Most Common File Formats You Should Know

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File Formats

File formats often called as extensions (suffix). File format decides the type of file. An operating system has some predefined file formats which only can be executable through It. These extensions are platform dependent. However, thousands of platform-independent file formats are available. Here is the categorized list of file formats with the explanation.

Executable Files
.exe Executable File Format of Windows
.msi An Installer Package used by Windows
.app Mac OS X Application
.apk Android Installer Package File
.com Dos Command File (Stand-alone application)
.gadget Windows Gadget File Format
.sisx Installer Package File for Symbian OS (Mobile Based Nokia owned OS)

Document Formats
.txt Plain Text File Without Well Formatting
.rtf Rich text File Format
.log Text Log File
.pdf Portable Document Format
.doc Microsoft Word Document
.docx Microsoft Word Open XML Document
.odt Open Document Text (Similar to .doc/.docx file handled by open office)
.ppt PowerPoint Presentation
.pptx PowerPoint Open XML Presentation (Modern XML version of ppt file format)
.ods Open Document Spredsheet
.xlr Works Spredsheet
.xls Microsoft Excel Spredsheet
.xlsx Microsoft Exel Open XML Spredsheet
.xml An Open Data Format

Image Format
.png Portable network graphics
.jpg Joint Photographic Expert Group (widely used)
.bmp Bitmap Image File
.pbm Portable Bit Map
.gif Graphical Interchange Format File
.ico Icon File
.thm Thumbnail Image File
.tga Targa Graphic
.psd Potoshop Document (Adobe Photoshop Image Format)
.ai Adobe illustrative File Format
.tif Tagged Image File (Handled by CorelDRAW)
.tiff Tagged Image File Format (Handled by CorelDRAW)
.dcm Digital Imaging & Communications in Medical (Used to Stored Medical Informative Image like x-ray, MRI, CT Scan, Ultrasound)

Compressed File
.zip Zipped File
.7Z 7-Zipped File
.rar WinRar Compressed Archiev
.tar.gz Tarball Compressed File
.rpm Red Hat Package Manager File
.z Z-Compressed File (Commonly used in Unix Based Machine )
.ipa iPhone Application File
.deb Debian Software Package
.pkg Mac OX X Installer Package
.sitx Stuffit X Archiev (offers more compress than .sit)
.arj ARJ Compressed File

Audio Formats
.aif Audio Interchange File Format
.mp3 MP3 Audio File
.aac Advanced Audio Coding
.m4a MPEG-4 Audio File
.ogg Ogg Verbis Audio File
.wav Wave Audio File
.wma Windows Media Audio File
.midi Musical Instrument Digital Interchange File
.mpa MPEG-2 Audio File
.aiff Audio Interchange File Format (Devloped by Apple Inc)

Video File Formats
.3gp 3GGP Multimedia File
.3gp2 3GGP2 Multimedia File
.avi Audio Video Interleave File
.asf Advanced Systems Format File
.flv Flash Video File
.wmv Windows Media Video
.mp4 Moving Picture Expert Group-4
.mov Apple-Quick Time Movie
.m4p iTune Video File
.vob DVD Video Object File
.swf Shockwave Flash File
.mkv Motroska Multimedia Container
.srt SubRip Subtitle File
.rm Real Media File
.avchd Advanced Video Coding High Definition

Disk Image File
.dmg Mac OS X Disk Image
.bin Binary Disk Image
.iso Disk Image File
.mdf Media Disk Image
.vcd Virtual CD
.nrg Nero CD/DVD Image File
.xvd Xbox Virtual Disk

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