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

APK file extension

Android Package File

Executable Files

BIN file extension

Binary Disc Image

Disk Image Files

DNG file extension

Digital Negative Image File

Camera Raw Files

FLA file extension

Adobe Flash Animation

Developer Files

IFF file extension

Interchange File Format

Audio Files

M file extension

Objective-C Implementation File

Developer Files

M4A file extension

MPEG-4 Audio File

Audio Files

OBJ file extension

Wavefront 3D Object File

3D Image Files

PPTX file extension

PowerPoint Open XML Presentation

Data Files

PSPIMAGE file extension

PaintShop Pro Image

Raster Image Files

SQL file extension

Structured Query Language Data File

Database Files

TGA file extension

Targa Graphic

Raster Image Files

TORRENT file extension

BitTorrent File

Misc Files

3DS file extension

3D Studio Scene

3D Image Files