Guide for File Types and Extensions
.com
.com A command file or compiled application file.
.jar
A Java archive file format used to distribute Java class files and associated metadata files.
.scexe
A Linux self-extracting executable file.
.msi
A Windows Installer package; a file that can specify installation parameters for an application.
.bat
A batch file; a small text file containing a list of system commands that execute in a batch rather than requiring the user to enter each command in succession.
.tar
A compressed file created with the XZ compression format.
.doc/.docx
A data file created in a word processing program, such as Microsoft Word or WordPad. You might also see .docx, which is the Office 2007, 2010, and 2013 format.
.zip
A file compression format that has built-in support in most operating systems.
.dmg
A password-protected, compressed Apple Disk Image file format used by Mac OS X.
.txt
A plain text file that contains no formatting other than spaces and line breaks. You can open files that have a .txt extension in any text editing program, such as Notepad, or word processing programs, such as Microsoft Word.
.wav
An audio file in the Waveform Audio File format that was developed by Microsoft and IBM.
.iso
An optical disc image of a file system that is commonly used for archiving.
.xls/.xlsx
Data files created in Microsoft Excel. Files® created in Office 2007, 2010, and 2013 are indicated by the .xlsx file extension.
.ppt/.pptx
Data files created in Microsoft PowerPoint® . Files created in Office 2007, 2010, and 2013 are indicated by the .pptx file extension.
.rar
Developed by Eugene Roshal, this archive file format supports compression, among other features.
.rtf
Rich Text Format (RTF), or a text file that includes a limited amount of formatting such as bold and italic. You can open files that have the .rtf extension in various applications, such as common word processors or Microsoft's WordPad accessory.
.flv
The Adobe Flash video file format used for delivering videos over the Internet.
.aac
The Advanced Audio Coding file format.
.m4a
The Apple Lossless Audio Codec file format used for digital music files.
.flac
The Free Lossless Audio Codec file format.
.gif
The Graphics Interchange Format image file format.
.jpg/.jpeg
The Joint Photographic Experts Group image file format that is commonly used in photographs.
.avi
The Microsoft Audio Video Interleaved file format that contains audio and video data.
.wmv
The Microsoft Windows Media video file format.
.bmp
The Microsoft Windows bitmap image file format.
.mp3
The Moving Picture Experts Group Layer 3 format used to store and play audio files in digital audio players.
.mp4
The Moving Picture Experts Group Layer 4 (MP4) format used to store and play video files.
.mpg/.mpeg
The Moving Picture Experts Group file format for audio and video files.
.png
The Portable Network Graphic image file format.
.tif/.tiff
The Tagged Image File format.
.app
The application program executable file format used by Apple.
.gzip/.gz
The free file compression file format developed for the GNU Project.
.7zip/.7z
The open archive file format that uses compression.
The versatile Portable Document Format (PDF) file format can be read by any computer with a free reader application, such as Adobe Reader.
.exe
Windows executable file that launches programs and applications.
