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What characters are not permitted in a file name

Anonymous
2023-04-28T14:59:46+00:00

I accidentally saved a file that contained an = in the file name. I was surprised that File Explorer didn't reject it. I then tried the characters ! and ? ! was OK, ? was rejected. I'd like to know if there are other permitted characters. What is the rationale for what is rejected? Is there a Windows available (11?) that expands the definition of what is permitted?

Thanks.
SweetTasha

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Files, folders, and storage

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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  1. Ramesh 176.1K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2023-05-06T01:52:32+00:00

    The article says:

    • The following reserved characters:
      • < (less than)
      • > (greater than)
      • : (colon)
      • " (double quote)
      • / (forward slash)
      • \ (backslash)
      • | (vertical bar or pipe)
      • ? (question mark)
      • * (asterisk)

    Which implies any character other than the above is legal.

    3 people found this answer helpful.
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  2. Ramesh 176.1K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2023-05-07T03:29:55+00:00

    Ok, SweetTasha. Thanks for the feedback.

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-05-06T21:43:25+00:00

    I agree that technically the implication is as you state. But I feel that re-stating that certain characters are allowed doesn't detract from the mission of answers.Microsoft. Just one guy's opinion.

    That said, your answer is helpful. I marked it as the solution.

    SweetTasha

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-05-05T23:37:57+00:00

    The article points out certain conditions under which a file name wouldn't be legal. But it doesn't give examples of file names that would be legal. I was curious so I tried several ending character for several files names. To my surprise all of these are all considered legal:

    is this +blah-blah-blah (+ is within the name)
    is this a legal file name$
    is this a legal file name**+**
    is this a legal file name**@**
    is this a legal file name**!**
    is this a legal file name&

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