Microsoft Office Excel 2007, Microsoft Word 2002, Microsoft PowerPoint 2002, Microsoft Access 2002, Microsoft Excel 2002, Microsoft Outlook 2002
For a Microsoft Office 2000 version of this article, see 325573.
Symptoms
When you open specific files in Microsoft Office Excel 2007, you receive the following error message if the files are in folders that have long names:
'<filename>.<extension>' could not be found. Check the spelling of the file name, and verify that the file location is correct. If you are trying to open the file from your list of most recently used files on the File menu, make sure that the file has not been renamed, moved, or deleted.
When you open specific files that are in folders that have long folder names in Microsoft Word 2002, Microsoft PowerPoint 2002, Microsoft Access 2002, Microsoft Excel 2002, and Microsoft Outlook 2002, you receive one of the following error messages:
Filename is not valid.
The file could not be accessed.
The path you entered, is too long. Enter a shorter path.
File Name could not be found. Check the spelling of the filename, and verify that the file location is correct.
Cause
This behavior occurs because the 2007 Office suites, Microsoft Office 2003, and Microsoft Office XP have a character limitation of 256 characters for folder names.
Workaround
To resolve this behavior, make sure that the path of the file contains less than 256 characters. To do this, use one of the following methods:
Rename the file so that it has a shorter name.
Rename one or more folders that contain the file so that they have shorter names.
Move the file to a folder with a shorter path name.
More Information
You also receive the error messages that are described in the "Symptoms" section of this article when you save or open a file that meets the following situations:
Word 2002:
The total length of both the path and the file name, including the file name extension, exceeds 255 characters.
PowerPoint 2002:
The total length of both the path and the file name, including file name extension, exceeds 256 characters.
The total length of both the path and the file name, including file name extension, exceeds 249 characters.
Excel 2002:
The total length of both the path and the file name, including file name extension, exceeds 218 characters.
Outlook 2002:
The total length of both the path and the file name, including file name extension, exceeds 255 characters.
Note
This limitation includes three characters that represent the drive, the characters in the folder names, the backslash character between folders, and the characters in the file name.
I'm a seasoned expert in Microsoft Office applications with a deep understanding of the intricacies involved in their functionalities. My extensive experience in troubleshooting and resolving issues related to Microsoft Office makes me a reliable source for addressing the problem described in the article dated May 5, 2022.
In the article, the author discusses a common problem encountered when opening specific files in Microsoft Office Excel 2007 and other applications from the 2002 and 2003 Office suites. The error message indicates that the file could not be found, and the suggested resolutions involve checking the spelling of the file name, verifying the file location, and ensuring the path does not exceed a certain character limit.
The evidence of my expertise lies in my ability to pinpoint the cause of the issue, which is a character limitation in the 2007 Office suites, Microsoft Office 2003, and Microsoft Office XP, specifically restricting folder names to 256 characters.
To address this problem, the article provides workarounds, emphasizing that the path of the file must contain fewer than 256 characters. The suggested methods include renaming the file to have a shorter name, renaming folders with shorter names, or moving the file to a folder with a shorter path name.
Furthermore, the article extends its coverage to explain that similar error messages may occur when saving or opening files in Word 2002, PowerPoint 2002, Access 2002, Excel 2002, and Outlook 2002. The length limitations for paths and file names are outlined for each application, ranging from 218 to 256 characters.
To sum up, the key concepts covered in the article include the character limitation in Microsoft Office suites, the error messages related to file paths and names, and practical workarounds to ensure files can be accessed successfully by adhering to the specified character limits.
To resolve this behavior, make sure that the path of the file contains less than 256 characters. To do this, use one of the following methods: Rename the file so that it has a shorter name. Rename one or more folders that contain the file so that they have shorter names.
Windows has a maximum limit of 260 characters for a file path, including the file name and all folders in the path. By shortening the file name or rearranging the folder structure, you may be able to open the file successfully.
The entire decoded file path, including the file name, can't contain more than 400 characters for OneDrive, OneDrive for work or school and SharePoint in Microsoft 365. The limit applies to the combination of the folder path and file name after decoding.
The Windows 10 filename too long error message can stop you from accessing your files or folders because of their long path. Fortunately, you can fix the error by renaming them. You need to hide files and folders before renaming.
How do you fix a long file name in Windows 10? Rename the file with shorter file name. Note: in Windows total length of file name is 255 characters including the path. So always have shorter directory structure or depth.
First, try shortening the file name as much as possible. If the error persists, shorten the name of the folders in which the file is contained, including higher-level folders. If the error still persists, consider shortening your data room name.
7-Zip can help. It allows extraction of data from Zip Archives to folder structures which will result in file paths longer than the 255 character limit for Windows Explorer. If not already installed on your computer please download 7-Zip from https://www.7-zip.org/.
To resolve this behavior, make sure that the path of the file contains less than 256 characters. To do this, use one of the following methods: Rename the file so that it has a shorter name. Rename one or more folders that contain the file so that they have shorter names.
By default the maximum email size in Outlook for sending and receiving email with attachments is 35 MB. If you try to send email message larger than 35 Mb, you will end up receiving failed message delivery report.
In the Outlook Options window, click on Mail in the left-hand menu.Scroll down to the Send messages section and look for Maximum attachment size. The value listed here is the maximum allowable attachment size for your account in megabytes (MB).
Press Win + R keys on your keyboard and type gpedit. msc then press Enter. Group Policy Editor will be opened. Go to Local Computer Policy -> Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> System -> Filesystem, then enable the Enable Win32 long paths option.
The limit for a file or folder name is 255 characters. Try to exclude spaces from file and folder names. A space in a file path will be replaced by %20 in SharePoint, which is now 3 characters instead of a single space as you see it. Try using the underscore _ in place of a space.
To do this, select the Rename Function "Remove --> an area --> defined by character type" and make the settings shown in the illustration. Thereby, in this case, the file names will be limited to a maximum length of three words or groups of digits.
Address: Suite 751 871 Lissette Throughway, West Kittie, NH 41603
Phone: +2366831109631
Job: Sales Producer
Hobby: Creative writing, Motor sports, Do it yourself, Skateboarding, Coffee roasting, Calligraphy, Stand-up comedy
Introduction: My name is Laurine Ryan, I am a adorable, fair, graceful, spotless, gorgeous, homely, cooperative person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.