There are a loooooot of file types running around, like images for example, there is a PNG, a JPEG, TIFF, and RAW among others. But beware, since there are files that pose as a media file (like video or image) but it’s actually an executable file (.exe) which usually contains harmful malware(s).
How to Show File Extensions?
Thus, as a personal countermeasure, I always enable the option to show file extensions on Windows File Explorer and see what type of files am looking at. For starters, the file extension of all files can be seen at the end of the file name after the dot (e.g., MS-Word.docx). You may see the screenshot below for reference which shows the usual .docx file created from Microsoft Word.
The option “Hide extensions for known file types” is enabled by default and disabling this gets the job done. Do it in four (4) simple steps:
1. Open File Explorer by clicking on the folder icon on the taskbar, or using search ‘File Explorer’, or using the keyboard shortcut Windows key + E
2. Click the Options icon on the upper menu If you are not seeing the Options or the menu at all, click on the View tab and you should now see the UI containing the Options icon
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3. You should see a small pop-up window. Click on View and find in the Advanced settings container and find the option “Hide extensions for known file types”
4. Finally, uncheck the box, click Apply and hit OK. The File Explorer should refresh, and you should now be able to see the file extensions of all your files
