Open file extension windows 7. How to show file extensions
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 - 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...
And what is it for? These questions need to be answered, as well as talk about changing the extension and in what cases the user may need it.
What is a file extension?
First, let's give an example of an analogy. Let's say you have a lot of different opaque jars of spices and seasonings at home. All the information is written on the jars - the name of the seasoning or spice, the brand, the manufacturer, the date of manufacture, etc. Now imagine that the name of the contents was removed from all jars. What will happen? You won't be able to use them because you don't know what is where.
The file extension is something like the name of the content. It is most often indicated by three characters (there are also extensions with four and even five characters) and is written at the end of the file name after a period. For example, you created a document in the Notepad application and saved it under the name Zametka. When saving a file, the application will automatically add an extension at the end, and the file name will be displayed as Zametka.txt. It should also be noted that the programs themselves have their own extension (exe, com, msi and others). For example, the same Notepad looks like Notepad.exe.
If the file does not have an extension, then Windows will not be able to determine the program that opens it, so it will open a window for you to select programs yourself.
What to do to show file extensions in Windows 7
The operating system by default hides extensions for all files that are unknown to it. We need to change the display function. We'll look at the whole process in Windows environment 7. The system will show file extensions after just a few clicks:
Such simple manipulations are enough to show file extensions in Windows 7.
Why do you need to enable extensions?
Let's assume that you have found and downloaded an audio recording - a file called New_Year_music.mp3. It is natural that music file should be opened by a player, say AIMP. But after that it didn’t start, and nothing seemed to happen at all. And then it turns out that viruses appeared on the computer.
The fact is that in fact the name of the downloaded file is New_Year_music.mp3.exe. That is, the system hid the familiar EXE extension, and you, being mistaken, launched the virus. This could have been avoided if Windows 7 showed the extensions of all files.
As we already wrote above, according to Windows default 7 will not show file extensions if it knows which programs to open them with. Now imagine that you need to upload a file to some site and you need to specify the full path to it. If the extension is hidden, you will not succeed.
How to change file extensions in Windows 7 and why you might need it
Changing the file extension is very easy. To do this, you need to right-click the file, and in the appeared context menu select the line “Rename”.
Why might you need to change the file extension? Let's say a user needs to disguise the file “My_passwords.txt” so that no one can run it. If you just change the name - Windows, it will still be opened in Notepad. But if you rename it, for example, like this: System.asd, then no one will be able to open it by accident.
There is another option: some Internet resources do not allow you to download certain types of files. You can bypass this limitation by simply changing the extension.
Sometimes it becomes necessary to change the file name extension.
How to do it?
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How to display file name extensions
Click Start -> Control Panel ->;
- in the window open the tab View;
– in a scrollable list Extra options uncheck the box Hide extensions for registered file types –> OK:
After that in Conductor next to the file name - after the dot - the extension will be displayed, and you can easily change it by simply renaming it:
True, a window will appear renaming with a message “After changing the extension, this file may no longer be accessible. Do you want to make changes?.
To change the extension you need to click Yes:
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How to hide file name extensions
Click Start -> Control Panel ->;
- in the window open the tab View;
– in a scrollable list Extra options check the box Hide extensions for registered file types –> OK.
Notes
1. To display file name extensions, you can also use third-party file managers, for example, Total Commander .
To do this you need to configure it: select the menu Configuration -> Settings... -> Settings -> Panel contents -> Displaying files -> Show hidden/ system files(only for experienced ones!) –> OK :
2. You can change the extension of any file (to any one!). In this case, the “native” program that launched this file no longer “recognizes” it and will not be able to launch it. Therefore, when changing the file name extension, you must be sure that your actions are correct. However, at any time you can return the file to its original extension.
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, a computer will open an mp3 music file in a multimedia player, doc resolution - in text editor, for example, in, etc.
In the operating room Windows system 7 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 extension windows files 7, 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 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.
Instructions
Open any folder. For example, "My Computer".
On the right top corner Select the “Arrange” menu and click on “Folder and Search Options”.
In the menu that opens, go to the “View” tab, scroll the menu to the end and uncheck the bottom-most checkbox called “Hide extensions for registered file types.”
Done, your Windows 7 computer is now enabled to show file extensions.
1. If, while renaming a file, you accidentally deleted its extension, after which it stopped opening, it’s okay, just rename the file back, returning the old extension.
2. Showing file extensions can help you protect your computer from viruses. If you want to download an archive or text document from the Internet, and a file with the extension .exe denoting a program has been downloaded to your computer, it is better to refuse to run this file; usually in this way, attackers force gullible users to install unnecessary programs and infect your computer with viruses.
Each file has its own extension. It is thanks to him that the operating system knows which program to use to open this file. In operating systems, some file names have their extension written at the end. For example, in text document Microsoft Office DOC is written at the end of the file name - this is the file extension. There may be a need to hide the file extension. Perhaps someone does not want its extension to be displayed at the end of the file name, or they need to hide the file type.
You will need
- Computer running Windows operating system
Instructions
You need to hide the file extension depending on the situation. If you need to make sure no one knows what type of file it is, you can simply rename its extension. This can be done without problems if you are using Windows XP or higher operating system.
Right-click on the file whose extension you want to hide and select “Rename” from the context menu. Rename the extension. It is immediately after the name of the file itself and only in Latin. You can specify any symbols as an extension. Then the system will recognize this file as unknown.
In the usual way this file can no longer be opened. To open it, right-click on the file and select “Open with” in the context menu and select the program to open. If the extension was on a text file, then, naturally, you can open the file using Microsoft Office.
You can return the correct file extension at any time. After you rename the file extension back, you will not need to select a program to open it; the file will again be opened by the operating system automatically.
If you just need to hide the file extension so it doesn't show up, this method will work for you. Click "Start" - "All Programs" - "Accessories". Among standard programs select Command Prompt. At the command prompt, enter "rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Options_RunDLL 0".
The Folder Options window appears. Select the View tab. In the "Advanced Options" window, find the "Hide protected system files" option. Check this box. Next to it is the item “Hide extensions for registered file types.” Please also check this box. After that, click OK. Now the operating system will not display file extensions.
Typically, an edit to a file extension should reflect a change in the recording format of the information it contains. And such interference in the file structure is most often carried out using specialized applications that change the extension. But cases when the user has to fix the extension himself are not so rare.
Instructions
The easiest way to change the file extension is to use a program specifically designed for working with files. You can open it in Windows in many ways - for example, right-click the “Start” button and select “open explorer” from the pop-up list of commands.
In the left column of the file manager interface, select the drive on which the renaming object is located, and then, sequentially opening the folders in the same left column, go to the directory containing the file.
If the extension of the desired object is not displayed in the file manager, then expand the “Organize” drop-down list above the left column of Explorer and select the “Folder and Search Options” line. If your OS version does not have this list, then expand the “Tools” section in the menu and select “Folder Options”. In both cases, the same window will open, in which you need a list of options on the “View” tab - find the line “Hide extensions for registered file types” in it. Uncheck the checkbox for this line and click OK.
By clicking required file right-click, select the “rename” command, go to the end of the name (click the End button) and correct the extension. By pressing the Enter key you will commit the changed file name.
The same operation can be done on the command line, even if displaying the file extension is disabled in Windows settings. Calling the simulator window command line implemented through the program launch dialog - press the Win and R keys simultaneously to open this dialog. Then type cmd, press Enter and the command line terminal will open.
To rename, use the rename command or its shortened version ren. This command requires specifying the full path and name of the object being edited, as well as the name of the file with the new extension (for the second parameter, specifying the full path is not required). For example, if a file called someFile.doc is placed in the text folder of the root directory of drive F, then to change its extension from doc to txt, enter the following command: ren F: extsomeFile.doc someFile.txt and press Enter.
Video on the topic
The need to display a file extension can be caused either by security reasons or by the need to change this very extension. This function does not require use additional programs or learning programming languages.
Instructions
The full name of the extension is “filename extension”. The extension's task is to determine the format of the selected file and select a program to open it. Visually, the extension is defined as the last characters after the period following the file name. So, the picture.ipg implies graphic file with the name “picture”, saved in JPG format.
When you first install an operating system, file extensions may be hidden for security reasons. Accidentally or intentionally removing a file extension renders it completely useless, since the OS cannot choose a program that can open this file. However, the extension display feature is built-in and can be easily activated by the user. To do this, expand any folder and expand the “Tools” menu in the top toolbar of the application window you are using.
Select "Folder Options" and go to the "View" tab in the dialog box that opens. Uncheck the box next to “Hide extensions for known file types” in the “Advanced Options” section and confirm saving your changes by clicking OK.
IN operating system Windows versions 7 or Vista, you can enable the display of file extensions using a slightly different method. Launch the application " Windows Explorer" and expand the "Arrange" menu in the program window that opens. Select the Folder and Search Options command and go to the View tab in the new dialog box. Uncheck the box next to “Hide extensions for known file types” in the “Advanced Settings” group directory and confirm the changes made by clicking OK. This action will cause extensions to be displayed when viewing selected files.
Sources:
- What is a "file extension"
When the file format is known, it is easier for the user to determine which application can be used to view or edit it. The Windows operating system has several modes: one allows displaying file extensions, the other does not.
Instructions
Extension – several characters that are written in the file name and indicate the type of data contained in it. The file format is separated from its name by a dot (text.doc, image.bmp). With default settings on Windows, the extension is always .
To select how file extensions are displayed, see Folder Options. You can call it in several ways. Click the Start button or Windows key on your keyboard and open Control Panel. Left-click on the Folder Options icon in the Appearance and Themes category. Alternative way: Open any folder saved on your computer. From the Tools menu, select Folder Options.
In the dialog box that opens, go to the “View” tab. In the Advanced Options group, use your mouse wheel or scroll bar to scroll down until you find Hide extensions for known file types. Remove the marker from the found item and save the new settings with the “Apply” button.
You can view the list of all currently registered extensions on the “File Types” tab. The dialog box shows extensions on the left side and file types on the right side. In some cases, it is not necessary to display file extensions; simply finding out their type is enough.
