Imagine:
- there is a file in front of you. By double-clicking, Windows prompts you to select a program to open it with. And who knows what kind of file this is, what extension it has and what program can open it?
- Dangerous situation. I sent you the greetings.jpg file by mail. You decide that it is a picture and open it. But the true extension, as it turns out, was hidden from you - the file was called greetings.jpg.exe and was virus!
- The file arrived by mail again. Just the executable file with the .exe extension that you are waiting for. But for security reasons (as in the previous paragraph), the mail program renamed the file, adding the extension safe. You are trying to rename a file, but you are not offered the option to change the extension. It is not clear how to launch the file.
- There are two files on your desktop and they look exactly the same. And the names are the same, and the pictures are the same. And one of them is doc, and the other is rtf. It's time to get confused.
In these cases you simply need enable display
Or this situation:
- you downloaded an archive from the Internet, but for some reason the browser saved it with htm resolution (web page resolution). Naturally, you will not be able to unpack such an archive.
You need change file extension to the correct one.
What to do in this case?
- Specify in Windows settings display extensions.
- Use a file manager.
You can change the formats (extensions) of some files by simply renaming them.
However, Windows OS may not show file extensions, including for security reasons, so that the user does not inadvertently rename the file incorrectly. Those. In your explorer the files are displayed like this:
To change the file extension you need Enable display of file extensions in Windows.
1.How to set the display of file extensions in Windows settings
Go to the menu: " Start" - "Control Panel".
There are two options here:
a) you have classic style enabled
In the case of the active classic style, immediately select “Folder Options”.
Then select the item “Designs and themes”.
And at the next stage we also select “Folder Options”.
In the properties, on the “View” tab, find the item “Hide extensions for registered file types” and uncheck this item. Click "OK".
You can also open the display of file extensions via Windows Explorer (double click by the "My Computer" icon on the desktop or the Win+E key combination). Go to the folder where the file whose extension you want to change is located. In the Explorer menu Service select item Folder properties. IN Windows 7 there may not be a menu; in this case, press the Alt key in the Explorer Window and it will appear. Menu item equivalent Folder properties in Windows 7 it is called Folders settings .
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(note: in Vista the main menu item is called “arrange”, and “folder options” can also be found in the control panel (start - control panel))
On the View tab, uncheck the Hide extensions for known file types option and click OK.
Now you can notice that the file names have changed, and the names of their extensions appear to the right after the dot: “flv”, “jpg”, mp3 and so on.
or highlight required file and press the “F2” key on the keyboard (analogous to the “Rename” command).
Remove the old extension before the dot and enter the new extension in its place. Remember that you should not touch the dot, otherwise the extension will merge with the file name. Once the new extension is specified, press the "Enter" key on your keyboard.
operating room Windows system will give you a warning window that after changing the extension the file may become inaccessible. Click the button "Yes" to confirm the change.
This way you will change the file extension.
And now on the desktop you can see graphic file icons indicating its extension
If suddenly the file stops opening, just put the old extension back in place. This usually helps correct the situation.
Here's a video tip to help you:
If you want to know what a particular extension means, take a look at filetypes.
I recommend not hiding file extensions on your computer if you are not yet familiar with them. Open Extensions files will help you quickly learn which extension belongs to which type of file, and if you come across a virus file, for example, a picture arrives in the mail, and its extension is EXE or BAT (executable files), then you will never open such a file.
Also often default file extensions are shown in many file managers, For example, Total Commander.
2.How to change file extensions in Total Commander
In Total Commander, extensions are listed in the second column of the disk window.
To rename a file, press Shift + F6 and simply enter a new extension.
After this, do not forget to press Enter, and the file changes its “last name”. Now flv video in mp4 quality can be safely uploaded to LiveInternet.
And finally:
Remember! As a rule, changing file extensions often makes it impossible to open and edit them in the future. Therefore, you need to be extremely careful when experimenting with extensions. However, some file extensions change without much consequence, for example text file with the txt extension you can easily turn it into html web page, opened in the browser.
It is best not to resort to changing file extensions, but to save files in in the required format use the “Save As” command, which is usually located in the “File” menu of all common programs. For example, you can save a Word 2007 document with a docx extension in the Word 2003 document format with a doc extension. Simply changing the document file extension using the “Rename” command will make the docx file unreadable.
Based on materials BraveDefender, yachaynik.ru,
Answers:
Andrievsky Alexander:
When you change the file extension, it will no longer be opened automatically by the program registered specifically for this extension. Most programs will still be able to open it through the file\open menu. However, all the same, when renaming, it is best not to change the extension (but change only the name) - so as not to get confused.
Shurovik:
It looks like you have "Hide registered filename extensions" disabled. Therefore, when renaming, the entire file name, including the extension, is highlighted. And you, without noticing this, think that you are renaming only what is up to the last point (i.e. before the extension). It’s clear that the extension is lost, and Windows honestly warns you about this.
Kostya:
You should not check the “hide extensions for registered file types” checkbox. Those. Your files are displayed as, for example Microsoft Word documents: Document1.doc and naturally, when you try to rename such a file, you specify the new file name, but forget to specify the extension. Outputs: 1. As said above - check the box “hide extensions for registered file types” (My Computer - Tools menu - folder properties - view tab - check the box "hide extensions for registered file types"). 2. Do not check the box, but when renaming files, be sure to write the same file extension after the dot: For example, there was a file archive.rar - if you want to rename it, for example, to pack - Write pack.rar.
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How to change file extension in Windows? At work I often have to send e-mail files to other organizations. They are passed on to me from other departments, and I don’t always have time to look through them. It happens that the recipient cannot open them. And most often this is the case. When renaming a file, they do not pay attention to its extension. Each file has an extension, which is added to the name separated by a dot. For example: file " Letter. doc » . « Letter" is the file name you gave, and «. doc" is a file extension (namely the Word program), by which you can determine in which program this file was created and with which program it can be opened. If the extension of this file is correct, then the shortcut looks like this:
But if you removed the extension " . doc", then it will look something like this:
Do you see the difference?
It's good if the person you gave this file to realizes that you most likely created it in Word program and will add the necessary permission itself. What if, like you, he doesn’t really understand this? And he will ask you to send this file again. And you, not understanding what he wants, will send him the same file again. And then again and again...
I had such a case. Once in my life I took a day off, and the employees themselves sent the mail. So they sent the same file all day. And the information was very necessary and urgent.
As a result, my boss was given a severe reprimand, and of course I was deprived of my bonus because my email was not working well—it was ruining all my files. And neither side understood that they themselves were to blame.
Some that did not indicate the extension, and others that they did not think to ask on the phone what program the file was created in. All you had to do was change the file extension.
So, so that you don’t have such oddities, pay attention to the extension when renaming a file. Or disable showing file extensions, then when renaming, you will not be able to change its extension, which means nothing will be broken.
Note
By default, Windows should have file extension visibility turned off, but somehow we had it turned on in the first place.
To prevent you from accidentally changing the file extension in Windows XP, open any folder. Select from the menu " Service » — « Folder properties ».
A new window will open " Folder properties " Select the " View ».
Find in the window " Extra options "option" and check the box. Don't forget to save your changes.
In order to change the file extension in Windows 7 or, conversely, prohibit changing it, you need to go to the menu Start - Control Panel .
Up in the post View set instead of category - Small icons .
Find Folders settings . Open it.
In a new window Folder properties go to the tab View, and check the box for entry Hide extensions for registered file types .
Now, when you rename a file, its extension will not change.
Video: How to change a file extension in Windows.
As you become more computer literate, you may be faced with the question of renaming a file with the extension. It would seem that what is so difficult about this?
The file name is, for example, prim.doc, that is, first the file name (prim), and after the dot the file name extension (.doc) follows. Windows considers only the last 3-4 characters after the file name to be an extension.
How to change a file name in Windows
To fix this problem, you need to return the file to its “old” extension. But be careful and don't get confused. If you give the extension “.exe” to a file that is not a program, the consequences can be dire. One of these consequences is the operating system freezing.
How to enable viewing file name extensions in Windows XP
By Windows default hides file extensions.
This mode is not always convenient. But there are also advantages - you won’t accidentally change file extensions.
To enable viewing file name extensions in Windows XP, go to the My Computer window.
At the top of the window menu, find “Tools” – “Folder Options” – “View” and uncheck “Hide extensions for registered file types” (I’m giving the settings for Windows XP). After the checkbox is unchecked, click on “OK”. After this, file extensions will become visible.
View extensions in Windows 7
In Windows 7, to see extensions for registered files, you need to go to “Start” - “Control Panel” - “Folder Options”:
Windows 7: How to see file extensions on your PC
Open the “View” tab, uncheck the “Hide extensions for known file types” option and click “OK”. After this, file extensions in Windows 7 will no longer be a “closed secret” for you.
This concept implies a group of characters (from 2 to 4), which are indicated through a dot in the file name after its name. This could be docx - Microsoft format Word, jpg - one of many image formats or js - intended for storing code JavaScript language, and others. The function of the extension is to the computer understood, which program should open the required file.
How to enable extension visibility
When working with a large variety of data, type information can be useful. In case their display disabled, the option is possible reconfigure via "Control Panel":
The new settings will take effect immediately; no reboot is required.
Changing the extension
Once the extension appears in the name, you can change it manually. It's quite easy to do this:
Now for reading this file there will be answer program, designed to work with the format that was specified as an extension. If it suddenly turns out that the file stopped opening, this does not mean that it has deteriorated, but that the selected program does not know how to work with it. After all, changing the extension does not mean changing the type - this requires conversion. If you return everything as it was, the data can again be used as before.
Using the console
This interface makes it possible to change all files with a specific extension in the selected directory at once. For this necessary:
When you run the command in the above illustration, all images will change their extension from .jpg to .png. Changes affect only the folder from which the configuration was made.
Saving with a different extension
It is also possible to override the extension using some programs. For example, docx can be replaced with txt or even pdf, opening it in its native program - Microsoft Word. 
In addition, such an approach also involves structural changes for further correct operation.
Conversion
Extension changes This is not always enough, because the internal structure of one file is different from another. For example, psd image it is forbidden reformat to jpg because it supports layers, which jpg does not. There are a number of others reasons, to which the standard Windows solution Photos will report that it "Cannot open the file." Here you will need specialized software, such as Photoshop. It contains conversion algorithms that allow you to change the file type to work in different applications, and the extension will be rewritten automatically.
Depending on the selected file, you may need various software solutions for their conversion. It is worth noting separately that there are now many online online converters, therefore, it is not always necessary to download heavy programs specifically for these needs.
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