User guide

How to use NameWise

Every feature, step by step — from your first rename to building your own naming templates.

🚀 1 · Getting started

A one-time setup. After this, renaming is just a right-click.

  1. Install the app. Open the downloaded NameWise.dmg, then drag the NameWise icon into your Applications folder.
  2. Open it the first time. In Applications, right-click NameWise → Open, then confirm. (Only needed the very first time.)
  3. Turn on the Finder actions. NameWise adds three right-click Quick Actions to Finder. If you don't see them, open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Extensions → Finder and tick the NameWise items.
💡 You only do this once. From now on you work entirely inside Finder — no need to open the app again.

✨ 2 · Rename a file with AI

The core feature. NameWise reads what's inside a document and gives it a clear, human-readable name.

  1. Find your file in Finder (a PDF, Word, or Excel file).
  2. Right-click it and open Quick Actions.
  3. Click NameWise.
  4. Wait a moment while it reads the document. The file is renamed automatically to a descriptive title with today's date, for example:
Scan000123.pdf → Vendor Service Contract_2026-06-16.pdf
ℹ️ The date in the name is today's date (when you rename), never a date found inside the document. Names are kept short — up to about 8 words.

⚡ 3 · Rename many files at once

Clear a whole folder of badly-named files in one pass.

  1. Select several files in Finder (click the first, then ⌘-click or Shift-click the rest).
  2. Right-click → Quick Actions → NameWise.
  3. NameWise renames each one and shows a summary notification (e.g. "Renamed 8, skipped 1").
  4. If any file couldn't be read, a window lists exactly which ones and why, so you can handle them yourself.
💡 Files that already have a good name are skipped automatically — running it twice does no harm.

↩️ 4 · Undo a rename

Changed your mind? Put the old name right back.

  1. Right-click any file → Quick Actions → NameWise: Undo Last Rename.
  2. The most recent rename is reversed and the previous filename is restored.
  3. Run it again to step back through earlier renames, one at a time.
⚠️ Undo restores the last rename NameWise made. If you've moved or deleted the file since, it will tell you it can't find it.

🗂️ 5 · Templates — your own naming rules

When you need every file named exactly the same way, templates give you strict, predictable names instead of AI free-styling.

Right-click a file → Quick Actions → My NameWise Templates. You'll see a menu of actions:

Each saved template shows up at the top as “Use: <name>”. The four actions below let you teach, build, change, or remove templates. The next sections cover each.

▶️ 6 · Use a template

Apply a saved rule to one file or a whole selection.

  1. Select the file(s) in Finder.
  2. Right-click → Quick Actions → My NameWise Templates.
  3. Choose “Use: <your template>”.
  4. NameWise reads each document, pulls out the pieces your template needs, and renames every file to your exact format.
ℹ️ If a file is missing the information your template asks for, NameWise skips it and tells you which field it couldn't find — it never invents a half-empty name.

🎓 7 · Learn a template from a filename

The fastest way to make a template: show NameWise one file you've already named well, and it figures out the pattern.

  1. Pick a file whose name you like, e.g. Acme Corp Invoice 2026-05.pdf.
  2. Right-click → My NameWise Templates → Learn Template From This File.
  3. NameWise reads the document and proposes a template, shown for your review:
Name: Client Invoice Format: {ClientName}-{DocumentType}-{Date}
  1. Review and tweak the name or the format if you want, then save. (You always get the final say — nothing is saved without your confirmation.)
  2. From now on, that template appears as “Use: Client Invoice” and any future file follows the same convention.

🛠️ 8 · Create or edit a template by hand

Prefer to write the rule yourself? Templates use two simple lines.

Choose Create Template (or Edit Template) and you'll fill in:

Name: A short name for the template Format: The filename pattern, with {Placeholders}

How the format works:

  • Anything in {curly braces} is a placeholder — NameWise reads the document and fills it in (e.g. {ClientName}, {LoanNumber}, {DocumentType}, {Date}).
  • Everything else — dashes, underscores, words, brackets — is kept exactly as you type it.
  • If a placeholder turns up empty, NameWise tidies up the leftovers (no empty ( ) or doubled --).

Examples you can copy:

Format: {ClientName}-{DocumentType}-{Date} → Globex Inc-Invoice-2026-06-16.pdf Format: Fax_L{LoanNumber}_{AssignmentType} → Fax_L1234-PRC_Disbursement.pdf
⚠️ Keep the words Name: and Format: at the start of each line — that's how NameWise reads your entry. A filename can be up to 200 characters; / becomes - and : becomes a space automatically (those aren't allowed in Mac filenames).

Edit lets you pick an existing template and change its name or format. Delete removes one you no longer use (you'll be asked to confirm).

💬 9 · Tips & FAQ

Do my files get uploaded anywhere?

Your files stay on your Mac. To name a document, NameWise sends only the text it reads to the AI to generate a title — the file itself is never uploaded, and nothing is stored on a server.

Nothing happens when I right-click. Where are the Quick Actions?

Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Extensions → Finder and make sure the NameWise items are ticked. Then right-click a file and look under Quick Actions.

The AI name isn't quite right. Can I fix it?

Yes — use NameWise: Undo Last Rename to restore the old name, or use a template when you want strict, predictable names instead of AI-generated ones.

A scanned PDF didn't get a good name.

NameWise runs OCR on scans automatically, but very low-quality or handwritten scans can be hard to read. Try a clearer scan, or if you have a digital (Word/text) copy, rename that instead.