There are situations when the internal name of a list or column is used. For example when using “Filter Query” in a SharePoint action (Power Automate). Having internal names without special characters (like a space) is a best practice but unknown to many.
Creating a list/column with special characters will result in the encoding of these special characters to something web browsers understand but hard to read for humans. Example: A space will be encoded into: _x0020_
The internal name of a list has has a maximum number of 50 characters. The display name can be longer.
The internal name of a column has a maximum number of 32 characters. The display name can be longer.
Starting a column with a digit will also result in the encoding of this digit. Example: 1 will be encoded into: _x0031_
The correct way to create a list/column is to:
- create it with with only lower case characters and without special characters. Also do not start it with a digit.
- rename the list/column to its required name after creation. Renaming only changes the display name and not the internal name.