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

APK file extension

Android Package File

Executable Files

ASF file extension

Advanced Systems Format File

Video Files

ASP file extension

Active Server Page

Web Files

ICS file extension

iCalendar File

Misc Files

JS file extension

JavaScript File

Web Files

MPA file extension

MPEG-2 Audio File

Audio Files

NES file extension

Nintendo (NES) ROM File

Game Files

PAGES file extension

Pages Document

Text Files

PDF file extension

Portable Document Format File

Layout Files

PNG file extension

Portable Network Graphic

Raster Image Files

PSD file extension

Adobe Photoshop Document

Raster Image Files

TEX file extension

LaTeX Source Document

Text Files

TIFF file extension

Tagged Image File Format

Raster Image Files

TORRENT file extension

BitTorrent File

Misc Files

3GP file extension

3GPP Multimedia File

Video Files