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

CRDOWNLOAD file extension

Chrome Partially Downloaded File

Misc Files

DOC file extension

Microsoft Word Document

Text Files

DXF file extension

Drawing Exchange Format File

CAD Files

GADGET file extension

Windows Gadget

Executable Files

GED file extension

GEDCOM Genealogy Data File

Data Files

IBOOKS file extension

Multi-Touch iBook

Data Files

ICNS file extension

Mac OS X Icon Resource File

System Files

M4V file extension

iTunes Video File

Video Files

MPA file extension

MPEG-2 Audio File

Audio Files

PLUGIN file extension

Mac OS X Plug-in

Plugin Files

RM file extension

Real Media File

Video Files

SDF file extension

Standard Data File

Data Files

TEX file extension

LaTeX Source Document

Text Files

VCD file extension

Virtual CD

Disk Image Files