FAQ : File Naming Best Practices

File systems reserve certain characters to perform system functions, these characters vary depending which Operating System you're using. Below is a list of illegal characters for both Windows OS and macOS, note this list is not exhaustive. You will see that macOS has a greater ability to allow special characters but this does not mean it is a best practice. Anytime a file needs to be shared between two machines or, through a service such as File share, OneDrive, Dropbox or file upload services the filename will need to adhere to it's permitted character list. If your file or folder has an invalid character, you will need to remove the invalid character and try again. Please be aware, not following this best practice can result in the need for renaming numerous files or folders.

Some services may not provide a warning that a filename or folder contains illegal characters and will result in that file being corrupted and irretrievable, resulting in data loss.

Windows OS

The following reserved characters:

< (less than)
> (greater than)
: (colon)
" (double quote)
/ (forward slash)
\ (backslash)
| (vertical bar or pipe)
? (question mark)
* (asterisk)
# (octothorp)

macOS

The following reserved characters:

; (semi colon)
/ (forward slash)
\ (back slash)

If you have any questions please contact the service desk.