How to show file extensions. What is a file extension and how can I find it out? Show file resolution in windows 7

Windows 7, like previous versions of Microsoft OS, does not show the extensions of files registered in the system. This is convenient from a visual point of view - the name is shorter. However, when the need arises to find out the data type and change it, users often begin to wonder how to enable extension display.

What is a name extension and how to display it

A name extension (file type) is a sequence of letters and numbers after a period in the name, necessary to identify the content. There are files without an extension, but they are usually system files.

The type can be found in the file properties. To do this, you need to select the object, right-click on it (RMB) and select the “Properties” section from the menu.

The operating system determines which program should open a particular file. But if several applications are installed on the computer that can work with the same type of content, then the user can choose between them.

For example, in Windows 7, Windows Photo Viewer displays pictures by default. But the same function can be performed by Paint, Photoshop and other software for working with images.

There are different extensions within the same data type. For example, both .mp3 and .wav are audio types. But the first of them is reproduced by almost all players, and the second - only by some. Therefore, before installing a program to work with a file, you need to find out what types of data it is compatible with.

Why do you need to change the file extension and is it possible to do this using Windows software?

This need arises quite rarely. For example, if the user downloaded a file that should have an archive extension (.rar), but instead it is specified as .html. Accordingly, the document will open in the browser, and not in WinRAR. But since the object is actually a different type, an error will appear when running it. To solve the problem, you have to change the extension.

It may be that you need to make changes to the .cfg and .ini type files (documents that describe application settings). To do this, use Notepad. In order for a text application to be able to open such objects, you need to change their extensions to .txt.

If the user wants to create application console utilities using Windows tools, he should write the script itself in Notepad or a similar program. To run a text document as a program, you need to change its extension to .bat. If necessary, make adjustments - again on .txt.

How to configure Windows 7 so that you can see the extension

You can make the extension visible for convenience - then the user will not have to constantly go to “Properties”. In addition, the file type display is customized for security reasons. The fact is that virus authors often use a trick designed to catch the user's inattention.

Example: an object called File.avi was downloaded from the Internet. The extension is the same as a video file. But if the system is not configured to show the type, then there should not be .avi in ​​the name. When the extension is displayed, the full name of the object will be visible - File.avi.exe. The video is disguised as an executable application, which is a virus.

To eliminate the threat of PC infection, it is better to make the extension visible. The sequence of actions is as follows:

1. Through the Start menu, open Control Panel.
2. Click on “Folder Options”.
3. If the parameter settings are divided into categories, change the viewing mode to “Large icons”.
4. In the “Folder Options” window, go to the “View” tab, find the line “Hide extensions for known file types” in the list of additional options and uncheck the box. Then confirm the actions.

Now the file extension can be seen in the title. To remove it, you need to check the box back.

How to view, change the file extension and hide it: video

How to change the file extension

First of all, the user must understand that by setting a different file extension, it will not change the content. For example, if you enter .doc instead of .pdf, the object will not become a document for Microsoft Word. The conversion is performed through special software.

How to enable data type display using the standard tool

First you need to make the extension visible using the algorithm given above. Next you should proceed like this:

How to find out the extension and change it through Total Commander

Unlike the previous one, this method does not require changing settings in the Folder Options. The initialization file is used as an example. Need to:

1. Select the file and press F2.
2. Change the extension to .txt.
3. Then press Enter. Now the file is a simple text document that will open in Notepad and Notepad.

How to make extension visible and rename file using command line

First, you need to use the Win + R key combination to launch the “Run” tool, enter cmd in the line and click OK.

Now you should go to the folder where the file is located. The command depends on the location of the object.

Now the folder is defined, you can install the new extension. The command is the same for both cases: ren [filename] [new filename]. For example, ren Example.ini Example.txt.

To change the extension of several files located in the same folder at once, you need to go to the directory and enter the command: ren [*.extension] [*.new extension]. For example, ren *.ini *.txt.

Using system tools, the user can display or remove the file name extension. It is also capable of changing the data type, but the contents of the object will remain the same.

This guide will tell you how to display the file extension of Windows 7, 8, 10 and why this option is needed. Here are two methods that allow you to show extensions - suitable for the entire line of Microsoft OS and used in the eighth and tenth versions of the operating system, but easy to use.

In recent Windows, extensions are hidden by default. This is easier for visual perception, because there are no unclear symbols in the program names. But users often need to change or see the file extension in Windows 10, 8, 7 as different types of applications may have the same name and shortcut.

In addition, there are a number of viruses that require enabling the display of extensions to combat them. Activating this option is also necessary in order to make hidden files visible in Windows 7, 8, 10.

Tip: After performing the necessary manipulations with applications, it is recommended to hide the display of types again, so that in the future, when changing names, you do not change or delete the value of this parameter. After all, if you change it, the application will stop running.

How to set up display of extensions using a universal method

To enable display of extensions, you need to open the folder properties in Windows 7. Perform the following manipulations:

open the control panel;

change its display - in the “View” field located at the top of the dialog, set the value to large or small icons;

Find the “Folder Options” shortcut in the changed panel and click on it.

In the dialog that appears, go to the “View” tab and in the “Advanced options” subsection, uncheck the “Hide extensions for registered file types” field. If you want to remove the extension from the file name, return the checkbox to the item.

In addition, this window allows you to change other important settings. For example, you often need to open . To do this, in the same “Advanced settings” subsection, check the “Show hidden files, folders and drives” box.

Show format allows you to change the file type in Windows 7. To this end, after enabling this option, select the required application and open the context menu by right-clicking on it. Select Rename. The name of the application will contain its type, separated from the main part by a dot; simply change the parameter to the desired value.

Important: this method is also suitable for newer versions of Windows. In them, the control panel is opened by right-clicking on the “Start” button and selecting the appropriate value. Further actions are similar to those described earlier.

WATCH THE VIDEO

Hello everyone, today I want to tell you how to enable the display of file extensions in Windows operating systems. First, let's figure out what kind of animal this is and why we need it!

Without going into too much detail, these are symbols that are added to the file name, they allow the computer and the user to determine what program this file was created or how to open it. For example, you typed your coursework and saved it under the name “My Coursework”, but this is not the full file name, the operating system hides the file extension from us, and the full name will be, for example, “My Coursework.doc”. If the file did not have an extension, then Windows would not understand what program the file was created in and would offer to select a program to open

In Windows 8/8.1 this window looks completely different, but the meaning does not change - you will be asked to select a program from the list

From this article you will learn how to enable display of file extensions:

Why do you need to know what an extension is, how to display and change it? By default, the Windows system hides the extension of files that it knows which programs to open, and those that it does not know will display its extension to you. It seems logical, but not always. Let me give you an example: I run my own blog and I need to specify the path to the file, but without specifying the extension I will not be able to specify it completely (and documents can have both *.doc and *.docx) and guessing which one needs to be substituted is stupid, that’s why we will display file extensions.

Another very important point is computer viruses. Now I will try to explain in detail how simply displaying the extension can slightly increase your online security. As we have already said, each file has an extension:

For documents this is usually *.doc, *.xls, *.odt, for films *.avi, *.mkv, *.mp4 and so on... so, programs also have an extension - this is *.exe, *.msi , *.com, *.bat... and it should be understood that the film “Gravity.mkv” must be opened by a program such as “kmplayer.exe”, but the film itself cannot be a program. What's the humor? Quite often in a search engine you can come across a virus. Have you decided to download the movie? The wolf of Wall Street, and from the first link we get this message:

As you can see, this is not a film, but a PROGRAM, and only the creators of the file know what is there, and we can only guess that there is some kind of nasty stuff in there (the film is not there 146%), because they tried to confuse us: the program has an icon like a video, a name like a movie, but in fact it is a program... the same with audio and many other files, so be careful 😉

How to enable display of file extensions in Windows 7

Now let's see how to see the file extension in Windows 7, as I wrote above, Windows hides the extension of files known to it, to disable this function, open any folder and click “Arrange”, “Folder and Search Options”

The “Folder Options” window will open in front of you, switch to the “View” tab, and almost at the very bottom, uncheck “Hide extension for known file types”, and apply these settings...

The file extension is, it would seem, a trifle and does not play a special role. However, this opinion is false; in fact, it plays a fairly significant role. Depending on what extension is assigned to the file, the system will determine in which program the document should be opened. For example, the computer will open a music file in mp3 format in a multimedia player, doc resolution in a text editor, for example, in, etc.

In the Windows 7 operating system, file resolution is usually not displayed, however, to change it, you need to activate this same permission and change it to another one. In this article we will deal with the question of how to display the Windows 7 file extension, as well as how to hide the Windows 7 file extension, if necessary.

How to display file extensions

First, go to the start menu, then to the “Control Panel”, where we select the active line “Folder Options”, and in it - the “View” tab. Next you will see a long list of additional parameters that you will need to change a little. So, you need to uncheck the box next to “Hide extensions for known file types” and, finally, “OK”.

Next, we go to Explorer, and we see that each of the files there has an extension placed there after the name with a dot. Please note that with these changes, after each extension change, a dialog box will appear warning you that the file may be inaccessible. However, you still make the changes.

How to hide file extensions

Hiding an extension is no more difficult than setting it to display. The principle is no different from the previous method, and in order not to rewrite everything again, I will present everything in a simplified form. So, Start - Control Panel - Folder Options - View - Advanced Options - Hide extensions for known file types - OK. In addition, in the same “Advanced Settings” window, you can also enable .

However, this method is not the only one; you can also use a file manager, for example, the popular Total Commander. To do this, go to the Configuration menu, then to Settings, then select “Contents of panels”, in it “Display files” – Show hidden/system files – OK. That's all, absolutely nothing complicated.

I hope that now you have learned how to show Windows 7 file extensions on your computer, as well as hide it, and do this in several ways, and you are no longer afraid of this question.

The extension is used to associate a file with a program, i.e. If there is an extension, Windows will “know” which program to open this file with. In Windows operating systems, the display of file extensions, which usually consist of two or three letters of the Latin alphabet, is disabled by default. Therefore, we only see the file name and do not know what its extension is.

To make it clearer, let's look at an example. Let's say you have a file called records.doc.txt. In Windows, this file appears as follows − records.doc. Judging by the name of this file, one could assume that this is a Microsoft Word document. But if you run this file, it will open not Word, but Notepad, because... true (but invisible) file extension txt, A .doc is just part of the file name.

A very important point of the topic of this article is the fact that hiding file extensions by default in Windows very often used by attackers to spread viruses and various malware. They distribute such files in the hope that users will consider them safe and run them, not realizing that they are executable files.

Again, for example, let's consider this situation. You have received an email. This letter contains an attachment in the form of an archive, when you open it you see a file with the name music.mp3 or, for example, presentation.ppt. At first glance, nothing special. The first file is a regular audio file, and the second is a PowerPoint presentation. But, with file extensions enabled, you would see the following file names: music.mp3.exe And presentation.ppt.exe, which are executable and potentially dangerous.

As you probably already understood, displaying file extensions in Windows is necessary not only for the convenience of working in the system, but also for security. Now let's look at how to configure the display of file extensions in Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8.

How to show file extensions in Windows XP

1. Click the button Start and select menu item My computer.

2. A window should open as in the figure below. Next in the menu, select the item Service, then point Folder properties…

3. A window should open Folder properties, in which you need to select a tab View.

4. Find the item and uncheck it.

5. Click the button Apply, and then OK.

All. Your system will now display file extensions.

How to Show File Extensions in Windows Vista and Windows 7

1. Click the button Start and select menu item Control Panel.

2. In the window that opens, select Design and personalization, and then point Folder options.

3. In the Folder Options window, find the item Hide extensions for registered file types and uncheck it.

4. Press the button Apply, and then OK.

Your Windows Vista or Windows 7 will now display file extensions.

How to show file extensions in Windows 8

1. On the Windows 8 start screen, type the word conductor. As a result of these actions, the application will be found Conductor, which will appear on the left side of the screen. Launch it.

2. In the window that opens, select the tab View.

4. You can close the Explorer window and check the display of file extensions.

Configuring the display of file extensions in Windows 8.1 is done in a similar way.

As you can see, setting up the display of file extensions in Windows is not a difficult task, but by doing it, you will make working on the system more convenient and secure.