Ever try to save a file only to be told that the file name is “invalid” due to a character issue? It’s not you, nor a jab at your personality, I promise!
So, to avoid future problems, I give you a list of characters to avoid:
* Asterisk
< >[ ] Brackets
= Equal sign
+ Plus sign
” Quotes
\ / Slashes
, . : ; Comma, Period, Colon, Semicolon
Why don’t these characters work in file names? Simple—they have specific functions in Windows so it confuses the system if a filename contains them.
Back in the old days before Windows was smart enough to tell you that a file name was invalid, it often resulted in disaster. Now it just gives you an annoying pop-up and a stern reprimand.
~ David