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

AZW file extension

Amazon Kindle eBook File

eBook Files

EXE file extension

Windows Executable File

Executable Files

JAR file extension

Java Archive File

Executable Files

KEYCHAIN file extension

Mac OS X Keychain File

Data Files

KML file extension

Keyhole Markup Language File

GIS Files

M4V file extension

iTunes Video File

Video Files

MP3 file extension

MP3 Audio File

Audio Files

PPS file extension

PowerPoint Slide Show

Data Files

PS file extension

PostScript File

Vector Image Files

RPM file extension

Red Hat Package Manager File

Compressed Files

SH file extension

Bash Shell Script

Developer Files

TEX file extension

LaTeX Source Document

Text Files

WPD file extension

WordPerfect Document

Text Files

XLSX file extension

Microsoft Excel Open XML Spreadsheet

Spreadsheet Files

YUV file extension

YUV Encoded Image File

Raster Image Files