SharePoint Limitations For Naming Convention

During the creation of some SharePoint objects like site, file, folder and group, we will get the following kind of issues.

A name cannot contain a <tab> or any of the following characters /\*:?#><|”%&{}

Server error: The file or folder name “<folder name>” contains invalid characters. Please use a different name.

Why we are getting these kind of issues

This happens because by OOTB SharePoint has limitations and restrictions on naming the items. Here, I have listed the limitations / restrictions of naming the items.

Common Invalid Characters for Site Names, File Names and Group Names

The following characters are not allowed anywhere in site names, sub-site names, folder names, file names and SharePoint group names.

• Tilde (~)
• Number sign (#)
• Percent (%)
• Ampersand (&)
• Asterisk (*)
• Braces ({ })
• Backslash (\)
• Colon (:)
• Angle brackets (< >)
• Question mark (?)
• Slash (/)
• Plus sign (+)
• Pipe (|)
• Quotation mark (")

If we provide the characters during the creation of any one, we will get the error as shown below:



Common Invalid strings for File Names and Folder Names

The string “_vti_” should not be used in the beginning of a file name or folder name. If we try to create a folder name with “_vti_” then it gives the following error:



The following strings also should not be used in the end of a file name / folder name creation:

• .files
• _files
• -Dateien
• _fichiers
• _bestanden
• _file
• _archivos
• -filer
• _tiedostot
• _pliki
• _soubory
• _elemei
• _ficheiros
• _arquivos
• _dosyalar
• _datoteke
• _fitxers
• _failid
• _fails
• _bylos
• _fajlovi
• _fitxategiak

Other site, sub site and group names limitations

• The site name, sub site name and group names should not start with the underscore (_) character.
• The site name, sub site name and group names should not start with the period (.) character

If we try to create a folder name with the period (.) then it gives the following error:



Other folder and file name limitations

• The folder or file name should not start with the period (.) character
• The folder or file name should not have a consecutive period (.) character
• The folder or file name should not end with a period (.) character
• Use of the underscore (_) character at the beginning of the folder or file name makes that folder or file as a hidden one respectively.

File / Folder URL Length restrictions

• The file / folder name should not have more than 128 characters.
• The full path of file / folder length should not exceed more than 260 characters.

If we try to create a file / folder with a long string then it gives the following error:

Server error: The specified file or folder name is too long. The URL path for all files and folders must be 260 characters or less (and no more than 128 characters for any single file or folder name in the URL). Please type a shorter file or folder name.