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

DEM file extension

Video Game Demo File

Game Files

DNG file extension

Digital Negative Image File

Camera Raw Files

DRV file extension

Device Driver

System Files

GZ file extension

Gnu Zipped Archive

Compressed Files

HQX file extension

BinHex 4.0 Encoded File

Encoded Files

HTML file extension

Hypertext Markup Language File

Web Files

INI file extension

Windows Initialization File

Settings Files

JAVA file extension

Java Source Code File

Developer Files

MSI file extension

Windows Installer Package

Misc Files

ODT file extension

OpenDocument Text Document

Text Files

ROM file extension

N64 Game ROM File

Game Files

TEX file extension

LaTeX Source Document

Text Files

VCF file extension

vCard File

Data Files

WAV file extension

WAVE Audio File

Audio Files

YUV file extension

YUV Encoded Image File

Raster Image Files