I want to know “File Extension”! What is “.exe”?

“File Extension” is a string of characters separated by a dot “.” at the end of a computer file. For example, it is the “exe” part of the Windows executable “.exe”. There are many different types of file extensions, not just “exe”.

In this article, I will explain file extensions and the types.

Contents

Meaning of File Extension

At the beginning of this article, I explained the file extensions which is “a string of characters separated by a dot “.” at the end of a computer file”. So, what does this part mean?

In fact, you can identify the type of a file by file extensions. If you remember commonly used file extensions, you can understand the type of file without opening the file.

Also, “Changing the file extension” does not change the data inside. Therefore, “Changing the file extension” does not “Changing the file type”. In some cases, “Changing the file extension” will make it impossible to open the file.

There are widely used generic file extensions as well as file extensions dedicated to specific applications.

File Extension type

Below are the main file extension types.

Author
Author

Those listed here are just a few examples.

There are many other file extensions in addition to these.

Text File

  • txt

The file is in text format. It is available if text is available.

  • pdf

The file is in PDF format. It is developed by a company called Adobe.

  • html

The file is using the markup language called HTML. It is used for creating Web pages.

Image File

  • bmp

The file is an image file. It is not widely used because of its large file size and uncompressed storage format.

  • gif

The file is an image file. Although only a maximum of 256 colors can be used, animations and other movements can be set.

Transparent processing is also possible.

  • jpeg

The file is an image file. Approximately 16.7 million colors can be used.

When compressed, a part of the data is lost (lossy compression). Therefore, once the file is edited and the image quality is reduced, it cannot be restored.

  • png

The file is an image file. Approximately 16.7 million colors can be used. Transparent processing is also possible.

However, png compared to gif and jpeg, the file size tends to be larger.

Audio File

  • wav

The file is an audio file before compression.

  • mp3

The file is an audio file after compression. It is widely used in general.

Video File

  • mov

The file is a video file. It is developed by a company called Apple and it works well with Apple products.

  • mp4

The file is a video file. It is widely used in general.

Office365 File

  • docx

The file is a Microsoft Word file. It can be converted to specific formats through Word.

  • xlsx

The file is a Microsoft Excel file. It can be converted to specific formats through Excel.

  • pptx

The file is a Microsoft PowerPoint file. It can be converted to specific formats through PowerPoint.

Executable File

  • exe

The file is a windows executable file.

Compressed File

  • zip

The file is compressed file. It is widely used in general.

Source File

  • c

The file is a C language source file.

  • cpp

The file is a C++ source file.

  • java

The file is a Java source file.

  • python

The file is a Python source file.

Conclusion

  • A File Extension is a string of characters separated by a dot “.” at the end of a computer file.
  • You can identify the type of a file by file extensions.
  • There are many types of file extensions.

In this article, I explained the file extensions and the types. It is useful to remember file extensions you use most often.