Characters to avoid in file and folder names

File names affect URLs, compatibility between systems and how efficiently you work. A small detail that prevents many problems.

Why it matters

Your files do not live in isolation. They are accessed by browsers, servers, applications, scripts and people. Special characters can be interpreted differently, leading to errors, broken links or confusion.

Goal: simple, predictable and portable names.

Good practice

• Use lowercase letters
• Replace spaces with a hyphen (-)
• Keep names short and descriptive
• Avoid versions like final-final2

Hyphens are more readable and safer in URLs than underscores.

Characters to avoid

Avoid: # % & { } / \ ? * : " ' | + = and emoji. If a character has a special role in a URL or a shell, keep it out of file names.

Examples

Problematic name	Encoded in the URL	Recommended
Report & Budget.pdf	Report%20%26%20Budget.pdf	report-budget.pdf
offer:client.docx	incompatible	offer-client.docx

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