rm command returns a message [1] 12345 What does this mean?

Question

I'm trying to remove a file and I keep getting a message similar to:

[1] 12345

and nothing happens, I run a directory search (dir) and the file remains and I get a stopped message

Answer 1

You are removing a file with an & character in the name, and the rm command is being put in the background. (For the record, the 1 is the job number, and the 12345 is the process ID)

It is important to quote or escape any filenames that contain special characters. A good rule of thumb is: if you think something might be a special character, it can't hurt to quote. Just put 'single quotes' around the whole filename, unless it contains a single quote mark - then it gets more complicated. You could also (instead of quotes) put a backslash \ before every special character (including any backslashes the filename may contain) Though, if you tab-complete the shell will quote or escape anything that actually is a special character for you.