B.1.1 Working with Strangely-Named Files

Occasionally, you may find that you have accidentally created a file that contains a character not normally found in a filename. Examples of this could include a space, a leading hyphen, or maybe a quotation mark. You may find that accessing, removing, or renaming these files can be difficult.

Here are some tips to help you:

• Try enclosing the filename in single quotation marks, like this:
  less ’File With Spaces.txt’
• Insert a ./ before the filename:
  less ’./-a strange file.txt’
• Use wildcards:
  less File?With?Spaces.txt
• Use a backslash before each unusual character:
  less File\ With\ Spaces.txt