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

CFG file extension

Configuration File

Settings Files

EXE file extension

Windows Executable File

Executable Files

FON file extension

Generic Font File

Font Files

MID file extension

MIDI File

Audio Files

MP3 file extension

MP3 Audio File

Audio Files

ODT file extension

OpenDocument Text Document

Text Files

ROM file extension

N64 Game ROM File

Game Files

RSS file extension

Rich Site Summary

Web Files

SWF file extension

Shockwave Flash Movie

Video Files

TEX file extension

LaTeX Source Document

Text Files

TGA file extension

Targa Graphic

Raster Image Files

VCD file extension

Virtual CD

Disk Image Files

WMA file extension

Windows Media Audio File

Audio Files

WSF file extension

Windows Script File

Executable Files