Python Programming

5 Office Tasks You Can Automate With Python

By EG Digital Skills Training · Updated 18 October 2026

If you repeat the same steps every week, Python can probably do them for you. Here are five common office tasks and the idea behind automating each.

1. Rename files in bulk

Instead of renaming hundreds of photos or scans by hand, loop through the folder.

from pathlib import Path

for i, f in enumerate(sorted(Path("photos").glob("*.jpg")), start=1):
    f.rename(f.with_name(f"event_{i:03d}.jpg"))

2. Merge many Excel files

Monthly files with the same columns can be combined into one workbook with pandas.

import glob
import pandas as pd

files = glob.glob("monthly/*.xlsx")
df = pd.concat([pd.read_excel(f) for f in files], ignore_index=True)
df.to_excel("all_months.xlsx", index=False)

3. Clean messy data

Remove duplicate rows and fix extra spaces and inconsistent capital letters.

df = df.drop_duplicates()
df["Name"] = df["Name"].str.strip().str.title()

4. Summarise sales by region

summary = df.groupby("Region")["Revenue"].sum().sort_values(ascending=False)
summary.to_excel("region_summary.xlsx")

5. Send reminder emails

Python's built-in smtplib and email modules can send messages from a list, such as fee or class reminders. Test with your own address first, and never store passwords inside your script.

How to start

• Pick one task you repeat every week.
• Write the steps in plain words first.
• Turn each step into a few lines of code.
• Test on copies of your files, not the originals.