How do I reference files with brackets in the name

Question

Create a file called Valid[File].txt and stick some text in it. Start powershell and go to the directory.

gc Valid[File].txt

should display the value in the file. It returns blank. If you use tab auto-completion it escapes the name:

gc 'Valid[File].txt'

but still returns nothing.

How do I reference files with brackets in their names?

Answer 1

You probably need to enclose it in quotation marks: gc "Valid[File].txt"

Answer 2

Turns out the key was -literalpath. For details see this technet article