Windows 7 how to change the file extension. What to do if you need a file in a different format

As you master computer literacy, you may be faced with the question of renaming the file with the extension. It would seem that this is so difficult?

The file name is, for example, prim.doc, that is, the file name is first (prim) and the period is followed by the file name extension (.doc). Windows considers only the last 3-4 characters after the file name to be an extension.

How to change 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 freezing of the operating system.

How to enable file name extensions view in Windows XP

Windows hides file extensions by default.

This mode is not always convenient. But there are also pluses - you won't accidentally change file extensions.

To enable the view of 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 the "Hide extensions for registered file types" checkbox there (I give the settings for Windows XP). After unchecking the checkbox, click on "OK". After this, the file extensions will become visible.

Viewing extensions in Windows 7

In Windows 7, to see the 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 box next to the option “Hide extensions for registered file types” and click “OK”. After that, file extensions in Windows 7 will no longer be a "secret behind seven seals" for you.

Hello dear users! In this article, you will become familiar with the topic of changing the file format. Instead of the word "format", you may also come across a variant such as "extension". These are two meanings, equal in meaning!

Any user may be faced with the need to change the data expansion on a PC, and many found it difficult to resolve the issue when performing this action. In fact, there is nothing difficult about how to change the file format to Windows 10, 8, 7 - there are many ways available to the user!

You can find a large number of special programs with which you can change the extension. Such applications are called converters. They can be freely downloaded from the Internet, or you can simply use the online converter and not go through the software installation procedure. Before you start changing the format, you need to understand what it is.

What is the file extension?

The extension or file format refers to the part of the file name that comes behind the period. It is this abbreviation, which is spelled out in the name at the end, and indicates what kind of file the file belongs to.

How to determine the file type by format?

Please consider examples:

Now let's look at what formats the file types have, so that you can also easily identify them by extension yourself.

Among Microsoft Office, there are tables: xls; presentations: pptx, ppt, pps and publications: pub.

Algorithm for changing the file extension in Windows XP, Vista

In the window that appears on the screen, select the tab "View"... Then you need to click on the item "Extra options", and then go down below and hover the mouse over the phrase "Hide extensions for registered file types"... If there is a check mark here, then it must be unchecked. If you unchecked the checkbox, be sure to confirm the action by selecting Apply to save the changes. You should have something like this screenshot.

Now you can start changing the format of the desired file. To start changing the extension, hover the mouse over your file, click on it to bring up the window, then select the item below "Rename".

Let's say you have an image of the format png jpeg. After you clicked "Rename", select the file name and its extension (At sea.png). And now, without changing the file name, we change only its extension, that is, after the dot, write the format that you need (At sea.jpeg). Enter. "OK". File extension changed successfully!

How to change file extension on Windows 7, 8, 10?

Hover the mouse over the item "Start" then go to menu , there click on "Small icons", then stop at the item "Folder Options" These items are shown in this screenshot.

Next, a window will be highlighted in which you need to select the tab "View" then click on "Extra options". Go down below and stop at the phrase Hide extensions for registered file types. There should not be a checkmark, it must be removed if there is one, and then confirm the action with the button Apply to save the changes. You should end up with something like the picture.

Let's say you have a video file of the format avi and you want to convert it to the format mpeg... After you have pressed "Rename", select the file name and its extension (At sea.avi). And now, without changing the file name, we write only its new extension, that is, after the dot, indicate the format that you need (At sea.mpeg). After this operation, press the button Enter. Next, another window will be displayed, but you just have to click "OK". After completing these steps, you can be sure that the file format has changed.

The process of changing the file format in Windows 8 and 10 is exactly the same as in the 7 version of the operating system. Across "Start" go out to where you need to click on "Small icons"... After that go to item where you need to click on the tab "View" and go to additional parameters.

Then, in a familiar way, we check if the extensions are hidden. Then accept the changes, if they were made, and proceed to renaming, namely, changing the file extension, writing the format you need behind the dot.

Conclusion

So, thanks to this article, you remember which formats belong to a particular file type. As you can see, it was not so difficult to change the file extension (format). The main thing is to know the ways!

We will be very happy if you recommend this page to your friends so that they too know how to simply change the file format without installing any third-party conversion programs. Leave comments, rate the article! Thanks!

Or documents in an electronic-readable format, reformat text into a web page, or perform other actions. In such cases, it will be helpful to know how to change the file extension in Windows 7.

What it is

In electronic devices, the recorded information is stored in different formats, which are identified by the file extension. This is a combination of 3-4 characters at the end of the document name (for example, xxx.htm, xxx.docx, xxx.jpg and others). Thus, the operating system automatically evaluates what type of data the document belongs to and which application it should be opened with.

In order for the program chosen by the system to decrypt the data, it is important to follow the sequence of operations and set the format correctly. Otherwise, you can lose information, so its decryption will become impossible.

How to change the file extension

The data format can be hidden from the Windows user by default. Therefore, before changing the file extension, you first need to display it. For this, appropriate changes are made in the settings.

• Click "Start"
• Go to the "Control Panel" section.
• For the convenience of work, it is better to set the view mode "Small icons". It can be found at the top of the menu that opens.
• Then go to the section "Folder options".

• Open the "View" tab.
• In the "Advanced options" menu, find the "Hide extensions for registered file types" function and uncheck the box. Then click "Apply" and OK.

Greetings, dear readers! In this article, I'll show you how to change the file extension, or, equivalently, the file format.

I will not go into details of why you might need to change the extension (format) of the file, because since you found this article, then you need it.

Unfortunately, people often make mistakes when trying to change file extensions. Still, it is better to use converters, which will redo everything for you, and without errors.

Anyway! First of all, I must explain in simple language what the file format (extension) is.

What is the extension (format) of the file?

File extension (format)- this is the part of the file name that is separated from the main point and appears at the very end. Usually it shows what type of this file (audio, video, picture, boot file, etc.).

For example, a file named "Krab.jpg" is a picture, since it has the extension ".jpg", and a file named "Pobeg.avi" is a video, since ".avi" is a video file format

I hope you get the point. Below I will list the most popular extensions and what type of file they define.

• Programs: exe, com;
• Documents (MS Word): doc;
• Tables (MS Excel): xls;
• Presentations (MS PowerPoint): ppt;
• Text files (Notepad): txt;
• Web pages: htm, html;
• Windows Help: hlp;
• Drawings (photo): bmp, jpg, gif, ico, tif;
• Music: mp3;
• Video: avi, mpeg;
• Archives: zip, rar.

Well, now you can go directly to the topic of the article, how to change the extension (format) of the file! I will show you how to do this in three versions of Windows: Windows XP, Windows 7 and Windows 8.

How do I change the extension (format) of a file in Windows XP?

Open "Start" -> "Settings" -> "Control Panel" -> "Folder Options".

In the window that opens, select the "View" tab (in the menu above). In the window we find the list of "Additional parameters" and, scrolling down, we find the item "Hide extensions for registered file types". If there is a check mark on this item, then it must be removed, as shown in the figure:

Do not forget to click on the "Apply" button, otherwise the changes will not be saved and you will have to do everything again.

Now we find the file, the extension of which we want to change, select it with one click of the left mouse button, call the context menu by clicking on the file with the right mouse button and select the "Rename" item. We will highlight both the file name and the extension. Then, without changing the file name, we change the extension itself to the one you want. As soon as you make the changes, press Enter, you will get an alert, read it and click "OK". Then the file will be renamed and the extension will change.

It is done!

Open "Start" -> "Control Panel". In the "View" menu, select the "Small icons" item. Then we find and click on "Folder Options":

A window will open, select the "View" tab in the top menu, scroll down in the "Additional parameters" panel and find the item "Hide extensions for registered file types". If there is a check mark on it, then remove it. If there is no check mark, then we do nothing. Then click "Apply", otherwise the changes will not be saved and you will have to do everything again:

Next, we find the file, the extension or format of which needs to be changed, select it with one click on it with the left mouse button, open the context menu by clicking on it with the right mouse button, and select the "Rename" item.

Next, we will highlight the part of the name that is located before the dot. We are not interested in it, so we select and adjust what is after the point. Then press Enter and the file extension will be changed!

Here, in essence, everything happens almost exactly the same as in Windows 7. But I'll write it down again!

Move the cursor to the lower left corner to the very end, until it becomes visible. Then we lift it up, but do not take it to the left. A menu will open in which you need to click "Options".

Another menu will open in the same location. There you need to select "Control Panel".

The control panel will open. In the drop-down list "View" select "Small icons". Then we find and select "Folder Options":

A window will open in which you need to go to the "View" tab (through the menu above). In the list of "Additional parameters" we find the item "Hide extensions for registered file types" (you need to scroll to the bottom using the scroller). If there is a check mark on it, then you must remove it and click the "Apply" button. If there is no check mark, then we do nothing:

Select the file by clicking on it once with the left mouse button, then click on it once with the right mouse button and select "Rename" in the context menu that opens. Select the extension and change it, then press Enter and you're done!

Instructions

To create a simple txt file, you need to run Notepad. To do this, click the "Start" menu, select the "All Programs" section from the list, then go to the "Accessories" section and click on "Notepad". Now make changes to the blank document and save it by clicking the top menu "File" and choosing the command "Save As".

We figured out the creation of a regular text document, and we need a registry file (reg). Call the save file window, as described earlier, enter the file name. The file name is required along with extension m, then the file will be detected by the registry editor without problems. You can write File.reg - this will be correct, but on some systems this file may be saved as File.reg.txt.

The program itself has a little secret - this utility can save any file formats. In order not to confuse the symbols in the document, in the "File name" field, enter the following value: "File.reg". The quotation marks at the beginning and at the end of the file name give isolation and force the program to save in exactly the format specified. Because the "Notepad" program, like the "Registry Editor" are programs by default, the encoding of the saved file will fully correspond to files with extension m reg.

If your system has no problems with extension m files when saving them, you can do it in a simpler way: turn on the display of extensions for files and change the extension using the "Rename" command.

Open any folder, click the "Tools" top menu, select "Folder Options" from the list. In the window that opens, go to the "View" tab, uncheck the box next to the item "Hide extensions for registered file types" and click the "OK" button.

Select the saved file in txt format and press the F2 button on the keyboard (you can also right-click and select "Rename"), write reg instead of the txt extension. Press the Enter key and the OK button.

Sources:

• what documents for extension

Quotes may look different. They can be in the form of "Christmas trees" or in the form of "paws", double or single, the opening quotes can be on top, and the closing ones - on the bottom. In any text editor, it is quite easy to put quotation marks or change their appearance.

Instructions

To make it look like "" ("text"), switch to Cyrillic text input. To do this, press the combination of keys "Alt" and "Shift" or "Ctrl" and "Shift" or click on the flag icon on the taskbar in the lower right corner of the screen. Hold down the Shift key and press the number 2 on the main keyboard panel.

If you need to change the double quotes to "" (‘text‘ ’), switch to Latin text input. While holding down the "Shift" key, press the "" "key, it corresponds to the key with the letter" E "in Cyrillic.

There is another way to insert non-standard quotation marks (“text” or “text”) into the text. Place the cursor in the desired place in the text, go to the "Insert" tab and open a dialog box from the "Symbols" section. To do this, click on the "Symbol" button and select the "Other Symbols" command by clicking on it with the left mouse button.

In the window that opens, select the desired font, in the "Typeset" field, set the value "Punctuation marks" by selecting it from the drop-down menu. From the list of characters provided, select the quotes that you like best. Click the "Insert" button and close the dialog box. In order not to call up the symbols dialog box every time you work with the text, copy the inserted symbols to the clipboard and simply paste them using the mouse or by pressing the Shift and Insert keys or Ctrl and V.

To put single quotes, switch to the Latin alphabet, while holding down the "Shift" key, press the "’ "key (the letter" E "in Cyrillic) - for the upper quotation mark. The "," key (letter "B" in Cyrillic) is used for the lower quotation mark.

In the Cyrillic keyboard layout, press and hold the "Ctrl" key, and then two times the "E" key to put the top single. For the lower single quote, double-click on the "E" key while holding down the "Ctrl" key.

If you need to replace all quotation marks that appear in the text, on the "Home" tab, select the "Replace" command in the "Editing" section. A dialog box will open, in the first field "Find" enter the kind of quotation marks that you want. In the "Replace with" field, enter the quotation marks that you would like to see in the text. Click the Replace All button. Do this step separately for opening and closing quotes.

The principle of work in the Word editor below the 2007 version is similar to that described, only the "Symbol" command is called from the "Insert" menu, and "Replace" - from the "Edit" menu. In any other editor, the principle of replacing quotes is also not significantly different. To replace quotes (for example, AkelPad), select the "Find" item in the top menu and call the "Replace" command. If you cannot enter herringbone quotes (“text”) from the keyboard, call the “Insert Symbol” command in the menu from the “Edit” section and select the quotes you need from the list, or simply copy them from another document and paste them into the required field in the window replacement.

Sources:

• how to replace quotes in a Word

All information stored on your computer is presented in the form of files: text, graphic, audio or video files. Each file has its own specific registered format, or file name extension.

Why does the file need an extension?

A file name extension (or simply an extension) is a sequential combination of characters used to enable a user or software to identify and recognize the contents of a file.

The file extension is appended and separated from the file name with a period, for example bloc.txt, where .txt is the file extension, which indicates that the document that has it will be opened with notepad. It is a text file. When the user tries to open the file, the program corresponding to the extension will automatically start. In our example, this is a notebook. Some extensions themselves already show that the document is a program, for example ..exe. Users usually only see the name of the file, as the extension is of little interest to them.

An extension can consist not only of a letter combination, but also include numbers. For example mp3.

How to set the required extension

If, when working with any document, you need to save it in a certain format, then you need to click on "file", then select "save as" and select the place where the document will be stored. At the bottom of the window that opens, you will see two lines. On the first, you need to enter the name of your document, and the second serves to select its extension. Left click on the dropdown list and you will see different file formats. Select the required extension and click "save".

Then you can find the saved document, move the mouse cursor to it and see the line "type" - after this word is the extension of your file. If it matches the one you need, then you did everything right.

It is worth knowing that the operating system of the computer can be configured in such a way that the extension will not be displayed. To configure its display, open any folder, in the upper left corner select "service", then "folder properties" or "folder options", then uncheck the box "hide extensions for registered folder types" and click ok. File extensions will now be displayed for all documents.

Whether or not your computer is configured to show file extensions, documents will open in the desired program in any case.

Please note that if you need to rename the file name, then do it carefully, remember, you can only change the entry to the point, since there is already an extension type behind it, changing which you may not open the document at all.

Sources:

• Most Common File Extensions in 2019