For reasons you don’t know, your friend has emailed you a file with the wrong extension. It should be a DOC document and instead appears as an unknown file, this means that to open it you have to start Word and import the file into the program manually. A real nuisance, isn’t it? So roll up your sleeves right away and find out with me how to change the file extension . In this way, you will be able to apply the correct extension to all your files and you will finally say goodbye to the useless procedures that you have to have to access them.
How do you say? You are not very experienced in computer science and new technologies and fear that the operation in question is out of your reach? Come on, don’t be a coward. Apart from the fact that the procedure to start is really very simple but then I don’t really see what you worry about seeing and considering that I’m here with you, ready and willing to provide you with all the necessary information. Come on then, let’s not waste any more time chatting and let’s get busy. In the end, you will see, you will be able to say that you are very happy and satisfied with what you have learned.
Note : Changing the file extension is in no way equivalent to converting them. If your need is to change the current file format to another, the instructions in this guide won’t help you. If so, what you need is a conversion tool. I’ll tell you more about it later in this guide. Good continuation!
Index
- How to change file extension: Windows 10
- How to change Mac file extension
- How to change file extension on Android
- How to change file extension on iPhone
- How to change video file extension
- How to change photo file extension
- How to change Excel file extension
How to change file extension: Windows 10
On your PC with Windows 10 on board you need to change the extension of a file, but you have no idea how to proceed. For this reason you can’t wait to understand how to change Windows 10 file extension . No problem, I’ll explain how to do it.
The first thing you need to do is make sure that the view option for file extensions is active: open File Explorer (the icon with the yellow folder located on the taskbar, at the bottom), click on the View and Show item / Hide and, in the drop-down menu, put the check mark on the item File name extensions .
Now you can finally proceed with changing the extension of a file. To do this, locate the file whose extension you want to change, right- click on it and select the Rename item from the menu that appears. Now all you have to do is change the text relating to the extension, that is the one you find immediately after the point , by typing the new extension you want to give to the file.
I’ll give you a practical example, to make you understand better: if your file is called test.md and you want to change its extension, just delete md and type the extension you are interested in, for example .txt (depending on your needs ).
To save the changes made, just click on any area of the folder or desktop or tap on the Enter button on the keyboard: confirm the operation by clicking on the Yes button from the pop-up that appears on the screen and you’re done.
An alternative method to the one I mentioned earlier is to right- click on the file and select Properties from the menu that appears. In the window that opens, make sure you are on the General tab : you will find the file name with its extension at the top. Rename the file as I explained earlier and, to save the changes, click the OK and Yes buttons .
How do you say? You recently upgraded to Windows 11 , so now would you like to figure out how to change Windows 11 file extension ? No problem, the procedure to follow is basically the same, but there are some small differences which I will tell you about below.
To enable the display of file extensions open File Explorer , then click on the button with the three dots in the top bar and from the menu that appears click on the item Options . Subsequently, go to the Display tab and in the list of Advanced settings remove the check mark on the item Hide extensions for known file types : to save the changes click on the Apply button and then on OK .
To be able to change the extension of a file, all you have to do is follow the same instructions I gave you previously.
How to change Mac file extension
You want to change the extension of a file you’ve downloaded on your Mac , but you don’t know how to do it, since you’ve never found yourself needing to do this. For this reason you would like to understand how to change Mac file extension ? No problem, I’m here to help you.
First, you must make sure that the file extension display option is enabled, so click on the Finder item in the top bar and from the menu that appears click on the Preferences / Settings item . If the Finder item is not active, do not worry, just click on an empty spot on the desktop to activate it.
In the window that appears, click on the Advanced tab and check the item Show all file name extensions . Changes are saved automatically, so you don’t have to do anything else.
At this point, all you have to do is proceed with the change of file extension. To do this, locate the file whose extension you want to change, right- click on it and click on the Rename item from the menu that appears: proceed by changing the text relating to the extension, i.e. the wording immediately after the point, replacing it with the extension you prefer.
For example, if your file is called document.md and you want to change its extension, just delete md and type the extension you are interested in, for example .txt . To save the changes made, simply click on any area of the folder or desktop or tap on the Enter button on the keyboard and confirm (by clicking on the Use .xxx button from the pop-up that appears on the screen).
How to change file extension on Android
A colleague of yours has just emailed you a very important document, which you need to access immediately. However, you are unable to open the file with your smartphone, perhaps due to the type of extension. Since you don’t have time to convert it, you would like to change the extension and try to see if you can open it. Unfortunately, however, you don’t have a clue on how to change file extension on Android .
Just like on a PC, even on Android smartphones it is possible to change the extension of a file using any file manager, which you usually find installed by default. Since each Android brand uses a different file manager app, I’ll use Google’s Files app for convenience , which is available for free download from the Play Store .
Once the app has been downloaded and installed , open it and click on the Continue button and then on Allow . Once in the main screen of the app, tap on the Browse tab , scroll down and tap on the item Internal memory or SD card , depending on the location where the file you want to change the extension is located.
Once you have identified the file, tap on the button with the three dots next to it and from the menu that appears tap on the Rename item : now all you have to do is change the wording after the point (for example .pdf ) with the one you prefer (for example .doc ) and save the changes by tapping the OK button and then Rename from the pop-up that appears on the screen.
If your device does not have Google services, such as Huawei smartphones , you can use the File Management app present by default.
Open the app in question, tap on the Browse tab at the bottom, then on the Phone or SD card item depending on the location where the file you want to edit is located. Once the file is located, hold down on it and tap on the More button in the bottom bar: from the menu that appears, tap on the Rename item .
Now all you have to do is change the extension to your liking, exactly as I showed you earlier.
How to change file extension on iPhone
Do you own an iPhone and want to understand how to change file extension on iPhone ? In this case it is necessary that your device is updated to iOS 16 or later, since in previous versions of the software it was not possible to change the extension of a file through the File app.
First, open the File app , tap on the Browse tab at the bottom and then again on the Browse item at the top left: tap on the iPhone or iCloud Drive item depending on the location where the file you want to edit is located. Then, tap on the button with the three dots at the top right and from the menu that appears tap on the item Display options and then on Show all extensions .
Once this is done, all you have to do is locate the file you want to edit, hold down on it and tap on the Rename item from the menu that appears. Now all you have to do is change the extension, that is the wording after the point (for example .pdf ) with the one you prefer (for example. Doc) and save the changes by tapping on the Finish button on the keyboard: to complete the operation tap on the item Use “.xxx” from the pop-up that appears on the screen.
The same operation can also be done on iPads updated to iPadOS 16.1 and later.
How to change video file extension
A friend sent you a video file , but you just can’t see it, perhaps due to the extension used. For this reason you would like to understand how to change video file extension ?
In this case, I recommend that you avoid simply changing the file extension, as even changing it you may still be unable to play the video correctly. To solve the problem, however, I advise you to proceed with the conversion , an operation that will transform the file and consequently also change its extension, but this time you will have no problems opening the file.
For more information on the subject, take a look at my tutorial on how to change video format , where you will find all the information you need.
How to change photo file extension
You need to change the extension of some photos you have recently taken with your professional camera or smartphone, but you have no idea how to change the photo file extension .
Also in this case, instead of simply going to change the extension of a photo, I suggest you proceed with the conversion, a very simple operation that at the same time will also change the file extension.
For more information see my tutorials on how to change photo format , convert JPG to PDF and how to convert PNG to PDF and the like, where you will find all the information you need.
How to change Excel file extension
You want to change the extension of an Excel file to turn it into a PDF or other type of document, so you would like to understand how to change the Excel file extension .
In this case I advise you to avoid the manual extension change, as I showed you in the previous chapter , but to proceed with a conversion. For that, I recommend that you take a look at my tutorial on how to convert Excel to PDF .
