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

CFG file extension

Configuration File

Settings Files

DBF file extension

Database File

Database Files

DMP file extension

Windows Memory Dump

System Files

EPS file extension

Encapsulated PostScript File

Vector Image Files

FLA file extension

Adobe Flash Animation

Developer Files

FLV file extension

Flash Video File

Video Files

GIF file extension

Graphical Interchange Format File

Raster Image Files

MAX file extension

3ds Max Scene File

3D Image Files

MDF file extension

Media Disc Image File

Disk Image Files

MPG file extension

MPEG Video File

Video Files

PPT file extension

PowerPoint Presentation

Data Files

SAV file extension

Saved Game

Game Files

THM file extension

Thumbnail Image File

Raster Image Files

XLSX file extension

Microsoft Excel Open XML Spreadsheet

Spreadsheet Files

YUV file extension

YUV Encoded Image File

Raster Image Files