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ProtocolCodes
553
FTP

553 File Name Not Allowed

Requested action not taken. File name not allowed. The file or directory name violates the server's naming rules or filesystem restrictions.

On this page

When You See This Code

When you try to create or rename a file with characters the server's filesystem does not allow, such as special characters or reserved names.

How to Fix

Rename the file to use only allowed characters. Avoid special characters like ?, *, |, <, >, and leading/trailing spaces or dots.

Specification

View RFC / Specification →

Compare With

110 Restart Marker Reply 120 Service Ready Soon 125 Data Connection Open 150 File Status OK 200 Command OK 202 Command Superfluous 211 System Status 212 Directory Status 213 File Status 214 Help Message 215 System Type 220 Service Ready

Guides

FTP Reply Codes: Understanding File Transfer Responses DNS & Networking
TCP Three-Way Handshake and Connection Lifecycle DNS & Networking
Essential Network Debugging Tools: ping, traceroute, mtr, and tcpdump DNS & Networking
RFC 959: FTP Protocol Deep Dive Protocol Deep Dives
TLS 1.3: Faster, Simpler, More Secure Protocol Deep Dives
Migrating from FTP to SFTP: A Complete Transition Guide Migration & Upgrades
HTTP Access Log Management: Rotation, Parsing, and Analysis Production Infrastructure

Debugging Scenarios

550 File Unavailable — Permission Denied Beginner

Glossary

Status Code TLS Handshake TCP/IP Three-Way Handshake Port Number Firewall Proxy Server (Forward Proxy) Socket Request-Response Model RFC (Request for Comments) Connection-Oriented Half-Duplex Text vs Binary Protocol FTP Active Mode FTP Passive Mode FTP Control Channel FTP Data Channel SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol) FTPS (FTP Secure) FTP Reply Code FTP Anonymous Access FTP Transfer Mode (ASCII vs Binary) FTP Resume (REST Command) SCP (Secure Copy Protocol) FTP Chroot Jail WebDAV (Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning) rsync FTP MLSD (Machine-Readable Listing) FTP NAT Traversal Transfer Integrity FTP over TLS (RFC 4217) File Locking Bandwidth Throttling TLS Versions

Frequently Asked Questions

What is FTP 553 File Name Not Allowed?

Requested action not taken. File name not allowed. The file or directory name violates the server's naming rules or filesystem restrictions.

When do you see FTP 553 File Name Not Allowed?

When you try to create or rename a file with characters the server's filesystem does not allow, such as special characters or reserved names.

How to fix FTP 553 File Name Not Allowed?

Rename the file to use only allowed characters. Avoid special characters like ?, *, |, <, >, and leading/trailing spaces or dots.