Fixing invalid characters and colliding file names

When you try to create, rename or save files, two common errors might occur that will prevent your file from syncing: invalid characters and colliding filenames.

Colliding filenames

This error happens when you try to create, rename or save a file to a folder that already contains file with the same name.

There are two rules to watch out for when you name your files:

• Tresorit filenames are case insensitive, which means that A.txt and a.txt are considered the same.
• Filenames with the same Unicode normalization are considered the same.

Invalid characters and filenames

You can upload all files to the cloud with a filename that doesn’t contain any control characters or a / (forward slash). Also, the filename can’t be any of the filenames reserved by Tresorit application (. and ..).

Invalid filenames on Windows

If you wish to download your files to a Windows Operating System, there are additional rules the filename needs to comply with.

• The filename doesn’t contain any of the following characters: " (double quote), * (asterisk), < (less than), > (greater than), ? (question mark), \ (backslash), | (pipe), / (forward slash), : (colon)
• The filename can’t end with a space or a period
• The filename can’t contain any of the names reserved by Windows

How to fix invalid filenames

Validation rules are stricter on Windows than on any other devices, that’s why in some cases you will need to rename files when you download them from the cloud. When a file contains invalid characters, you will see a notification in orange in your Tresorit client.

📝 Note: If you don’t use Tresorit on a Windows PC, you can ignore this notification. However, we advise you to review your filenames before you share your files with others — invalid filenames won’t sync on Windows devices.

1. Click the notification.
2. A list of filename conflicts will appear on a pop-up. You can either choose to rename all files using the suggestions or edit filenames one-by-one.

   

3. Click on a conflict file, then click Rename.

   

4. Click Rename to confirm.

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