What if my Buyers are having trouble opening my ZIP files?

Windows-based computers (and other systems) are unable to create files or give vague errors when a ZIP file contains special characters in any of the folders or individual files. Windows does this because it doesn’t allow certain characters that Mac OS will allow in a filename.

To prevent issues with Buyers, we suggest not having any special characters in your ZIP file folders or file names.

Here’s a list of characters that most versions of Windows won’t allow in filenames, and should be avoided in booksies set names:

. (Windows allows only one period in a filename, which is created automatically)

, (Comma)

/ (Forward slash)

\ (Backward slash)

– (Dash)

; (Semicolon)

: (Colon)

” (Quotation mark)

‘ (Apostrophe)

* (Asterisk)

| (Vertical bar or pipe)

? (Question mark)

< (less than)

>(greater than)

^ (Caret)

& (Ampersand, a reserved character for Windows command line operations)

“ “(empty space at the end of a folder or file name) 

We suggest making sure none of your booksies materials have any of the above characters in filenames or folders in ZIP files moving forward; We recommend using only alphanumeric characters. This will make your materials more widely compatible, and reduce the chances that your Buyers will have technical problems if they are not using a Mac computer!

Still have questions? Contact us on the Contact Page, or send an email at shine@booksies.net.