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

ASF file extension

Advanced Systems Format File

Video Files

CRDOWNLOAD file extension

Chrome Partially Downloaded File

Misc Files

FLA file extension

Adobe Flash Animation

Developer Files

GED file extension

GEDCOM Genealogy Data File

Data Files

LOG file extension

Log File

Text Files

MDB file extension

Microsoft Access Database

Database Files

MPA file extension

MPEG-2 Audio File

Audio Files

PL file extension

Perl Script

Developer 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

SWF file extension

Shockwave Flash Movie

Video Files

UUE file extension

Uuencoded File

Encoded Files

XML file extension

XML File

Data Files

3GP file extension

3GPP Multimedia File

Video Files