Computer Terms - What is a Filetype?

Learning how to use your computer at times can be confusing because of the "language" and terms that may be unfamiliar to you.

With this in mind, dont panic there are some great resources to understand what all these terms mean if you need to understand them. One of the most helpful links you can know is Google.com.

Think of Google as the worlds largest encyclopedia, it is how most people find answers to questions and it is very "friendly" in that you can type a question into their search box the same way you would ask the question of a friend. Nothing fancy.. for example typing "What is a PDF file" in the Google search box will bring back thousands of answers for you on different websites.

Usually the first one or two will answer your question. So give Google a try first before you pull out books and manuals that you may have. Here is a list of some of the most common terms you may run into:

Filetype - This is just as it sounds, "What type of file is..." If you look at any file on your computer there is a name then a "dot" then something after the "dot". What comes after the dot is called the extension. The extension, is what tells you what the filetype is. For example myhouse.jpg, or yesterday.doc

There are common filetypes that help you know what kind of programs open the files, for example:

.jpg, .gif, .bmp, .tif, & .png are all filetypes that indicate different kinds of picture files. Almost any kind of picture viewer or editing software that comes with your computer can open these filetypes.

.doc, .docx, .txt, .rtf, & .wps are all filetypes that are documents of some kind, like a letter you may have typed.

.midi, .mp3, .ra, .wave, & wma are all music or sound files. Many of the dings, rings, and sounds you hear when you do things on your computer are one of these filetypes.

.avi, .mov, .mpg, .swf, .wmv & .flv are video file types. If you ever go to YouTube and look at a video you could be seeing any one of these types of files.

xhtml, .html, .css, .php & .htm are all webpage filetypes. You may have seen these before when you go to a website and at the end of the address in your browser bar you see .html

Then there are specialized filetypes that are specific to programs. In other words, you must have the program that they were created with in order to open them. Some common examples are:

.PDF - Which means "Portable Document Format", Adobe is the program that creates and opens these types of files. It is the most universal type of file for sharing documents, ebooks, and other written material on the internet because almost all computers can run the software (which is free to download) and keeps files relatively small.

.pub - This is short for a program called Microsoft Publisher. While Publisher is not a free program if you purchased the "Office" version of Microsoft you may have this program to open this type of file.

There are many different kinds of filetypes for many different programs. So, if you run across one that is unfamiliar to you the first thing I would recommend is to use Google to find out what it is to get a better understanding which will let you know if you have the right kind of program on your computer to open the file.

I have only listed a few filetypes here but if you are curious there is an excellent website you can go to as well. It is www.fileinfo.net/common.php