"Invalid character, please rename" error when uploading attachments to Jira
Platform Notice: Data Center Only - This article only applies to Atlassian products on the Data Center platform.
Note that this KB was created for the Data Center version of the product. Data Center KBs for non-Data-Center-specific features may also work for Server versions of the product, however they have not been tested. Support for Server* products ended on February 15th 2024. If you are running a Server product, you can visit the Atlassian Server end of support announcement to review your migration options.
*Except Fisheye and Crucible
Summary
Jira refuses to accept images with names containing colons or other special characters when attaching a file.
The following appears in the atlassian-jira.log:
1
Screenshot ABC:1:2:3.jpg contains the invalid character ":". Please rename and try againSolution
Environment
Jira Data Center on any version.
Resolution
Jira does not support the usage of certain special characters as stated in the official documentation:
1
File names cannot contain any of these characters: '\', '/','\"', '%', ':', '$', '?', '*'.Rename the affected file ensuring it does not contain any of the characters mentioned
Try to upload the file again
Additional context and resources
JRASERVER-36515 - Unable to upload attachment if the file name has special characters
JRASERVER-71250 - Jira behaviour is inconsistent when the attachment name contains curly brackets
JRASERVER-65739 - Add support for special characters used in attachment field when importing attachment using CSV
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