How to make windows show file extensions
By Ava Barnes
Windows doesn’t show file extensions by default, but you can change a single setting and make Windows 7, 8, or 10 always show you each file’s full file extension.
Why You Should Show File Extensions
Each file has a file extension that tells Windows what type of file that is. File extensions are usually three or four digits long, but can be longer. For example, Word documents have the .doc or .docx file extension. If you have a file named Example.docx, Windows knows it’s a Word document and will open it with Microsoft Word.
There are many different file extensions. For example, audio files may have a file extension like .mp3, .aac, .wma, .flac, .ogg, or many other possibilities depending on what type of audio file they are.
Setting Windows to show file extensions is helpful for security. For example, the .exe file extension is one of many file extensions that Windows runs as a program. If you can’t see what a file’s extension is, it’s hard to tell whether it’s a program or a safe document or media file at a glance.
For example, you may have a file named “document” that has the icon of your installed PDF reader. With file extensions hidden, there’s no quick way to tell if this is a legitimate PDF document or is actually a malicious program using your PDF reader’s icon as a disguise. If you had Windows set to show file extensions, you’d be able to see whether it’s a safe document with the name “document.pdf” or a dangerous file with a name like “document.exe”. You could look at the file’s properties window for more information, but you don’t need to do that if you’ve enabled file extensions.
How to Show File Extensions in Windows 8 and 10
This option is easily accessible in File Explorer on Windows 8 and 10.
Click the “View” tab on the ribbon. Activate the “File name extensions” box in the Show/hide section to toggle file extensions on or off. File Explorer will remember this setting until you disable it in the future.
How to Show File Extensions in Windows 7
This option is a little more hidden on Windows 7, where it’s buried in the Folder Options window.
Click the “Organize” button on Windows Explorer’s toolbar and select “Folder and search options” to open it.
Click the “View” tab at the top of the Folder Options window. Disable the “Hide extensions for known file types” checkbox under Advanced settings. Click “OK” to change your settings.
This options window is also accessible on Windows 8 and 10—just click the “Options” button on the View toolbar. But it’s faster to quickly toggle file extensions on or off via the ribbon.
This window is also accessible via the Control Panel on any version of Windows. Head to Control Panel > Appearance and Personalization > Folder Options. On Windows 8 and 10, it’s named “File Explorer Options” instead.
File Extension is that which identifies the file type. If you are a regular Windows user, then it is not at all a problem to identify the file type. For it is very important to see file extension to identify the type of file you are trying to open from a security point of view. So in this post, we will see how to hide or show File Extensions in Windows 10/8/7 and why you should show them.
Since file names allow you to use multiple full stops, the real name of a malware file could be realword .docx.exe . But because you have not set Windows to show file extensions, you would see only realword .docx . Thinking its a Word document, you could well end up clicking on it and infecting your computer. If you had, on the other hand, set your PC to show file extensions, you would see its full name – realword .docx.exe , which would help you to identify that it was actually an executable file and in all probability a malware file.
What are File Extensions & how are they useful
Different file types have different extensions. Audio files have .mp3, .wav, .wma, and more based on the program used to open that file. File extensions also help the operating system to identify the corresponding program to open that particular file. So, you should be able to see file extensions to be at the safer side, and we will let you know how to enable options to see file extensions in Windows.
As mentioned earlier, by default Windows does not show file extensions and they are hidden. But, you can toggle the option to see them.
Show File Extensions in Windows 10
There are five ways how you can go about accessing this setting:
- Through the File Explorer Options
- Through Windows Explorer Ribbon
- Using the Registry
- Using Command Prompt
- Using Group Policy Editor.
1] Through Folder or File Explorer Options
Open Control Panel > Appearance and Personalization. Now, click on Folder Options or File Explorer Option, as it is now called > View tab.
In this tab, under Advanced Settings, you will see the option Hide extensions for known file types. Uncheck this option and click on Apply and OK.
Windows 10 users may also search for File Explorer Options in Start search box and open this box.
Now, you can see file extensions for all files anywhere on your Windows system.
In Windows 10/8.1 Explorer, you can access File Explorer Options via Explorer.
Click View > Options > Change folder and search options.
Once here, you can do the needful as explained above.
In Windows 7, open Explorer, press Alt on your keyboard to make the Classic bar appear. Next, click on Tools > Folder Options. Now follow the steps mentioned above.
These are very simple steps to follow, and you do not need any third-party software to view file extensions. Windows provides us with everything which can be easily achieved, and the point lies in knowing and implementing them. This is the first way to see file extensions in Windows 7.
2] Via Windows File Explorer
Open Explorer and click on the View tab. Simply select the File name extensions checkbox, and you are all set.
3] Using the Registry Editor
Hit the WINKEY + R button combination to launch the Run utility, type in regedit and hit Enter. Once Registry Editor opens, navigate to the following key-
Look up for a DWORD entry labeled as HideFileExt.
Double click on the mentioned DWORD entry and set its value as 0. This will show up the hidden file extensions.
A value of 0 will hide the file extensions.
Exit the Registry Editor and then reboot your computer for the changes to take effect.
4] Use Windows Command Prompt
This fix can be used in both the scenarios mentioned above. Insert a bootable drive of Windows 10 installer.
Start by hitting the WINKEY + X combinations and select Command Prompt (Admin) to launch Command Prompt with Administrator Privileges.
Navigate to the root location of that bootable device inside the Command Prompt command line. Once you get there, type in the following to show the file extensions-
And then hit Enter.
You can also enter the following command to hide the file extensions,
5] Using Group Policy Editor
You can also use the Group Policy Editor and change the setting here:
User Configuration > Preferences > Control Panel Settings > Folder Options.
Set “Show hidden files and folders” and uncheck “Hide extensions for known file types”.
Thus, you can set your Windows to show file extensions in Windows 10/8. If you have anything to add, please do share it with us through comments.
By: Waseem Patwegar
You won’t be able to see File Extensions on your computer, unless you enable the option to Show File Extensions in Windows 10.
Make Windows Show File Extensions
By default, File Extensions are not visible on Windows 10 computer and also on computers running on older versions of Windows operating system.
However, not being able to See File Extensions is a bad idea from security point of view, as you may be tricked into opening unsafe files on your computer.
For example, you won’t be able to know whether a file named “document01” is a document file or a harmful executable file, without taking a look at its hidden extension part.
Similarly, a file may look like a genuine PDF File with a PDF icon, but may turn out to be a harmful executable file with .exe Extension.
Hence, it is recommended that you enable the option to Show File Extensions and minimize the chances of opening harmful executable files on your computer.
1. Show File Extensions in Windows 10 Using File Explorer
The easiest way to View File Extensions on your computer is to enable “File Name Extensions” option in Windows File Explorer.
1. Right-click on the Start button and click on File Explorer .
2. In File Explorer window, select the View tab and check File Name Extensions box.
After this, all the files on your computer will be appear with their full file name extensions.
2. Show File Extensions Using Control Panel
If you like using Windows Control Panel, you can follow the steps below to make your computer Show File Extensions.
1. Type Control Pane l in the Search bar and click on Control Panel App in the search results.
2. On Control Panel Screen, make sure you are in Category View and click on Appearance and Personalization .
3. On the next screen, click on File Explorer Options .
4. On File Explorer Options screen, select the View tab and uncheck Hide Extensions for Known File Types option.
5. Click on Apply and OK to close this screen.
[For newbies/beginners] By default, Windows has extensions set to hidden for known file types, and that prevents users from changing them directly. There are many occasions on which you might need to change the extension of a file. In what follows, we will show you how to unhide file extensions for all file types.
In case you are an absolute beginner and don’t know about them, file extensions are parts of file names after the . (dot or period sign). Usually 3 characters long, these represent the type of the file. For example, a plain text document as a .txt extension, a word document has .doc or .docx, audio files have .mp3, .wma, .ogg, .wav etc., image files have .jpg, .png, .bmp and .gif, amongst others. Usually the end-user doesn’t need to change these but there are occasions when you might need to do so. Let’s see a few examples of this:
- You might need to change the extension of an executable file from the default .exe to something else before you can email it as an attachment in Gmail, since its filters don’t allow executable files as attachments for security reasons. You can include instructions for the other person to rename it back to .exe when they have downloaded it, in order to be able to run it.
- At times, we need to write batch scripts to perform certain tasks. These are essentially text files with commands that get executed one after the other in batch when the file is run. These files can be created as plain text files in any text editor, but once created, their extension must be changed from the default .txt to .bat in order to run them as batch files.
To show extensions for all file types, follow these steps:
- Open My Computer (or any folder).
- If you are using Windows 7 or later, press the Alt key to show the menu bar.
- Open the ‘Tools’ menu and select ‘Folder Options’.
- Go to the ‘View’ tab and uncheck ‘Hide extensions for known file types’.
- Click OK and you’re done.
Once done, you will be able to see file extensions for all file types in editable format when you rename the file. Just rename it the standard way, and edit the part after the . that is now visible.
Note that each time you rename a file extension, Windows will give you an alert, telling you that the file may become unusable if you change its extension, and ask you if you are sure you want to do this. Simply click ‘Yes’, and you’ll be all good. Don’t forget to remember the original extension in case you need to revert back to it though.
In this article, we will talk about how to show file name extensions in Windows 10 File Explorer. As relatively every PC user out there, our computers are utilized for taking care of a heaping assortment of digital files inclusive of audio, documents, images, videos, and so forth. Every one of these files has a distinguishing file name and also a file name extension. The file name extension is basically a 3 character long string that is utilized to recognize files of various sorts from each other.
As a matter of course, Windows 10 shows just the file name in File Explorer and keeps the file name extension hidden. But imagine a scenario where you need to have the filename extension showed too (perhaps to troubleshoot stuff), alongside the general file name. Well, then this is what I will show you in this tutorial. Showing the file name extension in Windows 10 File Explorer is a straightforward process and you can easily have the filename extensions appeared for almost all type of files.
Here’s how to do it.
How to Show File Name Extensions in Windows 10 File Explorer?
Step 1: Open the File Explorer on your Windows 10 PC. Then enable the “Ribbon” menu at the top of the window by clicking “Ctrl + F1”. If it is already shown, then you don’t have to do anything.
Step 2: When you see the “Ribbon” menu, click on the View tab shown at the top of the Ribbon menu.
Step 3: Now, under the “Show/Hide” section in the Ribbon menu of View tab, you will see an option called “File Name Extensions”. You have now found the option for enabling the file name extensions for files in your Windows 10 PC. To activate it, just check the box on the right side of the “File Name Extensions” option.
That’s it, now all the files like images, audio, documents, etc. on your PC’s File Explorer will start showing the file name extension along with the file names.
Conclusion:
So, now you know how to show file name extensions in Windows 10 File Explorer. Generally, the file name extensions are not required amid standard PC use. Be that as it may, just in the event that you’re one of those nerds who get a kick out of the chance to play around with things, you can have the file name extensions showed for your files in seconds. So, I hope it helps and also make your remarks known down in the comments.
Make Windows show file extensions!
We deal with hundreds of files with different extensions every day on our computer. Each file has a file extension that tells the operating system what type of file, and each of them needs a specific app to open. For example, .jpg and .png files need a photo viewer to open.
If you double click on the example.jpg, Windows 10 knows it’s an image file and will open it with the Photo Viewer. Similarly, if you double click on the .mp4 or .mkv file, Windows 10 will open the media player’s file.
Since Windows knows which app to open when the user doubles click on any particular file extension, it disables the file extension preview. However, setting up Windows to show file extensions could be extremely helpful for security. For example, a file named ‘malware.jpg.exe’ will appear to you as ‘malware.jpg’ in the file explorer, making you think that it’s just a picture.
Steps to Configure Windows 10 to Show File Extensions
Hackers do these little things to trap innocent users. So, it’s always best to show file name extensions in Windows Explorer. You will also manage the files better if you choose to show file name extensions in Windows Explorer.
In this article, we will share a detailed guide on how to show file name extensions in Windows Explorer. Let’s check out.
Step 1. First of all, open File Explorer on Windows 10 computer.
Step 2. Once done, click on the ‘File’ option.
Step 3. From the drop-down menu, select ‘Change folder and search options’
Step 4. Select the ‘View’ tab.
Step 5. Now scroll down and untick the ‘Hide extensions for known file types’ option.
Step 6. Once done, click on the ‘Apply’ button and then on ‘Ok.’
Step 7. Now move to the folder where you have some files stored. You will be able to see the file extension behind the name.
If you wish to hide the file extension, you need to tick the ‘Hide extensions for known file types’ option in Step no. 5.
That’s it! You are done. This is how you can make Windows 10 show file extensions in the File Explorer.
So, this article is all about how to make Windows show file extensions in the file explorer. I hope this article helped you! Please share it with your friends also. If you have any doubts related to this, let us know in the comment box below.
File extensions in Windows 10 let you distinguish between different file formats. They tell you to which file type a file belongs. Usually, the file extensions in Windows 10 are hidden by default for simplicity. The regular Windows user can easily differentiate between files just by looking at their icons but for a naive Windows user, it becomes difficult. In this article, we will explain to you the methods through which you can show file extensions using Windows 10.
For showing file extensions in Windows 10, you can make use of any of the two methods listed below:
Method # 1: Use Windows File Explorer
For making Windows 10 show file extensions using File Explorer, you need to proceed as follows:
Type file explorer in the search section of your taskbar and click on the search result to launch a new file explorer window which is shown in the following image:
Click on the View tab to expand it as shown in the image below:
Finally, click on the checkbox corresponding to the field of “File name extensions” to display the file extensions as shown in the following image:
Method # 2: Use the Control Panel
To show file extensions in Windows 10 using the Control Panel, you need to perform the following steps:
Type control panel in the search section of your taskbar and click on the search result to launch a new control panel window. The newly opened control panel window is shown in the following image:
Click on the Appearance and Personalization tab.
Now click on the File Explorer Options as highlighted in the image shown above. As soon as you will click on it, the following window will pop up:
Click on the View tab.
Now uncheck the checkbox corresponding to the field saying, “Hide extensions for known file types” as shown in the following image:
Finally, click on Apply and then click on OK to save the settings.
By following any of the two methods mentioned above, you can conveniently make Windows 10 to show file extensions. In this way, it will become very easy for you to distinguish different files. You can always hide these file extensions as per your requirements by reversing the methods listed above and make the file names look simple.
File extensions help us to identify file types. File Explorer in Windows 10 doesn’t show file extensions with default settings. This post explains how to change make File Explorer to always show or always hide file extensions for files in Windows 10.
It is recommended to make Windows 10 always show file extensions next to file names in File Explorer so that you can identify file types with ease. Otherwise, it is a security risk as anyone could send you a malicious file named “Readme.txt.exe” but Windows will hide the .exe portion. So an inexperienced user can inadvertently open the file thinking that it is a text file and malware will infect the PC.
You can see the extension of a file by right-clicking it and opening its properties. The extension along with the registered app will be visible in the Properties dialog. But making the File Explorer to always show file extensions is a good idea to check the file type with a glance at the file name. There are three quick ways to show or hide file extensions in Windows 10 File Explorer.
Show Or Hide File Extensions In Windows 10 File Explorer
- Open File Explorer (Press the Win + E keys).
- Click on View and enable the option ‘File name extensions’ to show extensions of files in File Explorer.
- To hide file extensions, you need to disable the same option.
Show Or Hide File Extensions With Folder Properties
- Type file ‘explorer options’ in Start menu or taskbar search box, and Press Enter to open File Explorer Options.
- Switch to the ‘View’ tab. Disable (uncheck) the check box ‘Hide extensions for known file types’ to show file extensions. Click on the ‘Apply’ button.
Show Or Hide File Extensions Using Keyboard Hotkeys
- Open File Explorer(Press the Win + E keys).
- On the keyboard, press the ‘Alt’ key, then press the ‘V’ key, and, finally, press the ‘HF’ keys to show or hide file extensions.
Author: The MFTNEXT Team
The MSFTNEXT project is a small team of authors who love to engage with the latest technology and gadgets. Being passionate Windows bloggers, we are happy to help others fix their system issues. View all posts by The MFTNEXT Team
File Extension is that which identifies the file type. If you are a regular Windows user, then it is not at all a problem to identify the file type. For it is very important to see file extension to identify the type of file you are trying to open from a security point of view. So in this post, we will see how to hide or show File Extensions in Windows 10/8/7 and why you should show them.
Since file names allow you to use multiple full stops, the real name of a malware file could be realword .docx.exe . But because you have not set Windows to show file extensions, you would see only realword .docx . Thinking its a Word document, you could well end up clicking on it and infecting your computer. If you had, on the other hand, set your PC to show file extensions, you would see its full name – realword .docx.exe , which would help you to identify that it was actually an executable file and in all probability a malware file.
What are File Extensions & how are they useful
Different file types have different extensions. Audio files have .mp3, .wav, .wma, and more based on the program used to open that file. File extensions also help the operating system to identify the corresponding program to open that particular file. So, you should be able to see file extensions to be at the safer side, and we will let you know how to enable options to see file extensions in Windows.
As mentioned earlier, by default Windows does not show file extensions and they are hidden. But, you can toggle the option to see them.
Show File Extensions in Windows 10
There are five ways how you can go about accessing this setting:
- Through the File Explorer Options
- Through Windows Explorer Ribbon
- Using the Registry
- Using Command Prompt
- Using Group Policy Editor.
1] Through Folder or File Explorer Options
Open Control Panel > Appearance and Personalization. Now, click on Folder Options or File Explorer Option, as it is now called > View tab.
In this tab, under Advanced Settings, you will see the option Hide extensions for known file types. Uncheck this option and click on Apply and OK.
Windows 10 users may also search for File Explorer Options in Start search box and open this box.
Now, you can see file extensions for all files anywhere on your Windows system.
In Windows 10/8.1 Explorer, you can access File Explorer Options via Explorer.
Click View > Options > Change folder and search options.
Once here, you can do the needful as explained above.
In Windows 7, open Explorer, press Alt on your keyboard to make the Classic bar appear. Next, click on Tools > Folder Options. Now follow the steps mentioned above.
These are very simple steps to follow, and you do not need any third-party software to view file extensions. Windows provides us with everything which can be easily achieved, and the point lies in knowing and implementing them. This is the first way to see file extensions in Windows 7.
2] Via Windows File Explorer
Open Explorer and click on the View tab. Simply select the File name extensions checkbox, and you are all set.
3] Using the Registry Editor
Hit the WINKEY + R button combination to launch the Run utility, type in regedit and hit Enter. Once Registry Editor opens, navigate to the following key-
Look up for a DWORD entry labeled as HideFileExt.
Double click on the mentioned DWORD entry and set its value as 0. This will show up the hidden file extensions.
A value of 0 will hide the file extensions.
Exit the Registry Editor and then reboot your computer for the changes to take effect.
4] Use Windows Command Prompt
This fix can be used in both the scenarios mentioned above. Insert a bootable drive of Windows 10 installer.
Start by hitting the WINKEY + X combinations and select Command Prompt (Admin) to launch Command Prompt with Administrator Privileges.
Navigate to the root location of that bootable device inside the Command Prompt command line. Once you get there, type in the following to show the file extensions-
And then hit Enter.
You can also enter the following command to hide the file extensions,
5] Using Group Policy Editor
You can also use the Group Policy Editor and change the setting here:
User Configuration > Preferences > Control Panel Settings > Folder Options.
Set “Show hidden files and folders” and uncheck “Hide extensions for known file types”.
Thus, you can set your Windows to show file extensions in Windows 10/8. If you have anything to add, please do share it with us through comments.
