How do I manually create a file with a . (dot) prefix in Windows? For example, .htaccess

I want to create a .htaccess file manually and discovered it seems impossible through the Windows UI. I get a "you must type a filename." message. There has to be a way to create files with . as a prefix in Windows.

Can this be done manually?

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How do I create a .htaccess file in Notepad?

If you start Notepad and then File -> Save As -> Write . htaccess and choose "All Files" as the type - then it will create the . htaccess file for you.

Can you put a dot in a folder name?

As far as I know there are no issues with naming folders and files with a single or multiple dots.

If you start Notepad and then File -> Save As -> Write .htaccess and choose "All Files" as the type - then it will create the .htaccess file for you.

Notepad save as .htaccess