Check and fix file names
Paste a list of file names, one per line. The tool flags the ones Windows will reject and the ones that will look garbled after a ZIP archive is extracted, and suggests a clean version for each. Everything happens in your browser: nothing is uploaded.
Final Quote v3 (2).pdf
- Tip : Spaces: hyphens are safer in URLs and scripts
- Tip : Capital letters: all lowercase avoids surprises between Windows and Linux
- Tip : “final”, “copy” or (1) in the name: use version numbers like v01, v02… instead
Suggestion:
final-quote-v3-2.pdfWedding photo Julie & Tom.JPG
- Tip : Spaces: hyphens are safer in URLs and scripts
- Tip : Capital letters: all lowercase avoids surprises between Windows and Linux
Suggestion:
wedding-photo-julie-tom.jpgmeeting notes: 03/15/2026.docx
- Blocking : Character not allowed on Windows: \ / : * ? " < > |
- Tip : Spaces: hyphens are safer in URLs and scripts
- Tip : Date in MM-DD-YYYY format: YYYY-MM-DD sorts correctly on its own
Suggestion:
meeting-notes-2026-03-15.docxCON.txt
- Blocking : Name reserved by Windows (CON, PRN, AUX, NUL, COM1, LPT1…)
- Tip : Capital letters: all lowercase avoids surprises between Windows and Linux
Suggestion:
con-file.txt2026-03-15-atlas-quote-v03.pdf
All good: this name follows the convention.
What the tool checks
- Invalid characters
- Windows rejects \ / : * ? " < > | in file names. A ZIP archive created on a Mac or on Linux that contains them will fail to extract on a PC.
- Reserved names
- CON, PRN, AUX, NUL, COM1 to COM9 and LPT1 to LPT9 are reserved by Windows, even with an extension: “CON.txt” cannot be created.
- Trailing space or period
- Windows strips or rejects a space or a period at the end of a name. The file becomes impossible to find or to copy.
- Length
- Beyond 80 characters, the full path quickly exceeds the historical 260-character Windows limit. Beyond 255, the name is rejected almost everywhere.
- Accents and special characters
- For a long time the ZIP format did not require any encoding for file names: an “é” can turn into “é” when moving from one system to another.
- Conventions
- Spaces, capital letters, MM-DD-YYYY dates and “final” or “(2)” in names do not break anything, but they make sorting and searching harder.
How names are fixed
Suggestions follow the convention described in our guide to file naming conventions: all lowercase, no accents, hyphens instead of spaces and special characters, dates rewritten as YYYY-MM-DD, extension kept. The meaning of the name never changes: replacing “final” with a version number is up to you.
To apply the fixed names to hundreds of files at once, the guide on renaming files in bulk walks through the Windows and macOS methods.
Frequently asked questions
Are the file names I paste sent anywhere?
No. The analysis runs entirely in your browser, with no request to the server. You can even go offline once the page has loaded.
Why is a name that works on my Mac a problem?
macOS and Linux accept almost any character; Windows does not. A file named on a Mac with a colon or a question mark cannot be extracted from a ZIP archive on a PC, or copied to a USB drive formatted for Windows.
Does the tool rename my files?
No, it suggests corrected names for you to copy. To apply them to many files at once, use the batch rename feature of Windows or macOS, or a script.
Clean names are good. Organized folders are better.
Trifouille organizes an entire ZIP archive by type, by date or by topic. Free up to 200 MB, no sign-up.
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