File extensions – definition and basic information


File extensions are the integral parts of the files that are on each computer. Often, when working on a computer, we encounter a wide range of files, such as docx, ppt, part, mp3 or rmvb. We realize that they are there – but we often do not know what they are for on our computer.

File extension, also known as the filename extension is a suffix added to the name of a computer file, usually consisting of a number of characters placed after the last dot in the filename, which gives us information about its coding. In other words a file extension is a file format. It allows the operating system (e.g. Windows) to recognize what program it should try to open the file.

In the table below you will find a random selection of popular file extensions.


File extension The full name of the file Category

AZW file extension

Amazon Kindle eBook File

eBook Files

DBF file extension

Database File

Database Files

DMP file extension

Windows Memory Dump

System Files

DRV file extension

Device Driver

System Files

GAM file extension

Saved Game File

Game Files

H file extension

C/C++/Objective-C Header File

Developer Files

JPG file extension

JPEG Image

Raster Image Files

JS file extension

JavaScript File

Web Files

LOG file extension

Log File

Text Files

PIF file extension

Program Information File

Executable Files

PPTX file extension

PowerPoint Open XML Presentation

Data Files

RSS file extension

Rich Site Summary

Web Files

SRT file extension

SubRip Subtitle File

Video Files

TORRENT file extension

BitTorrent File

Misc Files

XHTML file extension

Extensible Hypertext Markup Language File

Web Files