Imagine a situation when an important document was sent to you, after which the sender left the network. After downloading the file, you find that it has no extension. Of course, it is better in this case to clarify the information from the sender of the file, but it is not always possible to contact him. Then you need to determine the extension yourself to open this file. This article will discuss how to perform this task.
How to find out the file extension?
If the file extension has been lost, we must open this file with notepad to view the contents, but it is better to use the free Notepad ++ program, because when you open large files, the notepad stops responding and takes a very long time to load the text.
Take 7 files:
- img;
- img_jpg;
- img_gif;
- music
- document;
- zip archive;
- rar archive;
- program.exe.
Images
We open the first, for example img, and we see a set of obscure letters and characters. Let us turn our attention to the first line with the inscription ‰ PNG. This means that the file format is png.
In the second image we will see the following:
This means that this file is in jpg (jpeg) format.
If you have a GIF file, in this case GIF89a will be displayed in the program.
Music
How to find out what extension an audio file has? This is not so difficult to do.
Going into Notepad, we will see the following symbols (image below) that tell us that this file belongs to the MP3 format.
If you saw the OggS inscription, then you must be aware of the ogg extension.
Documents
It is worth noting that all programs (tables, orders, materials, etc.) will have a single inscription "RP" if you have Microsoft OFFICE 2003 and lower or "RK" if you have Microsoft OFFICE version 2007 and higher. Further we see the inscription [Content_Types] .xml, which tells us that this is a product of MS. After that, we simply go through all the programs, from Doc to Pptx. This significantly increases the search time for the desired format, but then you can definitely find the type you need.
If you are too lazy to sort through all types, then you can use the online resource Online TrID File Identifier, which will be discussed below.
Archive
In the archive, as well as in MS, there will be "RK", however, without any additional inscriptions clarifying this information. This will indicate that you have a ZIP archive. When you open the rar file, you will see that it begins with the Rar entry.
Video recording
To find out the extension of the video file, we need to open it in Notepad ++, where we will see the following entries, indicating that we have MP4 video format.
If you encounter AVI, the corresponding entry will appear.
Program
How to recognize a file without extension?
When opening the contents of the program file at the very beginning, we can observe a short MZ record, which tells us that we are certainly faced with an exe file.
Online TrID File Identifier
If you do not want to download Notepad ++, or you are just too lazy to click the right mouse button, and then the left, then to your attention there is a service that will help you find out the file extension. To do this is not at all difficult, for this, follow these simple steps.
You need to select a file and click the "Start" button. The resource will show, up to a percentage, the type of file that was downloaded, the name of the program, a link to product information.
Done, now you can safely put the lost extension.
How to put an extension?
In order to set the file type, you need to right-click on the file and rename it, adding a point and file type to the end of the name. Attention! Spaces in the extension cannot be set.
Are there other ways to find the file format?
Yes, there are a large number of resources, programs and manuals. They will tell you how to find out the file extension.
Renamed the file, but nothing changed. What to do?
In this case, check the spelling of the extension. For example, to rename in MS Word, you need to write not doc, but docx.
You can also double-click the file with the left mouse button and open it using the desired program from the list of installed ones, select it in the MS store or find the program on the computer if it is not in the list.
You may not have installed a program that supports this extension. Download and install this program.
Could there be errors in online resources? Where can I find the file extension?
Yes, they definitely can. No service is immune from the appearance of algorithm errors. But if you are afraid that the resource will be mistaken, then just do everything manually.
Conclusion
Congratulations! You’ve been introduced to ways to help you find out what file extension is. Now you can install it on your computer. This information can be very useful for any computer user, because everyone can face such a problem.