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

ASP file extension

Active Server Page

Web Files

AVI file extension

Audio Video Interleave File

Video Files

CBR file extension

Comic Book RAR Archive

Compressed Files

CFM file extension

ColdFusion Markup File

Web Files

DBF file extension

Database File

Database Files

DOCX file extension

Microsoft Word Open XML Document

Text Files

FLA file extension

Adobe Flash Animation

Developer Files

IBOOKS file extension

Multi-Touch iBook

Data Files

KML file extension

Keyhole Markup Language File

GIS Files

PDB file extension

Program Database

Database Files

PNG file extension

Portable Network Graphic

Raster Image Files

VCF file extension

vCard File

Data Files

WAV file extension

WAVE Audio File

Audio Files

WSF file extension

Windows Script File

Executable Files

ZIP file extension

Zipped File

Compressed Files