SharePoint Naming Convention Examples
Theory matters less than examples. Concrete before-and-after pairs show what good naming looks like in practice.
What it is
The fastest way to teach a naming convention is to show it. A few before-and-after pairs makes the difference between abstract rules and intuitive practice. The bad examples should look familiar — they’re what most libraries actually contain. The good examples should feel obviously better, even without explanation.
Show examples for the document types your team actually produces. Project files, meeting minutes, invoices, reports, contracts — each has its own naming pattern. A one-page reference with three or four bad/good pairs per category gives users something to refer to without memorising rules.
The pattern that emerges across all examples is the same: information at the start, sortable elements first (dates), distinctive labels next, version/status info last (or omitted entirely if metadata handles it). Good filenames are scannable left-to-right.
When to use this
- When training your team on naming conventions.
- When auditing an existing library and showing users what to fix.
- When onboarding new team members.
- When you’re refining a convention and need real examples to anchor the discussion.
How to do it
Best practices
- Bad: ‘MeetingNotes_Final_v2.docx’ — no date, version in name, no context.
- Good: ‘2026-04-12_BoardMeeting_Minutes.docx’ — sortable date, clear context.
- Bad: ‘Copy of Invoice.pdf’ — no client, no period, no ID.
- Good: ‘INV-8821_Microsoft_2026-04.pdf’ — invoice ID, client, period.
- Bad: ‘Project Update.pptx’ — which project, when?
- Good: ‘2026-04-15_AcmeMigration_StatusUpdate.pptx’ — date, project, type.
Common mistakes
- Spaces in filenames. Some systems handle them poorly. Use hyphens or underscores.
- Special characters (& % # * etc.). Cause sync issues. Avoid.
- Names that change context. ‘Final’, ‘Latest’, ‘Current’ become meaningless once the next version exists.
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What’s a good naming convention for SharePoint sites?
Use the team or function name in plain English. Good: ‘Human Resources’, ‘Marketing’, ‘Acme Client Project’. Bad: ‘HR’, ‘MKTG’, ‘PRJ-2026-ACM-001’. Site names appear in URLs and navigation — make them readable. Acronyms and codes look efficient but fail every new starter.
What’s a good naming convention for SharePoint libraries?
Name libraries by what they hold, in plain English. Good: ‘Policies’, ‘Project Documents’, ‘Marketing Assets’. Bad: ‘Documents’ (SharePoint’s default — change it), ‘Doc Library’, ‘Library1’. The library name appears in breadcrumbs, search results, and links — make it descriptive enough to make sense out of context.
What’s a good naming convention for SharePoint columns?
Use natural English names: ‘Document Type’, ‘Status’, ‘Department’, ‘Owner’, ‘Due Date’. Capitalise normally. Don’t prefix with internal codes (‘M_Type’, ‘fldDepartment’). Column names appear in headers, filters, forms, and Copilot prompts — natural names work everywhere; codes work nowhere.
What’s a good naming convention for SharePoint files?
Describe what the file is in plain language, with the most important keywords first. Good: ‘Remote Work Policy 2026’, ‘Acme Project Kickoff Deck’, ‘Q3 Sales Report’. Bad: ‘HR-POL-2026-001-v3-FINAL’, ‘Final_FINAL_v2_use_this_one’. Skip the version codes — let SharePoint’s Version History track versions.