Question: What are file formats?

Answer: File formats on the internet tell the browser what type of application created a particular file. A browser can display many types of files. Files that can not be displayed directly in the browser can tell the browser what program they work with. 

Browsers display .jpg and .gif files as pictures. Many additional extensions point to specific plug-in or helper applications. By default a .mov (movie) file may not play correctly without setting up your browser to play the movie correctly.

Below is an incomplete list of many of the common file extensions.

.arc  Compressed archive. 
.au  audio (sound) file
.bin  binary file
.btoa  Binary to ASCII. 
.cpio  Archives created by UNIX CPIO tape archiving program. 
.doc  document file (program specific)
.exe  PC executable file
.gif  Graphics Interchange Format file. 
.gz or .z  Compressed archive file. 
.Hqx or .hqx  Macintosh BinHex compression format. 
.html or .htm  hyper text markup language (web document)
.jpg or .jpeg  Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) format. 
.lha or .lzh  DOS compressed archive. 
.mov  movie file (quicktime)
.mpg or mpeg  Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG) format. 
.pdf  Portable Document Format (adobe acrobat reader)
.pit  Compressed file created by Macintosh PACKIt3.1.3. 
.ps or .PS  PostScript document.
.qt  Quick Time video format
.sea  A Macintosh self-extracting archive. 
.shar or .sh  A Shell archive created by UNIX SHAR. 
.sit  Compressed Macintosh file. 
.tar  Compressed files. 
.tif  Tagged Image Format File. TIFF files come in various versions. 
.txt  Text file. Should be plain ASCII file. 
.uu or .uue  A binary file in ASCII format. 
.wav  PC sound file
.Z  A unix compressed file. 
.zip  Compressed archive file. 
Question: So that isn't the full list, what does ??? stand for?
 
 
    Answer: Like I know? I found a list that is much more comprehensive than the above list. Look at the Computer Knowledge Home Page.
Question: How am I going to remember all of these?
 
 
    Answer: Don't! Learn to look at them and if there is something that you don't recognize - remember where to look it up so that you can find out what it is.
Question: There is one that I need to know and I don't see it on the list here?
 
 
    Answer: I'm sure there are many not on the list here. Ask someone - If you think it's is a frequently used file extension - let me know and I'll add it to the list.
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