Abstract: A method and apparatus for converting long file names to short file names having an eight character prefix and a three character extension. The long file name is examined and separated into a prefix portion and suffix/extension portion. The prefix and suffix portions of the file name are then converted to short file names using the following steps working from right to left: 1) remove lower case vowels; 2) remove lower case consonants; 3) remove upper case vowels; 4) remove upper case consonants; 5) remove single digit numbers; 6) and remove special characters. When the prefix and suffix have been reduced to the desired number of characters, the two portion are concatenated to form a shorten file name.