# "Name is invalid" Error, but its actually valid!

**URL:** https://forum.syncthing.net/t/name-is-invalid-error-but-its-actually-valid/27039
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [August 21, 2026, 9:58pm UTC](https://forum.syncthing.net/t/name-is-invalid-error-but-its-actually-valid/27039 "2026-08-21T21:58:45Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![notshehab](https://forum.syncthing.net/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/848f3c/32.png) [@notshehab](https://forum.syncthing.net/u/notshehab)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2026, 9:58pm UTC](https://forum.syncthing.net/t/name-is-invalid-error-but-its-actually-valid/27039/1 "2026-08-21T21:58:45Z")

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Context: Backing up WhatsApp folder from Android to Windows

 ![image](https://forum-uploads.syncthingcdn.net/original/3X/d/6/d6d3dd2158a2c5f13397b998403340f7c361035f.png)

But the files don’t actually end in a space or period!

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### Author: ![calmh](https://forum.syncthing.net/user_avatar/forum.syncthing.net/calmh/32/15311_2.png) [@calmh](https://forum.syncthing.net/u/calmh)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2026, 9:59pm UTC](https://forum.syncthing.net/t/name-is-invalid-error-but-its-actually-valid/27039/2 "2026-08-21T21:59:42Z")

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The screenshot and log entry both clearly show the file name ending with a period. This is an Android WhatsApp special, unfortunately.

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### Author: ![notshehab](https://forum.syncthing.net/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/848f3c/32.png) [@notshehab](https://forum.syncthing.net/u/notshehab)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2026, 10:48pm UTC](https://forum.syncthing.net/t/name-is-invalid-error-but-its-actually-valid/27039/3 "2026-08-21T22:48:14Z")

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But with file explorer open on the left it shows thats part of the file extension, not the name

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### Author: ![calmh](https://forum.syncthing.net/user_avatar/forum.syncthing.net/calmh/32/15311_2.png) [@calmh](https://forum.syncthing.net/u/calmh)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2026, 6:06am UTC](https://forum.syncthing.net/t/name-is-invalid-error-but-its-actually-valid/27039/4 "2026-08-22T06:06:41Z")

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Those are other files that actually do have a file extension and have been synced without error. The errored files are not shown in the file explorer, because they have a name that is not possible on Windows, so they have not be been synced to this computer.

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### Author: ![rasa](https://forum.syncthing.net/user_avatar/forum.syncthing.net/rasa/32/10531_2.png) [@rasa](https://forum.syncthing.net/u/rasa)
#### Post date: [August 27, 2026, 6:33am UTC](https://forum.syncthing.net/t/name-is-invalid-error-but-its-actually-valid/27039/5 "2026-08-27T06:33:22Z")

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Filenames ending in periods or spaces are possible in Windows, but require a bit of hoop jumping. See [GitHub - rasa/syncthing at feature/9623-allow-reserved · GitHub](https://github.com/rasa/syncthing/tree/feature/9623-allow-reserved) for an implementation.

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### Author: ![system](https://forum-uploads.syncthingcdn.net/original/2X/0/0b50e0a202b22ae6a67190759e8c868805b8ed9f.png) [@system](https://forum.syncthing.net/u/system)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2026, 6:34am UTC](https://forum.syncthing.net/t/name-is-invalid-error-but-its-actually-valid/27039/6 "2026-09-26T06:34:14Z")

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