Most archived documents are lost because of the name, not the folder. "IMG_2041" and "scan001" do not answer the questions you will ask later: when, what, and how much.
A naming pattern that works
Use a consistent order with the most searchable part first: date - subject - detail. Examples:
- 2026-08-16 - health insurance renewal - policy 8841
- 2026-08-16 - office supplies - receipt 42.50
- 2026-07 - renovation - final invoice
Rules that survive a busy year
- Same order every time — pick one pattern and do not improvise.
- Use hyphens or spaces, not slashes or colons (those break in some systems).
- Keep dates as YYYY-MM-DD so sorting is chronological.
- Add the amount for receipts and invoices — it is the detail people search for.
- Rename at capture time, not later. "Later" does not happen.
An app I built for this
Rixin Archive is a local-first document archive for Android. Capture via the share menu or camera, name files with your own convention, organize by project or tag, and search the archive on the device without an account. Free: core archiving flow with ads. Pro: monthly subscription (about $3.99/month in the US) that removes ads and unlocks the full experience. I am the developer of Rixin Archive.
This guide describes a personal filing convention; adapt it to your own needs.