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

ASX file extension

Microsoft ASF Redirector File

Video Files

CFM file extension

ColdFusion Markup File

Web Files

DBF file extension

Database File

Database Files

DOC file extension

Microsoft Word Document

Text Files

GAM file extension

Saved Game File

Game Files

GED file extension

GEDCOM Genealogy Data File

Data Files

MID file extension

MIDI File

Audio Files

PKG file extension

Mac OS X Installer Package

Compressed Files

SAV file extension

Saved Game

Game Files

SH file extension

Bash Shell Script

Developer Files

TORRENT file extension

BitTorrent File

Misc Files

VOB file extension

DVD Video Object File

Video Files

WMA file extension

Windows Media Audio File

Audio Files

XHTML file extension

Extensible Hypertext Markup Language File

Web Files

ZIPX file extension

Extended Zip File

Compressed Files