diff --git a/src/utils/CMakeLists.txt b/src/utils/CMakeLists.txt
index 207e3dc1..e96feaa2 100644
--- a/src/utils/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/utils/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ target_sources(
           systemnotification.h
           configshortcuts.h
           request.h
+          strfparse.h
 )
 
 target_sources(
@@ -24,5 +25,6 @@ target_sources(
           colorutils.cpp
           history.cpp
           configshortcuts.cpp
+          strfparse.cpp
         request.cpp
 )
diff --git a/src/utils/filenamehandler.cpp b/src/utils/filenamehandler.cpp
index 023679ff..e629e063 100644
--- a/src/utils/filenamehandler.cpp
+++ b/src/utils/filenamehandler.cpp
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 #include "filenamehandler.h"
 #include "src/utils/confighandler.h"
+#include "src/utils/strfparse.h"
 #include <QDir>
 #include <QStandardPaths>
 #include <ctime>
@@ -41,13 +42,9 @@ QString FileNameHandler::parseFilename(const QString& name)
     while (res.endsWith('%')) {
         res.chop(1);
     }
-    std::time_t t = std::time(NULL);
 
-    char* tempData = QStringToCharArr(res);
-    char data[MAX_CHARACTERS] = { 0 };
-    std::strftime(data, sizeof(data), tempData, std::localtime(&t));
-    res = QString::fromLocal8Bit(data, (int)strlen(data));
-    free(tempData);
+    res =
+      QString::fromStdString(strfparse::format_time_string(name.toStdString()));
 
     // add the parsed pattern in a correct format for the filesystem
     res = res.replace(QLatin1String("/"), QStringLiteral("⁄"))
diff --git a/src/utils/strfparse.cpp b/src/utils/strfparse.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0274b82b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/utils/strfparse.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+#include "strfparse.h"
+
+namespace strfparse {
+std::vector<std::string> split(std::string const& s, char delimiter)
+{
+    std::vector<std::string> tokens;
+    std::string token;
+    std::istringstream tokenStream(s);
+    while (std::getline(tokenStream, token, delimiter)) {
+        tokens.push_back(token);
+    }
+    return tokens;
+}
+
+std::vector<char> create_specifier_list()
+{
+
+    std::vector<char> allowed_specifier{ 'Y', 'H', 'a', 'A', 'b', 'B', 'c', 'C',
+                                         'd', 'D', 'e', 'F', 'g', 'G', 'h', 'H',
+                                         'I', 'j', 'm', 'M', 'n', 'p', 'r', 'R',
+                                         'S', 't', 'T', 'u', 'U', 'V', 'w', 'W',
+                                         'x', 'X', 'y', 'Y', 'z', 'Z' };
+    return allowed_specifier;
+}
+
+std::string replace_all(std::string input,
+                        std::string const& to_find,
+                        std::string const& to_replace)
+{
+    size_t pos = 0;
+    while ((pos = input.find(to_find, pos)) != std::string::npos) {
+        input.replace(pos, to_find.length(), to_replace);
+        pos += to_replace.length();
+    }
+
+    return input;
+}
+
+std::vector<char> match_specifiers(std::string const& specifier,
+                                   std::vector<char> allowed_specifier)
+{
+
+    std::vector<char> spec_list;
+
+    for (uint i = 0; i < specifier.size() - 1; i++) {
+        if (specifier[i] == '%') {
+            spec_list.push_back(specifier[i + 1]);
+        }
+    }
+
+    std::sort(spec_list.begin(), spec_list.end());
+    std::sort(allowed_specifier.begin(), allowed_specifier.end());
+
+    std::vector<char> overlap;
+    std::set_intersection(spec_list.begin(),
+                          spec_list.end(),
+                          allowed_specifier.begin(),
+                          allowed_specifier.end(),
+                          back_inserter(overlap));
+
+    return overlap;
+}
+
+std::string format_time_string(std::string const& specifier)
+{
+
+    if (specifier.empty()) {
+        return "";
+    }
+
+    std::time_t t = std::time(nullptr);
+    char buff[100];
+
+    auto allowed_specifier = create_specifier_list();
+
+    auto overlap = match_specifiers(specifier, allowed_specifier);
+
+    // Create "Safe" string for strftime which is the specfiers delimited by *
+    std::string lookup_string;
+    for (auto const& e : overlap) {
+        lookup_string.push_back('%');
+        lookup_string.push_back(e);
+        lookup_string.push_back('*');
+    }
+
+    std::strftime(
+      buff, sizeof(buff), lookup_string.c_str(), std::localtime(&t));
+
+    std::map<char, std::string> lookup_table;
+    auto result = split(buff, '*');
+
+    for (size_t i = 0; i < result.size(); i++) {
+        lookup_table.emplace(std::make_pair(overlap[i], result[i]));
+    }
+
+    // Sub into original string
+    std::string delim = "%";
+    auto output_string = specifier;
+    for (auto const& row : lookup_table) {
+        auto to_find = delim + row.first;
+        output_string = replace_all(output_string, to_find, row.second);
+    }
+    return output_string;
+}
+}
diff --git a/src/utils/strfparse.h b/src/utils/strfparse.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b4228b89
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/utils/strfparse.h
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+#include <algorithm>
+#include <ctime>
+#include <map>
+#include <sstream>
+#include <vector>
+
+namespace strfparse {
+std::vector<std::string> split(std::string const& s, char delimiter);
+
+std::vector<char> create_specifier_list();
+
+std::string replace_all(std::string input,
+                        std::string const& to_find,
+                        std::string const& to_replace);
+
+std::vector<char> match_specifiers(std::string const& specifier,
+                                   std::vector<char> allowed_specifier);
+
+std::string format_time_string(std::string const& specifier);
+}