Recipe · Organize
Rename scans and PDFs with useless names by what is inside them
With Grand Oma, Omaculate reads documents with unreadable names on your Mac and renames them by what is in them. It needs macOS 26 and Apple Intelligence; nothing leaves your Mac.
Grand Oma · Requires macOS 26 and Apple Intelligence
Why it helps
Scanners, cameras and journal sites name files with codes. You can't find them by searching, and with VoiceOver every one sounds the same.
What it matches
- Documents (PDF, Word, RTF, text) with camera or scanner names, journal download codes, arXiv IDs, long numbers or hashes
What it leaves alone
- Documents whose names already read fine
- Pictures and other files
- A file it has already named, so it isn't renamed again
A document in Downloads with an unreadable name is renamed by what's in it.
Set it up in Omaculate
- Open Omaculate from the menu bar and go to Recipes.
- Under Suggested, choose Rename unreadable documents. It's ready to save, on Downloads.
- Look over the files it would touch, then press Save.
- Press Tidy now, check the list, and approve it.
Change anything by tapping its words, for example: put the date first: {date}-{content}; only PDFs from your scanner app's folder.
Or by hand: rename a batch in Finder
- Select the files in Finder, Control-click and choose Rename….
- Use "Format" to give them a name plus a number or date.
Finder can add text or numbers, but it can't name a file by what is inside it.
Questions
Does this use the cloud?
No. It uses Apple's on-device model on macOS 26 with Apple Intelligence. It reads the first 2,000 characters of the document on your Mac. Nothing is uploaded.
What happens on a Mac without Apple Intelligence?
Settings says smart naming is unavailable, and renames use the file's own name instead. Every other part of Omaculate works.
Can I undo a rename?
Yes. Every rename is listed in History and can be undone for 90 days, as long as the file hasn't changed since.
Related recipes
Gather invoices and receipts
Anything in Downloads that looks like an invoice or receipt is moved to Downloads/Invoices and Receipts, by year.
Gather statements and payslips
A document in Downloads that looks like a statement or payslip is moved to Downloads/Statements and Payslips, by year.
Gather PDFs and documents
A document in Downloads is moved to Downloads/Documents.
Let Oma rename unreadable documents.
Free for one folder. Everything free for 3 days, then Grand Oma is $14.99, once.