Short Name

A file or folder's name limited to eight characters, followed by a single period ("."), and three additional characters.

Older versions of Windows, and its predecessor, DOS, limited file and folder names to this so-called "8.3" format. Since the release of Windows 95, most file and folder names can be much longer,containing as many 255 characters. But to remain compatible with older programs, Windows automatically assigns each file and folder an alternate short name that conforms to the 8.3 limitation.