Supported special characters in usernames and passwords
- Updated: 2025/07/25
Use only the supported special characters when creating user names and passwords. Supported characters vary depending on where they are used.
In all of the below listed cases, the standard alphanumeric characters, a-z, A-Z, 0-9 are supported. The special characters allowed or specifically excluded from particular use are typical to standard English keyboards. The maximum number of characters supported is 256.
Review the following table to understand the special characters that can be used or must be avoided in the usernames or passwords
- Supported: Character is explicitly supported.
- Do not use: Character is explicitly not supported.
- -- (Double dash): Results are unknown for using the character.
| Character | Windows authentication | Control Room authentication | OpenSearch authentication | Service credentials | SQL server authentication | JSON Web Token authentication |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ampersand ( & ) | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported |
| angle bracket, left or right ( < > ) | Supported | -- | Supported | Supported | Supported | -- |
|
apostrophe, straight single ( ' ) |
Supported | -- | Supported | Supported | Supported | -- |
| asterisk ( * ) | Supported | -- | Supported | Supported | Supported | -- |
| at sign ( @ ) | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported |
| backtick (`) | Do not use | Not supported | Supported | Supported | Supported | Do not use |
| braces left or right ( { } ) | Supported | -- | Supported | Supported | Supported | -- |
| bracket left or right ( [ ] ) | Supported | -- | Supported | Supported | Supported | -- |
| caret ( ^ ) | Supported | -- | Supported | Supported | Supported | -- |
| colon ( : ) | Do not use | -- | Supported | Supported | Supported | -- |
| dollar sign ( $ ) | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported |
| equal sign ( = ) | Supported | -- | Supported | Supported | Supported | -- |
| exclamation point ( ! ) | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported |
| hyphen ( - ) | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported |
| parenthesis, left or right ( ( ) ) | Supported | -- | Supported | Supported | Supported | -- |
| percent ( % ) | Supported | Supported | Do not use | Supported | Do not use | Supported |
| period ( . ) | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported |
| pipe ( | ) | Do not use | -- | Supported | Supported | Supported | -- |
| plus sign ( + ) | Supported | -- | Supported | Supported | Supported | -- |
| number sign ( # ) | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported |
| question mark ( ? ) | Supported | -- | Supported | Supported | Supported | -- |
| semicolon ( ; ) | Do not use | -- | Supported | Supported | Supported | -- |
| Forward slash ( / ) | Supported | -- | Supported | Supported | Supported | -- |
| Backward slash ( \ ) | Supported | -- | Do not use | Supported | Supported | -- |
| space | Supported | -- | Do not use | Do not use | Do not use | -- |
| tilde (~) | Do no use | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported | Do not use |
| double quotation marks (") | Do not use | -- | Do not use | Do not use | Do not use | Do not use |
| underscore ( _ ) | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported |