To ensure compatibility across different operating systems and platform applications, avoid using special characters like <, >, :, /, \, |, *, ?, ” and certain others when naming folders and files.
Here’s a more detailed breakdown:
Characters to Avoid:
Reserved Characters: Characters that have special meanings within file systems or operating systems (e.g., path separators, wildcards).
/ (forward slash)\ (backslash)
: (colon)
(asterisk)
? (question mark)
” (double quote)
| (vertical bar/pipe)
< (less than)
> (greater than)
Other Problematic Characters:
# (hash/pound)
% (percent)
& (ampersand)
$ (dollar)
! (exclamation)
@ (at)
+ (plus)
= (equal sign)
{ (left curly bracket)
} (right curly bracket)
^ (caret)
~ (tilde)
[ ](square brackets)
() (parentheses)
_ (underscore)(backtick) (single quote)
(blank spaces)
\n (newline)
\r (carriage return)
\t (tab)
\f (form feed)
\v (vertical tab)
Characters with special meanings in certain operating systems:
Windows: CON, PRN, AUX, NUL, COM1 – COM9, LPT1 – LPT9, $
Unix/Linux: . (current directory), .. (parent directory)
Emojis and other complex characters:
Leading/trailing spaces:
Consecutive periods:
Filenames starting with a period or underscore:
Filenames ending with a period, hyphen, or underline:
Control characters (ASCII < 32):
DEL (ASCII 127):
Why Avoid These Characters?
Cross-Platform Compatibility: Different operating systems (Windows, macOS, Linux) have different rules about allowed characters, leading to potential issues when transferring files or folders across systems.
Application Compatibility: Some applications might not be able to handle certain characters in file names, causing errors or unexpected behavior.
Security: Some characters can be used to create security vulnerabilities if not handled correctly.
Wildcard Issues: Characters like * and ? are used as wildcards in command-line interfaces, which can lead to unintended deletions or other problems.
