Python Automation Scripts That Will Save You 5+ Hours Per Week

If you're writing the same repetitive tasks every week, you're losing hours that Python could give back.

Here are 8 Python automation scripts I use regularly — complete, copy-paste ready.

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1. Rename files in bulk

import os
from pathlib import Path

def bulk_rename(folder, old_ext, new_ext):
    folder = Path(folder)
    for file in folder.glob(f"*.{old_ext}"):
        file.rename(file.with_suffix(f".{new_ext}"))
        print(f"Renamed: {file.name}")

# Example: rename all .jpeg to .jpg
bulk_rename("./images", "jpeg", "jpg")

Time saved: 20 minutes per rename session.

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2. Send yourself a daily summary email

import smtplib
from email.mime.text import MIMEText
from datetime import datetime

def send_summary(sender, password, recipient, subject, body):
    msg = MIMEText(body)
    msg["Subject"] = subject
    msg["From"] = sender
    msg["To"] = recipient

    with smtplib.SMTP_SSL("smtp.gmail.com", 465) as server:
        server.login(sender, password)
        server.sendmail(sender, recipient, msg.as_string())

# In your cron job:
send_summary(
    "[e-mail]", "your-app-password",
    "[e-mail]",
    f"Daily Summary {datetime.now().strftime('%Y-%m-%d')}",
    "Tasks done: ..."
)

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3. Monitor a website and alert when it's down

import requests
import time
import smtplib
from datetime import datetime

def check_site(url, check_every=60):
    while True:
        try:
            response = requests.get(url, timeout=10)
            if response.status_code != 200:
                print(f"⚠️ {url} returned {response.status_code}")
        except requests.RequestException as e:
            print(f"❌ {url} is DOWN: {e}")
            # Send alert email here
        time.sleep(check_every)

check_site("https://your-website.com")

---

4. Organize downloads folder automatically

import shutil
from pathlib import Path

RULES = {
    "Images": [".jpg", ".jpeg", ".png", ".gif", ".webp", ".svg"],
    "Documents": [".pdf", ".docx", ".xlsx", ".pptx", ".txt"],
    "Videos": [".mp4", ".mkv", ".avi", ".mov"],
    "Audio": [".mp3", ".wav", ".flac", ".ogg"],
    "Code": [".py", ".js", ".html", ".css", ".json", ".zip"],
}

def organize_downloads():
    downloads = Path.home() / "Downloads"
    for file in downloads.iterdir():
        if file.is_file():
            for folder, extensions in RULES.items():
                if file.suffix.lower() in extensions:
                    dest = downloads / folder
                    dest.mkdir(exist_ok=True)
                    shutil.move(str(file), str(dest / file.name))
                    print(f"Moved {file.name} → {folder}/")
                    break

organize_downloads()

Run this in a cron job every day. Your Downloads folder will never be a disaster again.

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5. Convert CSV to clean JSON

import csv
import json
from pathlib import Path

def csv_to_json(csv_file, json_file=None):
    path = Path(csv_file)
    if not json_file:
        json_file = path.with_suffix(".json")

    with open(path, newline="", encoding="utf-8") as f:
        data = list(csv.DictReader(f))

    with open(json_file, "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
        json.dump(data, f, indent=2, ensure_ascii=False)

    print(f"Converted: {len(data)} rows → {json_file}")
    return data

csv_to_json("data.csv")

---

6. Screenshot a webpage automatically

from playwright.sync_api import sync_playwright

def screenshot_url(url, output="screenshot.png", width=1280, height=720):
    with sync_playwright() as p:
        browser = p.chromium.launch(headless=True)
        page = browser.new_page(viewport={"width": width, "height": height})
        page.goto(url, wait_until="networkidle")
        page.screenshot(path=output, full_page=True)
        browser.close()
    print(f"Screenshot saved: {output}")

screenshot_url("https://github.com", "github.png")

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7. Find duplicate files

import hashlib
from pathlib import Path
from collections import defaultdict

def find_duplicates(folder):
    hashes = defaultdict(list)
    for file in Path(folder).rglob("*"):
        if file.is_file():
            h = hashlib.md5(file.read_bytes()).hexdigest()
            hashes[h].append(file)

    duplicates = {h: files for h, files in hashes.items() if len(files) > 1}
    for h, files in duplicates.items():
        print(f"Duplicate group ({h[:8]}):")
        for f in files:
            print(f"  {f}")

    return duplicates

find_duplicates("./my-folder")

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8. Generate a daily report from your git repos

import subprocess
from datetime import datetime, timedelta

def git_report(repo_path, days=1):
    since = (datetime.now() - timedelta(days=days)).strftime("%Y-%m-%d")
    result = subprocess.run(
        ["git", "log", f"--since={since}", "--oneline", "--all", "--author=you"],
        cwd=repo_path,
        capture_output=True, text=True
    )
    commits = result.stdout.strip().split("\n")
    commits = [c for c in commits if c]
    print(f"\n📦 {repo_path}")
    print(f"   {len(commits)} commits since {since}")
    for c in commits:
        print(f"   → {c}")

for repo in ["/path/to/repo1", "/path/to/repo2"]:
    git_report(repo)

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Automate everything

These scripts are just the beginning. The rule I follow: if I do something more than 3 times, I automate it.

Want more Python automation examples? Follow me on Dev.to — I post new scripts regularly.

And if you need a quick JSON/CSV converter, Base64 encoder, or similar without writing code: DevToolkit has 31 free tools.