[Git] Error: unable to create file (Invalid argument / Filename too long) — File system limitation — How to Fix It

Summary

error: unable to create file (Invalid argument / Filename too long) appears when Git fails to create or extract a file because its path or name exceeds the file system’s limits — most often on Windows, where the default maximum path length is 260 characters.

Context

This issue occurs mainly during git clone, git pull, or git checkout, when long directory trees or deeply nested structures exceed Windows' path constraints. The same message can appear for filenames with invalid or reserved characters (like * ? : < > |).

Probable Cause

  • Total path length exceeds 260 characters (Windows default).
  • Filename contains invalid characters not allowed by the OS.
  • Repository cloned too deep in the directory hierarchy.
  • Cross-platform filename incompatibility (e.g., Windows ↔ Linux).

Quick Fix

  1. Enable long paths in Git (Windows only): 
    git config --system core.longpaths true

    Or manually edit C:\Program Files\Git\etc\gitconfig and add:

    [core]
    longpaths = true
  2. Move your repository closer to the drive root:

    Example: C:\repos\project instead of C:\Users\YourName\Documents\Very\Long\Path\project.

  3. Remove invalid characters from filenames:

    Avoid: * ? : < > | (invalid on Windows).

  4. Re-run your Git operation: 
    git clone <repo>
git pull
git checkout <branch>

Example

# Error
$ git clone https://github.com/user/repo.git
error: unable to create file docs/very/deep/path/with/a/super/long/filename.txt: Filename too long

# Fix
$ git config --system core.longpaths true
$ git clone https://github.com/user/repo.git
# → success

Alternate Scenarios

  • “Invalid argument” on Windows: Filename includes reserved symbols (e.g., *, ?, :).
  • “Filename too long” on Linux/macOS: Uncommon, but can occur on mounted or FAT32-formatted drives.
  • Cross-platform repos: Case-sensitive filenames (e.g., File.txt vs file.txt) can break on Windows.

Pitfalls & Debug

  • Symptom → Git refuses to clone large repos. Fix → Enable core.longpaths or shorten clone path.
  • Symptom → Invalid characters in file paths. Fix → Rename files before pushing from Linux to Windows environments.
  • Symptom → Clone succeeds partially. Fix → Run git fsck or re-clone after fixing path issues.

Verification & Next Steps

# Check Git long path support
git config --list | grep core.longpaths

# Find long paths (Unix)
git ls-tree -r HEAD | awk '{print $4}' | awk 'length($0) > 200'

# Move repository and retry
mv /long/deep/path /short/path

Best Practices

  • Keep directory hierarchies shallow for cross-platform compatibility.
  • Enable core.longpaths in all Windows environments.
  • Avoid special characters in file or folder names.
  • Use consistent naming conventions across systems to prevent merge issues.

Sources

Git Documentation — core.longpaths

Stack Overflow — filename too long

Labels

Tool/Git, OS/Windows, Topic/File System Limits