple of Mac file management tips I use every day.<\/p>\n

In Allison’s honor, here’s the problem to be solved. There are now four of us in my work group. We download, create, and edit lots of files, then store them on a Synology NAS with zillions of others accumulated over decades. Without a consistent naming convention, chaos will ensue. And that’s as true for my smaller collection of personal files as for the larger set at work.<\/p>\n

Tip number one: it’s easy to use the Numbers spreadsheet program Apple bundles with every Mac to semi-automatically create consistent file names. If you have a Mac, you have the necessary software.<\/p>\n

Tip number two: Apple’s bundled software makes it super easy to name files AND, while they’re open, easily drag and drop them to any folder on your Mac or connected network as well as, if they’re PDFs, into another PDF.<\/p>\n

As this kind of process is both difficult and excruciatingly boring to explain in audio, I encourage you to check out the full step-by-step tutorial I’ve provided Allison to post in her show-notes for this episode. And with that, I’ll sign off with the venerable message, “stay patched, and stay subscribed.”<\/p>\n

END AUDIO<\/p>\n

George ended his audio here, but he sent along text instructions including screenshots to explain in detail how he executes this useful maneuver. He felt audio wouldn’t do it justice, but I’ve taken the liberty of stealing the mic he gave up, and I’ll explain what he gave us in written text.<\/p>\n

George keeps a template file going in Apple Numbers which has four columns. He starts with an AutoDate column, which is populated with the TODAY function.<\/p>\n

One caution: it is possible the TODAY function won’t auto-update TODAY every time you open the sheet. But it should update any time you type in something new. TODAY reads the System Clock. NOW is a similar function you can try. For file searching and sorting, having the explicit date in YYYY-MM-DD is essential and will be useful cross-platform and on external servers, such as Linux-based Synologies.<\/p>\n

\"Annotated
Dcreenshot of a Numbers sheet that will semi-automatically create consistent file names<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Annotations on the screenshot show everything needed to duplicate the sheet on your own Mac, and once you’ve done that, you can customize your own version.<\/p>\n

He includes a column for the deposit number he uses to keep track of which deposit is which. Of course, we need the payor and the amount deposited. He then uses the TEXTJOIN function to combine the values into one text string he’ll use to name the files. I’d never looked at TEXTJOIN before; I would have used CONCATENATE to do this. That meant I got to learn a new formula and why to use it vs. the one I knew (yay!)<\/p>\n

If I understand it properly, TEXTJOIN lets you define a delimiter between values to join instead of having to explicitly type it every time as you do with CONCATENATE. For example, If I want to combine cells A1 and A2 with a space between them, with CONCATENATE, I’d write:<\/p>\n

=CONCATENATE(A2,\" \",B2)<\/code><\/p>\n

That’s easy with just two values, but what if, like George, I wanted to string 4 values together with spaces between them? That required typing three times that darn comma, quote, space, quote. That’s a big waste of time and is quite error-prone.<\/p>\n

With TEXTJOIN, the first argument is what you want to use as a separator. In our example, it would be a space, so we’d only have to write \" \"<\/code> one time. You do have an extra step with TEXTJOIN. You have to next tell it what to do about empty cells, where TRUE means to skip them and FALSE means to include them as a blank in the joined text string.<\/p>\n

I learned something else in George’s equation that wasn’t explained in the documentation. His deposit number column was a set of pure numbers, but he wanted the number symbol in front of them in the file names, so instead of “1513” it would say “#1513”. To do this, his formula says, \"#\"&B2<\/code>. It turns out that “&” is called, wait for it\u2026the concatenation operator! It’s to combine two values without the separator.<\/p>\n

TEXTJOIN(\" \",TRUE,A2,\"#\"&B2,C2,D2)<\/code><\/p>\n

This sounds like a lot of work, but remember this is automating repetitive tasks. If you create a bunch of files at once and want this standardized naming convention, it’s worth the trouble to set this up ahead of time.<\/p>\n

Next is an image of a “Tiny Mac Tip for Allison” Folder structure, which contains two subfolders: “Incoming Scans” and “Scanned to Bank.”<\/p>\n

\"Folder
Folder Structure<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Scanned 0001.pdf” in “Incoming Scans” is a $2,000,000 check I received for winning the Irish Lottery. I want to apply the consistent name Numbers generated for the scan, then move it from “Incoming Scans” to the “Scanned to Bank” folder.<\/p>\n

After I’ve deposited the check, I will scan the deposit receipt and use Preview to merge it into the check PDF.<\/p>\n

Here’s “Scanned 0001.pdf,” my $2 million check, open in Preview:<\/p>\n

\"Fake
George from Tulsa is a Winner!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Clicking on the file name opens the renaming box. Balky? Click exactly on the DOWN CARET at the RIGHT of the file name.<\/p>\n

\"scanned
Scanned Check Ready to Name (using balky down caret)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With the renaming box open, copy and paste the file name generated by Numbers.<\/p>\n

\"Scanned
File Renamed Using Copy-Paste from Numbers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hit Enter, and the file is renamed.<\/p>\n

A heads up: hitting Enter INSTANTLY renames the original file. If you made any changes in the file, there’s no going back. ALWAYS duplicate any file you’re going to edit and be sure to work only in the copy. You can later delete the original if you no longer need it.<\/p>\n

Here’s the renamed file in its original “Incoming Scans” folder.<\/p>\n

\"Renamed
Renamed File<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With the SAVED and RENAMED File still open, clicking on its name will display a tiny FILE ICON to the name’s LEFT. (You may remember Bart telling us the official name for this tiny file icon is the “proxy icon”.)<\/p>\n

\"Arrow
File Icon to Drag<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Grab that Icon, and you can drag the file to any folder you wish. Anywhere on your Mac. Anywhere on your connected network storage.<\/p>\n

Here I’ve moved it to the Local Folder, “Scanned to Bank.”<\/p>\n

\"File
File In Its New Home<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Finally, you can also use the File Icon to drag the file into the sidebar of another PDF open in Preview and merge them. It may only save a few seconds, but those are a very satisfying few seconds.<\/p>\n

Doing that copies the dragged file into the target PDF and leaves its original in place as a separate file. When you save the “target file” with the new addition, it will save under its original name but with the new inclusion. If you want the “original” back without the added inclusion, you will need to delete the inclusion.<\/p>\n

As best I can tell, this file naming and dragging “trick” works on the software Apple bundles with Macs. I’ve tried it with Preview, Text Edit, Pages, and Numbers. It possibly works with others. But ONLY PDFs can be dragged into PDFs.<\/p>\n

A final heads up: using the “trick” to move a file moves the original. It does not create a duplicate and leave the original in its place.<\/p>\n

\n

Bottom Line<\/h1>\n

Thanks, George, for the nifty idea and the tutorial on the nitty-gritty details. I learned a new formula in a spreadsheet app that I will definitely be using in the future when I have long concatenations! I also learned a new word: “balky”. He used it to describe how it’s tricky to get the little dropdown selected to show a file name. The dictionary says balky (or baulky in US English) means reluctant or uncooperative. What a great word for that little dropdown!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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