Following the naming conventions set by Microsoft ensures that your files and folders don’t fail to sync or upload in OneDrive, Teams, or SharePoint. This article provides information and best practices you can adopt in your file management.
Restrictions and Limitations
Special characters
File and folder names cannot contain any of the below characters:
~ " # % & * : < > ? / \ { | }.
Leading and trailing spaces in file or folder names also aren't allowed.
Invalid names
These names aren't allowed for files or folders:
.lock, CON, PRN, AUX, NUL, COM0 - COM9, LPT0 - LPT9, _vti_, desktop.ini, any filename starting with ~$
Long file paths
The file path of a file contains the name of the file and every parent folder, that is every folder you need to access to find your file.
The entire decoded file path for SharePoint and OneDrive cannot exceed 400 characters. In addition, a file name or folder name can’t be more than 255 characters long. Exceeding these limits will cause an error when moving files online or syncing your OneDrive. Please note that the sync function adds the overhead of “C:\Users\[your UTC ID]\University of Tennessee\[your folder name]” to each file’s character limit.
Best Practices
Follow these helpful tips:
- Be concise: Use short and direct names. Words like “the” and “and” not only make the name lengthy but don’t add meaningful content to the file or folder name. Also, make use of acronyms standard to your team or department.
- Limit parent folders: Avoid storing files with multiple layers of folders.
- Avoid spaces: A space in the readable file path is converted to “%20” in the URL. This means that one space alone is 3 characters long and can quickly add up. If you need to shorten a file path, exclude spaces and use capitals or use the underscore “_”.
- Be consistent: use the same naming conventions throughout your department and file structure. This includes consistency in the use of abbreviations, order of elements, and date format.