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

AIF file extension

Audio Interchange File Format

Audio Files

AZW file extension

Amazon Kindle eBook File

eBook Files

BIN file extension

Binary Disc Image

Disk Image Files

DDS file extension

DirectDraw Surface

Raster Image Files

FNT file extension

Windows Font File

Font Files

MPA file extension

MPEG-2 Audio File

Audio Files

PPTX file extension

PowerPoint Open XML Presentation

Data Files

PS file extension

PostScript File

Vector Image Files

RAR file extension

WinRAR Compressed Archive

Compressed Files

RPM file extension

Red Hat Package Manager File

Compressed Files

RSS file extension

Rich Site Summary

Web Files

TOAST file extension

Toast Disc Image

Disk Image Files

TTF file extension

TrueType Font

Font Files

VB file extension

VBScript File

Executable Files

ZIPX file extension

Extended Zip File

Compressed Files