Why can't we create folder named 'con' on desktop

@ish-nalini-lT8U2a • Oct 26, 2024

Oct 26, 2024

2.0K

Try it to believe it! This is something pretty cool...and unbelievable. .. At
Microsoft the whole Team, including Bill Gates, couldn't answer why
this happened! So Try it now , YOU CANNOT CREATE a folder by name" CON " or Try To rename the New Folder as CON Or con in a windows environment...It will not
Accept ... TRY IT AND REPLY IF ITS DONE

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Pranny

@pranny-yzubkU • Dec 13, 2006

Not only CON, there are quite a many other name like LPT13, etc ehich cannot be used for folder name, and not only in desktop, they cannot be created anywhere.
Yet there is a way out, i am not sure if it works, but try it and reply here. Type CON in any text editor, copy it and then paste it to the name of the folder. I think this creates a folder named CON.....
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Jerry

@jerry-5wPKU7 • Dec 14, 2006

Good to know that. Nice observation, ish_nalini 😀 ! I searched the internet and came to know that a folder with name 'PRN' cannot be created anywhere inside windows.

I guess the reason is that those are standard device names. Is that ture?

Jerry
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ish_nalini

@ish-nalini-lT8U2a • Dec 14, 2006

Jerry
Good to know that. Nice observation, ish_nalini 😀 ! I searched the internet and came to know that a folder with name 'PRN' cannot be created anywhere inside windows.

I guess the reason is that those are standard device names. Is that ture?

Jerry
Really i dont know jerry , if any one found the reason for that they will be appointed in billy's company(bill gates).........
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Anil Jain

@CrazyBoy • Dec 14, 2006

ish_nalini
Really i dont know jerry , if any one found the reason for that they will be appointed in billy's company(bill gates).........

There is nothing great in this..
There must be some function named as CON in folder creation library of windows. When we try to execute the command named as "CreateFolderName=CON" it get clashed with the config (function). so it changes it to by default new folder name, i.e. New Folder.

There are tons of bugs logged for WIndows, like:- some text is not displaying the NotePad or folder name.. Etc.

Even you can log a bug against this and help windows to resolve this.

This is just a Prognosis, Not very sure.. whats the reason is.

--Crazy
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Neha

@neha-3vibjn • Dec 15, 2006

hey, thats amazing!! I never tried it out..good work ish_nalini!!
Keep the good work up!!
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aashima

@aashima-eO93l9 • Dec 15, 2006

Yes. CON cannot be named as a folder and alss there is a similar problem as in we cannot rename the recycle bin. Does anybody has any idea of the reason behind?
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Prasad Ajinkya

@prasad-aSUfhP • Dec 15, 2006

CON, PRN, LPT13 are standard strings reserved by windows, hence you cant use them as folder names because had you created them, then the OS would be klueless as to wat to do .. execute the internal command (CON, PRN, et al) or open the folder :-D

As for renaming Recycle Bin, you can do that by editing the windows registry.
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instruite

@instruite-3JCI35 • Dec 18, 2006

"con" was basically use in old DOS versions for "Console"

there are other reserved name too like
lpt1, lpt2, nul, com1, com2, com3, com4, clcok$, prn and may be many more
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akravikanth

@akravikanth-Q0lSIW • Jan 4, 2007

It's Just like keywords in any programming language, for example you cant use if, else as variable names in C , java, etc.

CON,COM,LPT are just reserved strings, its similar to /dev/null in unix environment.
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SudhaKar Arjunan

@sudhakar-iXoJlR • Jan 4, 2007

I came to known that we can able to keep folder names such as ,

Con, LPT1,LPT2, etc.

Like we can keep 26 names to folders.

Thats been hidden by developers , so some purpose.

Regards,
A.Sk...
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rahul dev choud

@rahul-dev-choud-qQtOsv • Jan 15, 2007

I can make folder in all these names.......con ,lpt1, lpt2..etc named folder.

just follow these steps...

click on rename press alt+255
then u can able to make folder of these names..
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sandman

@sandman-5qmaXf • Feb 20, 2007

Actually you ll have to press the numbers of the number pad or else it wont work. That is, create a new folder, rename it CON but dont press enter yet. Hold down Alt and type 255 on the number pad and then press enter. (for laptop users, fress fn key and press the letter keys k-i-i to make use of the numberpad).

Well ALT+255 stands for a blank character in ASCII so it allows you to use this folder name. Well I consider this part "cheating" but there is one more technique which we can use.

Go to command prompt in your computer and type md\\.\\c:\\con [Note: you can give whtever path you want in place of c:] . Voila the folder is created. Now to delete it, it can done only thru the command prompt. Type rd\\.\\c:\con.

There you go.
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DEP

@dep-Xne9ZU • Feb 24, 2007

rahul dev choud
I can make folder in all these names.......con ,lpt1, lpt2..etc named folder.

just follow these steps...

click on rename press alt+255
then u can able to make folder of these names..

i tried create folders with all these names by doing this but it didnt work.
please tell if there is any other way out??
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crazy

@crazy-N4TlOE • Mar 2, 2007

DEP
i tried create folders with all these names by doing this but it didnt work.
please tell if there is any other way out??

just go to rename and press alt key plus 255...
that is the way to make folder like con, etc
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DEP

@dep-Xne9ZU • Mar 3, 2007

crazy
just go to rename and press alt key plus 255...
that is the way to make folder like con, etc

thanks crazy, finally i can create a folder with name CON
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DEP

@dep-Xne9ZU • Mar 7, 2007

hey everyone,

you guys told us two methods for the creation of the folders namely "con","prn1" etc.

1. using alt+255
2. command prompt

i have observed a something. when you create the folder using "alt+255" technique,the folder is created with the namr "con " i.e the name con followed by a "space" while no such thing happens when you create it on the command prompt.

is my observation right???
ANYONE???
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Satyajit

@satyajit-nC3BSF • Mar 16, 2007

Hi! YA IT's TRUE that we can't creat a folder named "CON" but in my computer i have created A floder name "LPT13" on desktop.
&* also one thing by using alt+255 i m not able to creat any folder with name"con","lpt13"etc....😕 confused
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xheavenlyx

@xheavenlyx-CbvN62 • Oct 22, 2007

bump****

TRY THIS: : :

create a new notepad file, empty.
just write "bush hid the facts" without quotes and save it, dont press enter.

see what happens 😁 😁 😁

again its just bush hid the facts

EDIT: Works only on XP. Not on Vista (IMO)

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zeem_710

@zeem-710-ulO3qD • Nov 5, 2007

😁I can create a folder named "con" in windows.

Yes, :sshhh:that's true.

To create a folder with name con in C: drive type the following line in command prompt.

😎mkdir \\.\c:\con😎
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mahul

@mahul-ZxpiLA • Nov 19, 2007

all this indicates that explorer.exe might be using the keyword "con" and is not able 2 create it. on the other hand we donot have such a problem with cmd prompt and can thus create a folder named "con". any comments on this any1??
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Pegasus

@pegasus-cLXZ1J • Jan 7, 2008

aashima
Yes. CON cannot be named as a folder and alss there is a similar problem as in we cannot rename the recycle bin. Does anybody has any idea of the reason behind?
We can rename the recycle bin folder.For this purpose you need to do some kind of modifications in registry.
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vikrant thorat

@vikrant-thorat-We8Fbx • Jan 8, 2008

it is amazing it dosen't work. may be it is because of comp have no information about these words.
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MaRo

@maro-Ce3knx • Jan 10, 2008

At last it's Microsoft's software they're free to do what tehy want and you don't have the right to ask why.
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raknahs2

@raknahs2-CtoW8u • Jan 10, 2008

This is very blunt.
Please check the link #-Link-Snipped-#

CON and few more names are reserved device names in Windows.

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AnoopKumar

@anoopkumar-RkKnyv • Apr 18, 2008

while we r adding con folder through command prompt....we cant able to save anything to this folder.... actually wht we done here is open one of the system folder named con....and that is not a new folder
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tild

@tild-rcTopS • Apr 25, 2008

rahul dev choud
I can make folder in all these names.......con ,lpt1, lpt2..etc named folder.

just follow these steps...

click on rename press alt+255
then u can able to make folder of these names..

Hey dude.....U have given the wrong solution...
alt+255 is the Way of represention the SpaceBar..
so the name will become SpaceBar + Con and con....

But Actually we can give the name to any folder as con or lp1,pl2 & blah blah.......

Just u have to Use the Unlocker software...
Unlocker Sodtware is used to delete/move/rename the folder(s) or file(s)....

Here is the link....
Download:
#-Link-Snipped-#

Enjoy....😁

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Ashraf HZ

@Ash • Apr 25, 2008

Ok.. what IS the obsession of trying to add the folder con anyway? *sigh* engineers...
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Kaustubh Katdare

@thebigk • Apr 25, 2008

Yeah, I've been wondering about this too. Looks like suddenly everyone wants to create 'CON' on their desktop 😉 . Btw, the title gets us some good traffic!
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xheavenlyx

@xheavenlyx-CbvN62 • Apr 27, 2008

Haha, nice! I think we crazy eng, are curious to know.
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archit_p_v

@archit-p-v-5rPVBn • Nov 22, 2009

there r so many different folders which can be created by a small change in registery.
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Pensu

@pensu-8tNeGU • Nov 22, 2009

Nice observation.....well i think the reason behind is as we can't use keywords as variable names in languages same is in the case of windows.
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Manish Goyal

@manish-r2Hoep • Nov 23, 2009

com,con,lpt are name of built in dos drivers
you can't use it...

of which 'com' is used of serial port
lpt is for printer.
correct me if i am wrong?
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pratik.itworld

@pratikitworld-csphsm • Dec 24, 2009
In MS-DOS, several special "device files" were available to aid in performing certain tasks, such as clearing the screen or deleting extraneous output from a program. In order to maintain backwards-compatibility, all versions of Windows up to and including Windows Vista will refuse to allow you to create a file with these "reserved" device file names. The following file names are reserved:
- CON
- PRN
- AUX
- NUL
- COM1
- COM2
- COM3
- COM4
- COM5
- COM6
- COM7
- COM8
- COM9
- LPT1
- LPT2
- LPT3
- LPT4
- LPT5
- LPT6
- LPT7
- LPT8
- LPT9
CON, incidentally, was a device file used to capture whatever was printed onscreen.
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saurabh2486

@saurabh2486-Tr6NOC • Dec 27, 2009

nice work keep it up

great
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Chaitali Sumita

@chaitali-sumita-Bn5O8f • Feb 24, 2010

xheavenlyx
TRY THIS: : :

create a new notepad file, empty.
just write "bush hid the facts" without quotes and save it, dont press enter.

see what happens 😁 😁 😁

now you try this....when you are using the word bush...then you are getting 9 boxes according to your procedure......but you now try the same using any other name having even no of letters and make it sure that its more than 4 letters.....each time you increase two letters.. 1 box is increased....hence bush is not mandatory ...it can be any name.....and i dont think that this is possible for any name containing odd no of letters.............

if you know the answer then please do share it soon.........

PROUD TO BE AN CEAN
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shruti palod

@shruti-palod-Sarni8 • Feb 24, 2010

Hi
yes we cant create folder named con or con1 , lpt1,con2........etc coz I think this is ms-dos stuff.But it can be created through command prompt.
but I dnt know the exact reason behind this.😁
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Chaitali Sumita

@chaitali-sumita-Bn5O8f • Mar 1, 2010

xheavenlyx
bump****

TRY THIS: : :

create a new notepad file, empty.
just write "bush hid the facts" without quotes and save it, dont press enter.

see what happens 😁 😁 😁

again its just bush hid the facts

hiii.......can you please tell me the reason, why we cannot apply it in microsoft word???why it is only applicable to notepad??

eagerly waiting for your answers...

proud to be a CEAN
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Amitrockstar

@amitrockstar-abRamQ • Jun 11, 2010

i an make a folder name con
it is used by dos
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ankesh.cs2007

@ankeshcs2007-GnaFEW • Jun 14, 2010

yes we can create con named folder on to our desktop by renaming it with con and followed by alt+255.
and here it is con named folder....
these settings can be applied to other names also....
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Rahul74

@rahul74-4Uv2cQ • Jun 15, 2010

we can't create a folder by a name CON as in DOS we are using console based system which doesn't allow to create such type of folder.
another reason is that, due to the name of Control Panel, whose starting words are CON in which Window dosen't allow to name a folder as CON............

think about it..... u all....
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sasikala gandhi

@sasikala-gandhi-n4H29P • Apr 23, 2011

Just create a new folder and go to rename type con and hold alt and type 0160. You can create folder named con.
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neeleshjsingh

@neeleshjsingh-JUvhGt • May 28, 2011

you can create LPT as a folder in W7 and rename recyle bin as a CON it works
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PraveenKumar Purushothaman

@praveenkumar-66Ze92 • May 28, 2011

CON, LPT, COMx are all reserved names of Microsoft Operating System...
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synergynext

@synergynext-FdHLd3 • May 29, 2011

very old topic. Still, if anyone is still struggling to create a CON folder in C drive, try creating a batch file with following entry:

@echo off
mkdir c:\con\

run this bat file and refresh. CON folder gets created!
If you want to delete this folder, change the bat file entry:

@echo off
rmdir c:\con\
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yoginavale

@yoginavale-Cdh1HS • May 29, 2011

In Windows, Con must be a library function which won't allow other stuff to be named similar.
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PraveenKumar Purushothaman

@praveenkumar-66Ze92 • May 29, 2011

You won't be able to delete the file by hand... 😀
If you want to delete, you need to do so only by rmdir! 😲
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yoginavale

@yoginavale-Cdh1HS • May 29, 2011

Yaa i know the code , that is rmdir c:/con/
Right naa ?
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Mr.Don

@mrdon-92OwlG • May 29, 2011

Nice Topic. Didn't know till now 😛
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abhimanyu sareen

@abhimanyu-sareen-0km7D4 • Jul 19, 2011

i can name folder con....ask me how,,at my email id <removed>
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abhimanyu sareen

@abhimanyu-sareen-0km7D4 • Jul 19, 2011

its not impossible.....i have made it possible..yes only pressing 4 keys u can name folder con
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theinam

@theinam-h5R7nK • Jul 20, 2011

CON

PRN

AUX

CLOCK$

NUL

COM1

COM2

COM3

COM4

COM5

COM6

COM7

these are also not accepted by any folder at any where 😀😀
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Kaustubh Katdare

@thebigk • Jul 20, 2011

Closing the thread.
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