When it comes to building your digital media collection, naming your files is a crucial part of the process if you want them to be picked up and recognised by your media server. Most media servers come with their own naming guides, which is fine for new titles you add, but a major pain if it means you face the prospect of renaming and organising hundreds of existing files.

What you need is an app that can automate the process for you. Even better if that app can also add extra information like TV episode name, plus embedded metadata and even download artwork. Some tools like Collbee will appeal by making the process as simple as possible, but it’s restrictive and only works in Windows. If you want full control over how your files are named and embedded with additional information including metadata and subtitles, you need FileBot.

FileBot’s versatility lies in the fact you have complete control over the naming process – different media solutions recognise different naming conventions, and FileBot allows you to match up your files to whatever media servers you intend to marry them with.

FileBot works with movies, music and TV shows, and supports fetching metadata and naming information from a wide range of sources, including TheTVDB, TVRage, OpenSubtitles and MusicBrainz. It’ll even download artwork where possible. There’s also integration with uTorrent (Windows), Transmission (Mac) and Deluge (Linux) for working with media downloaded from the internet.

Despite all this power, Filebot employs a relatively straightforward user interface: drag your files in, choose a naming convention, pick your metadata partner, preview the results and then click to rename. It does take a little getting used to, though, making FileBot a better choice for more experienced media users.

Take the time to learn its secrets, however, and you’ll find FileBot is an essential tool in any digital media library toolkit.