Clean file names

Drop your files and get them renamed with safe characters only: no accents, no spaces, no symbols that break uploads, web addresses or older systems. Download them one by one or all in a ZIP.

  • Free
  • No sign-up
  • Runs in your browser
clean-filenames

100% private — files are read in your browser and never uploaded.

How it works

Drop your files

Any type, any number.

Choose the cleaning rules

Accents, case and how spaces are replaced.

Download the renamed copies

One file downloads directly, several come as a ZIP.

File names that work everywhere

A file called "Informe Financiero (Final) v2.pdf" looks fine on your own computer, but accented letters, spaces and parentheses in a file name can break an upload form, get mangled in a web address, or trip up an older system that only expects plain letters, digits, dashes and underscores. Cleaning names before sharing or publishing files avoids these problems entirely, and this tool does it for a whole batch at once.

What gets cleaned

  • Accents and special letters, such as é, ñ or ü, converted to their plain equivalent.
  • Spaces and symbols, replaced with dashes or underscores, whichever your system prefers.
  • Case, optionally converted entirely to lowercase, a common requirement for web file names.
  • The extension, optionally lowercased separately, since .PDF and .pdf are treated the same by most systems but look inconsistent mixed together.

Why it matters

Web servers and content management systems often turn spaces into %20 in a URL, which is technically valid but ugly and occasionally breaks older software. Some upload forms reject accented characters outright. Filenames that must be typed by hand, referenced in code, or used across different operating systems are safer as plain ASCII text with no spaces.

Duplicate names

If two files end up with the same cleaned name, for example "café.pdf" and "cafe.pdf" both becoming "cafe.pdf", the tool flags the clash so you can rename one manually before downloading, rather than silently overwriting one file with another.

Getting the files back

A single file downloads directly with its new name. Several files are bundled into one ZIP archive with each file already renamed inside it, ready to unzip. Nothing is uploaded: the renaming happens in your browser. For more control over the new names, such as adding a prefix or a sequence number, use the bulk rename tool.

Frequently asked questions

How do I remove accents from file names?
Drop your files and keep the accent-removal option on. Every é, ñ, ü and similar letter is converted to its plain equivalent.
How do I replace spaces in file names?
Choose dashes or underscores as the replacement, and every space and symbol in the name is swapped for it.
Can I clean many files at once?
Yes. Drop as many as you like; a single file downloads directly and several come bundled as a ZIP.
What happens if two files end up with the same name?
The tool flags the clash and disables the download until you fix the setting causing it, so no file is silently overwritten.
Does it change the file's content?
No, only its name. The content of every file stays exactly as it was.
Are my files uploaded?
No. Renaming happens entirely in your browser.

Related tools

More utilities that also run without leaving your browser.

Compare two file listsPaste two lists of file names and see what's missing from each. Create a ZIP filePack any files into a single ZIP archive and download it. File list to textDrop files and get their names as a plain text list you can copy or download. Bulk rename filesRename many files at once with a prefix, numbering and find and replace. Upload limit checkerCheck which files pass a size limit before you try to upload them. File type detectorFind what a file really is by its content, not its extension.