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Why You Can't Name A File CON In Windows

Tom Scott · 7.8M views · 2020-04-20 · 8:03

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Overview

Tom Scott explains why Windows does not let you name a file CON, tracing the reserved device names back to backwards compatibility with DOS.

On Hacker News

Linked as a relevant explainer in threads about Windows quirks and reserved names.

Discussed on HN; no positive recommendation is recorded in this export · HN mentions 2020–2026

Topics

Operating systems & kernelsHistory of computing
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tom scottwindowsdosbackwards compatibilityfilenames

What people said

cardboard9926 · 2026-06 · Joke / meme

Don't think this will ever happen, especially since this is Microsoft you are talking about [0] [0] [VIDEO]

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RajT88 · 2023-05 · Reference

It's wild to me some of the things I never knew, even though I've been using Windows or DOS for probably 35 years. For example, I recently learned you can't name a file CON. Try it. Somehow over all those decades, I've never tried to do this until Tom Scott made a video about it: [VIDEO]

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irshadshalu · 2020-06 · Reference

can't speak about the very recent updates, but windows have been consistent and adamant on keeping the backward compatibility. they still use reserved file names for io devices so that 30+ year old printers can still work, and you can still open a 2000s doc file in office 365. (I'm looking at you Apple, who made many of the 32 bit apps I loved useless) relevant video: [VIDEO] (Tom Scott: Why you can't use CON as filename in windows)

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Sources

Video by Tom Scott, played through YouTube.

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