# Problem with filebeat yml file on Windows

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/problem-with-filebeat-yml-file-on-windows/167154>\
**Category:** Beats\
**Tags:** filebeat\
**Created:** [February 5, 2019, 3:47pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/problem-with-filebeat-yml-file-on-windows/167154 "2019-02-05T15:47:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 2

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**Author:** ![adrisr](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/adrisr/32/25423_2.png) [@adrisr](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/adrisr)\
**Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 4:12pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/problem-with-filebeat-yml-file-on-windows/167154/2 "2019-02-05T16:12:45Z")

</div>

Have a look at our [YAML tips and gotchas.](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/beats/filebeat/6.6/yaml-tips.html)

The problem is with the backslash character in the different paths:  
`path: C:\Users\....` \<--- Wrong

Here, the YAML parser undestands \U as the start of a UNICODE escape character.

As the documentation suggests, you should wrap paths in `'`single quotes`'`:

`path: 'C:\Users....'` \<---- Correct

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_[View the full topic](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/problem-with-filebeat-yml-file-on-windows/167154)._