- What characters should be avoided when naming files?
- Which characters are acceptable in most filenames?
- Why are special characters not allowed in filenames?
What characters should be avoided when naming files?
Illegal Filename Characters
Don't start or end your filename with a space, period, hyphen, or underline. Keep your filenames to a reasonable length and be sure they are under 31 characters. Most operating systems are case sensitive; always use lowercase. Avoid using spaces and underscores; use a hyphen instead.
Which characters are acceptable in most filenames?
Supported characters for a file name are letters, numbers, spaces, and ( ) _ - , .
Why are special characters not allowed in filenames?
To clarify this answer, these special characters could interfere with parsing a command line (or path) if they were in a filename.