How to rename an extension. How to change file extension. Programs for changing file formats of various types
In Windows, a file is a certain information unit of a certain structure that contains the data necessary for the software, operating system or user. An extension is a designation that defines the type of data contained in a file. In the Windows operating system, the full name is indicated as follows: “name.extension”, for example:
- .txt - Text Document without formatting
- .doc, .docx – MS Office document containing formatted text
- .xls, .xlsx – MS Office document containing spreadsheet data
- .jpeg, .png, .bmp - graphic drawings
- .mp3, .wma - audio content
- .mpeg, .avi, .mov - video
Several ways to change the file extension
Important! Please note that simply changing the extension from one to another in Windows will not lead to anything - by changing .txt to .jpeg you will not get a document with an image - just a graphics editor will not be able to open it, since the file contains text.
Change the filename extension
For example, this can be useful when you send an executable file to e-mail. Usually mail clients do not deliver such attachments - in order to prevent the spread of viruses. By deleting the prefix .exe, .bat, .cmd, you will hide from the Windows system what kind of document it is and you can safely send it, but do not forget to warn the recipient that he needs to add “.exe” to the name again in order to again get the executable.
Default operating Windows system does not display extensions (only the appearance of the icon tells us what it is). To disable this feature, go to "Control Panel" - "Folder Options":
On the "View" tab, find the item "Hide extension for known file types" and uncheck it:
Click "Apply" and "OK".
Now folders will display not only names, but also extensions that you can change.
Change the extension in Windows 7 using software
For example, you have an image "Picture.bmp" with a size of 10 MB. For sending by e-mail or posting on a website - this is an excessive size - it is better to use jpeg or png - they have a smaller size. Just changing the extension will not do anything - the file will not open. Therefore, open the drawing with a graphic editor and use "File" - "Save as ..." or "Export" to resave the image in the format you need.
Similar actions in Windows can be carried out with music and video recordings, although changing the format from one to another will take more time than with a picture.
An extension is a set of characters after a file name that defines its purpose. Thanks to these symbols, the personal computer understands what actions must be taken when starting this object. For example, "test.txt" is a text document, "qwerty.html" is a page with HTML markup, and "track.mp3" is an audio recording. It is the words after the period (".txt", ".html", ".mp3") that tell the computer about the type of information stored. This article describes how to change a setting such as a file extension in Windows 7.
Why is it necessary?
There are many reasons why users might want to change the type of an object. However, all of them are rarely used in everyday life and are used mainly by computer specialists and web developers.
The most striking example of a reason to change the file extension is the creation of a .bat file.
A Bat file is a small program that even an unprepared user can write, which sequentially executes a set of Windows console commands. For example, you can make a bat that will remove the "Hidden" attribute from all objects in the current folder by placing only one line "attrib -h / s / d" into it.
However, it is not possible to create a document with the .bat extension through Windows Explorer. Therefore, users take a regular text (.txt) document and edit it, after which it remains only to change its type. The following article details how to change the file extension in Windows 7.
File Explorer setup
In order to prevent inexperienced users from changing the parameters of any files important for the operation of the system by their random actions, this function is disabled by default. Therefore, first you need to activate it:
How to change file type
After the above steps, the name of each object will also display its extension. In order to change it, users need to right-click on the file, select "Change" and replace the old type (2-4 characters after the dot) with the new one. 
Good day, my dear friends, readers of the blog, as well as those who are just looking for answers to questions.
Since we constantly have to work with different files, sometimes we need to change certain data by converting it to the desired format. Therefore, I decided today to consider such a topic - how to change the file extension in windows 7. It will be interesting, so read carefully. Go!
From text format to executable script
In order to change the extension from txt to bat, you should know that the first type contains just unformatted text, but the second one is already an executable file.
By the way, bat files on the tenth Windows do not start.
And so, the principle of action is as follows. Since the extensions are hidden with us, we first go to the folder in which the data that we will change. There we click on the tab view, service, file display. If we are talking about the tenth Windows, then we go to the parameter for changing folders and searching.
After pressing the apply button, we will see that all the data in the folder is appended with an extension separated from the file name by a dot.
Now we point the mouse at the file, press the right button and rename it with the extension we need. If an agreement or warning pops up, then just click yes.
By the way, you can change the extension from txt to cfg., from txt to reg and from txt to vbs in the same way.
From PDF to Image
Now consider changing from pdf to jpg. By and large, this is not a change in the extension, but rather a conversion, that is, the processing of one format into a completely different one. First, consider the method of converting using the program.
So, let's go to this address and download software.
Then we launch the executable and select the language of the software.
Now the important point. When configuring installation options, uncheck the boxes that you will see below in the picture.
In the window that opens, select the desired parameter, as in the icon at the bottom of the line.
Now we need to select our PDF file. Below is the section in which you want to save it.
Then we select the format we want to receive and press the green convert button.
If everything went well, we will see a sign like this.
The finished file can be picked up in the folder that we selected earlier.
Converting from pdf to jpg can also be done online. For this we need here is this site. We go to it and set the parameters of quality, color and the output file format itself.
Then the conversion process will begin and all files will be downloaded in one archive.
Change audio for iphone
Consider changing the audio extension from m4a to m4r. There are several ways to do this.
The first one is through software. Download it from here. Install it, open it and go to the audio tab.
In the window that appears, click on the button to add a song.
Our song will appear in the dialog interface. We select it and in the corner below we poke the button to change.
Then you need to select a directory. Where will the finished file with the desired extension be placed.
In the next step, at the bottom of the program window, we will see the entire path to the folder. Click the button at the top with the name configure.
Now you need to choose the quality.
I prefer to set it to medium, since for our format the quality between high and medium is almost indistinguishable, of course, if you do not use your smartphone as an external hard drive and listen to music on professional equipment.
Now just click the OK button.
In the right part of the window we will see the task. We poke on it, and then on the start button.
We will see the conversion process itself, which will be displayed in the line with our composition.
If everything went well, the word completed will be written in the line with the song.
In order not to scour the explorer and not remember where we decided to put the result of the conversion, you can simply click on the green arrow and you will immediately be taken to the desired directory.
The second way to convert is through iTunes. Open the software and go to the file tab, and from there to the block for adding a file to the media library.
We select our file with the extension convenient for you. Mine is still mp3, you might have m4a. We poke the open button.
Now on the left side, select the file type - music. In the lower menu, click on the block - songs.
We poke the right button on our composition and step into the section of information about it.
Next, we poke the parameters. Below we choose which piece we cut. It’s just that on iPhones you can’t put the whole song on a call. Only a few seconds. This piece must be selected from the entire audio track. Click OK.
And here we are again thrown into the previous menu. Now we need to poke a file into the word, it will go down to the section for converting music and press the line to create an ACC composition. This will change the extension from m4a to m4r.
Now find our composition and rename it.
That's all.
Change graphics
Let's say you needed to change the extension from jpg to jpeg. This can be done through a standard paint. It is present in any operating system from Microsoft. Open our source file in the editor, then press the file button. There we select the line to save as. And we poke at the format we need.
Afterword
Many of my readers also ask questions about changing file extensions to executable format. That is, change to exe.
But if, simple ways if you manage to change the extension from txt to ini, then you cannot change it to an executable in this way. Or rather, it is possible, but such software (and the file will already be considered software) will not work. To do this, you need a compiler and written program code. That is, what it will do and how it will function. This is pure programming.
Conclusion
Well, here we have learned how to convert various data into other formats.
I would like to note that in many graphic editors you can even create icons by changing their extension to ico.
By the way, here are a couple of videos that will help you figure out how and what to do:
On this I say goodbye to you. I hope you liked the article and found it useful. Share it on social portals with friends or just put it on the wall in contact. And you can also subscribe to updates on my blog posts and always be aware of new texts that I write especially for you. All the best to you, and see you on the site! See you!
Good afternoon, dear readers, today I want to tell you how to change the file type in windows in a minute, this topic can be considered a continuation of the previous post about file associations in windows 10, as it complements it. In my example, we will consider such operating systems as Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and of course the top ten, where now without it. I am sure that this information will be very useful for novice computer users, especially if your computer has been attacked by a virus that has changed all file associations.
File Format Types
Let's understand first what types of file formats are. It is logical that each program installed on your computer, no matter what operating system opens its file, and it is logical that other files from third party programs she doesn't need it, because they have their own openers. It follows from this that the files must somehow differ from each other, and identify themselves for a particular application. They didn’t think for a long time and came up with the idea that each file of a certain program would have its own format or extension. The extension is what comes after the dot at the end of the file name.
File Format Type Examples
Here are the most common file formats:
- Sound > have the extension mp3, wav, flac
- Videos > have the format avi, mkv, mpeg and so on
- Executables > have the format exe, msi
- Archive > rar, zip format
- Text > doc, docx, txt, pdf, etc.
There are a lot of such categories, each of them contains its own types of file extensions, you can see all of them in the note above about associations, I advise you to read it. There are times when you need to quickly change the file format, for various reasons, a simple example is you have a picture with a png extension, and on the site avatars for uploading to a profile, for example, can only be in jpeg format, what to do, you can, of course, convert it online, but there is not always the Internet, so we come to the point that we must understand and figure out how to change the file type in windows.
I want to note that to convert formats, you need to use either online services or specialized software, the examples below are for informational purposes
Let's move on to practice and figure out how to change the file type in windows 10. Suppose I need to change the txt extension, in any operating system of the Microsoft family, the extensions are hidden and it is logical that if you need to change something with standard tools, then you need to enable functionality.
All we need is to open the explorer, you can do this by clicking on the folder icon to the right of the start button.
Clicking on the View menu and checking the File name extensions checkbox will help us change the format.
Please note that here you can enable hidden files Windows 10. We check everything, our txt file. All now by selecting it and pressing the F2 key, you can change the format to the desired one, erase the txt and replace it. A real case when this can come in handy, you write some kind of script in txt, and then change the format to bat or cmd and it becomes a script.
As you can see, changing the file format in Windows is no more difficult than saying one, two and three, but do not think that this always works, you will not be able to take an mp3 and turn it into an avi, miracles do not happen. This method is useful for example when editing hosts file in the system, since it does not have an extension by default, and there are cases when editing it, the user is prompted to save it already in the txt format, which is not always visible if display is not enabled.
Let's further analyze how to change the file type in windows 8, this version is a little older and not so common around the world, in my opinion it was rejected in vain at one time, if there weren't dozens of it, but this is not about that 🙂. By default, Windows 8.1 does not display extensions in the system, for example, I have a picture and I need to change its extension, but it is not visible in the title.
To fix this, we do the following, open Windows Explorer (any local drive in my computer). You will have such a convenient menu on top, in it you need to go to the View tab and put this checkbox, File name extensions. This action will allow the operating system to enable the display of formats or whatever file extensions.
Let's take a look at our file again and, lo and behold, it has appeared in the name.jpg, this is its format.
Now what you need to do is there are two options, the first one is right click and select from context menu rename the item, but you are already an advanced user, so you know that everything is done the same way if you press the F2 key on the selected file. Next, you will have the opportunity to edit it, erase the old format and write a new one, for example png, in the window where you are asked to confirm the format change, click Yes.
As a result, you got the desired extension. As you can see, a couple of mouse clicks. Now you know how to change the file format in Windows 8.
Very often people tell me that the article is misleading, that it doesn’t work like nothing. Here I want to note that people didn’t read everything to the end, and apparently they didn’t pay attention to what I wrote that it doesn’t always work and not with all formats, but in other cases you need to use special services and converters to change the file type.
I will give an example from life, in public institutions it is very often, until now, Word 2003, and it has the .doc format, and in most offices MS Office 2013 is already installed, which by default has the Word * .docx file type, which in 2003 will not work, and so the above method easily changes formats, and you can easily transfer the desired format for a user with an old office.
And so in the eight we figured it out, let's see how to change the file type in windows 7, here it is slightly in a different place.
The described method for the seven through the control panel is suitable for the ten and eight
I have an archive file, it has the rar format, I need to change the file extension in windows 7 to zip, this is also such an archiver. By default, the seven also does not display formats, so she needs help with this, so to speak, slightly tweak it 🙂.
We have two methods with you, each of the below should open the Folder Options snap-in. The first method is to open Start > Control Panel.
In the upper right corner in the View item, select large icons, after which we look for the Folder Options icon, it is its capabilities that will allow us change file type in windows.
You can also get to the Folder Options menu using this method, open my computer, as you can see, there are no additional buttons on top.
We press the magic Alt key and as a result you will open a hidden menu. In it, click on the Tools button and then Folder Options. Choose which method you like best.
Go to the View tab, where you need to uncheck Hide extensions for known file types. By removing it, you will be able to change the file type in windows.
We all check our archive, select it, press F2 or right-click to rename, and set the desired extension.
| Extension | Description |
| txt, docx, rtf, odt, doc | text format |
| mp3 wma wav | audio extension |
| msi, exe | executable file extension |
| avi, flv, mov, mpeg, 3gp, ogg, mov, vob | video extension |
| jpg, jpeg, jpe, bmp, gif, png, tiff | image format |
| pdf, djvu, fb2 | e-book format |
| zip, rar, 7z, | expansion of archives |
| html, htm, xml, asp, php, css | web pages |
| csv, xls, xlsx, sxc | spreadsheet extension |
To change the file extension in the Windows7 operating system, do the following:
- open "Start" => "Control Panel".
- select view type "Small Icons" => "Folder Options"
.
- after pressing "Folders settings"
a new window will open. Go to the tab there "View" and remove the bird from the item
.
Click "OK"
.
Now everything is ready to change the extension. All you have to do is right-click on the desired file and a new pop-up window will open with a list. Select from the list "Rename".
After you clicked "Rename", it becomes possible to change the file extension. Just remove the old extension to the point and write a new one.
How to change file extension Windows XP.
In Windows XP, the ability to display the extension is turned on in a slightly different way than in Windows7, but you can change the file extension in the same way.
- go to any folder and in the menu at the top select "Service » =>
«
Folder property"
.
Next, a new window will open, the same as I described in Windows7. Navigate in the window by tab "View" and remove the bird from the item "Hide extensions for known file types"
.
Click "OK"
.
All is ready. In order to change the extension, do the same operation as I described for Windows7. Right-click on the file, a new pop-up window with a list will open. Select from the list"Rename".
Delete the old file extension before the dot and write a new one.
The advantage of the Total Commander program is that all files are immediately displayed with the extension and you do not need to make special transitions to see the format. You can change the file extension using the Total Commander program very quickly. Now you will see this in an example.
Open in Total Commander the file in which you want to replace the extension.
After pressing the F2 key, you will be able to change, delete, change the name and extension of the file in the standard way. When you have made a replacement, press "Enter" .
That's all. If something is not clear to you, write in the comments, I will answer quickly. If you liked the material, tell a friend by clicking on the button social networks which is located below. O!!! I almost forgot: subscribe to my blog updates so as not to miss fresh, useful topics.
