Python: Rename Hundreds of Files From an Excel List

You have 300 scanned files named scan0001.pdf… and an Excel sheet saying what each should be called. Here is a safe script to rename them all.

The Excel list

rename.xlsx with two columns: Old (current file name) and New (wanted name, e.g. INV-2026-0412 Acme Traders.pdf).

The script

from pathlib import Path
import pandas as pd

FOLDER = Path(r"C:\Scans\April")
DRY_RUN = True            # first run: only show what would happen

df = pd.read_excel("rename.xlsx", dtype=str)
bad = "<>:\"/\|?*"
log = []
for old, new in zip(df["Old"].str.strip(), df["New"].str.strip()):
    src, dst = FOLDER / old, FOLDER / "".join(c for c in new if c not in bad)
    if not src.exists():
        log.append((old, new, "MISSING")); continue
    if dst.exists():
        log.append((old, new, "TARGET EXISTS")); continue
    if not DRY_RUN:
        src.rename(dst)
    log.append((old, dst.name, "would rename" if DRY_RUN else "renamed"))

pd.DataFrame(log, columns=["Old", "New", "Result"]).to_excel("rename-log.xlsx", index=False)
print(pd.DataFrame(log)[2].value_counts())

How to use it safely

1. Run with DRY_RUN = True and open rename-log.xlsx.
2. Fix anything marked MISSING or TARGET EXISTS in your sheet.
3. Copy the folder as a backup, set DRY_RUN = False and run again.

Why each check matters

• Invalid characters (/ : ? etc.) are removed because Windows won’t allow them in names.
• Target exists stops two rows overwriting each other.
• The log is your proof of what changed — keep it with the files.

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