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

ACCDB file extension

Access 2007 Database File

Database Files

CS file extension

Visual C# Source Code File

Developer Files

CSV file extension

Comma Separated Values File

Data Files

DB file extension

Database File

Database Files

DEB file extension

Debian Software Package

Compressed Files

DOC file extension

Microsoft Word Document

Text Files

ICS file extension

iCalendar File

Misc Files

ODT file extension

OpenDocument Text Document

Text Files

PIF file extension

Program Information File

Executable Files

PSPIMAGE file extension

PaintShop Pro Image

Raster Image Files

SQL file extension

Structured Query Language Data File

Database Files

VCF file extension

vCard File

Data Files

WPS file extension

Microsoft Works Word Processor Document

Text Files

WSF file extension

Windows Script File

Executable Files

XHTML file extension

Extensible Hypertext Markup Language File

Web Files