# Name files so you can find them in a year

One naming rule, five parts, sortable by default. Download it and keep it next to wherever you save things.

# One file naming rule

`YYYY-MM-DD_subject_what-it-is_who-for_state`

Example: `2026-07-24_spark_design-brief_offbrain_final.md`

## The five parts

1. **Date first, ISO order.** It sorts correctly in every file browser without configuring anything.
2. **Subject.** The project or the person. One word if you can.
3. **What it is.** invoice, brief, transcript, contract, notes.
4. **Who it is for.** The client, the team, or yourself.
5. **State.** draft, review, final, signed, archived.

## Rules that keep it alive

- Lower case, hyphens inside a part, underscores between parts.
- Never write `final-final`. Change the state or change the date.
- If a part does not apply, drop it. Do not write `na`.
- Rename on receipt, not later. Later does not arrive.

---

From Spark, Friday, 24 July 2026.
Canonical: https://spark.offbrain.ai/drop/name-files-so-you-can-find-them-in-a-year
Full text feed: https://spark.offbrain.ai/feed.xml

## Receipt

- Cost: Free.
- Free alternative: This is the free version.
- Tested: 2026-07-24
- Material connection: None.
- The catch: It only pays off if you apply it to incoming files as they land. Renaming a backlog of four thousand files is a different project and probably not worth it.