Common File formats

ACE   -ACE Archiver compression file.
AIF   -Audio Interchange File used with SGI
ANI   -Animated cursors used in Microsoft Windows.
API   -Application Program Interface.
ART   -Clipart.
ASC   -ASCII text file.
ASM   -Assembler code.
ASP   -Microsoft Active Server Page.
AVI   -Audio/Video Interleaved for Windows movies.
BAK   -Backup Files.
BAS   -BASIC programming language source code file.
BAT   -MS-DOS batch file.
BFC   -Briefcase document used in Windows.
BIN   -Binary File.
BMP   -Bitmap format.
BUD   -Backup Disk for Quicken by Intuit.
BZ2   -Bzip2-compressed files.
C     -C source file.
CAT   -Security Catalog file.
CBL   -Cobol code.
CBT   -Computer Based Training.
CDA   -Compact Disc Audio Track.
CDT   -Corel Draw Template file.
CFML  -ColdFusion Markup Language.
CGI   -Common Gateway Interface used with Web based programs and scripts.
CHM   -Compiled HTML Help files used by Windows.
CLASS -Javascript Class file.
CLP   -Windows Clipboard file.
CMD   -DOS Command File.
COM   -Command File.
CPL   -Control panel item - The settings in Control Panels represent
CPL   -files in the Windows\System folder.
CPP   -C++ programming language source code.
CSS   -Cascading Style Sheet. Creates a common style reference for a set of web pages.
CSV   -Comma Separated Values format.
CMF   -Corel Metafile.
CUR   -Cursor in Microsoft Windows.
D01   -Advanced Data Base Master file
DAO   -Registry Backup file for Windows registry.
DAT   -Data file.
DEV   -Device Driver.
DIC   -Dictionary file.
DLL   -Dynamic Linked Library for Microsoft applications
DOC   -Document format for Word Perfect and Microsoft Word.
DOT   -Microsoft Word Template.
DRV   -Device Driver.
DS    -TWAIN Data source file.
DUN   -Dial-up networking configuration file.
DWG   -Autocad drawing.
DXF   -Autocad drawing exchange format file.
EMF   -Enhanced Windows Metafile.
EML   -Microsoft Outlook e-mail file.
EPS   -Encapsulated PostScript supported by graphics programs.
EPS2  -Adobe PostScript Level II Encapsulated Postscript.
EXE   -DOS based executable file which is also known as a program.
FFL   -Microsoft Fast Find file.
FFO   -Microsoft Fast Find file.
FLA   -Macromedia Flash movie format.
FNT   -Font file.
GIF   -Graphics Interchange Format that supports animation. Created by CompuServe and used primarily for web use.
GID   -Windows global index. Contains the index information used by "Help" in Windows.
GRP   -Microsoft Program Manager Group.
GZ    -Unix compressed file.
HEX   -Binary hex(binhex) file.
HLP   -Standard help file.
HT    -HyperTerminal files.
HQX   -Macintosh binary hex(binhex) file.
HTM   -Hyper Text Markup which is used for web design.
HTML  -Hyper Text Markup Language. The same as above.
ICL   -Icon Library File.
ICM   -Image Color Matching profile.
ICO   -Microsoft icon image.
INF   -Information file used in Windows.
INI   -Initialization file used in Windows.
JAR   -Java Archive. A compressed java file format.
JPEG  -Compression scheme supported by most graphics programs and used predominantly for web use.
jpg   -More common extension for JPEG described above.
JS    -JavaScript File - A text file containing JavaScript programming code.
LAB   -Microsoft Excel mailing labels.
LGO   -Windows 9x startup logo.
LIT   -eBooks in Microsoft Reader format.
LNK   -Windows 9x shortcut file.
LOG   -Application log file.
LSP   -Autocad lisp program.
MAQ   -Microsoft Access Query.
MAR   -Microsoft Access Report.
MDB   -Microsoft Access DataBase File.
MDL   -Rose model file. Opens with Visual Modeler or Rational Rose.
MID   -MIDI music file.
MOD   -Microsoft Windows 9.x kernel module.
MOV   -Quicktime movie.
MP3   -MPEG Audio Layer 3.
MPEG  -Animation file format.
MPP   -Microsoft Project File.
MSG   -Microsoft Outlook message file.
MSG   -Fidonet messages.
NCF   -Netware command File.
NLM   -Netware loadable Module.
O     -Object file, used by linkers.
OCX   -ActiveX Control: A component of the Windows environment.
OGG   -Ogg Vorbis digitally encoded music file.
OST   -Microsoft Exchange/Outlook offline file.
PAK   -WAD file that contains information about levels, settings, maps, etc for Quake and Doom computer games.
PCL   -Printer Control Language file. PCL is a Page Description Language developed by HP.
PCT   -Macintosh drawing format.
PDF   -Portable Document File by Adobe. Viewable in a web browser or
with the free Adobe Acrobat program.
PDF   -Printer Description File. Provides printer support for certain
applications.
PDR   -Port driver for windows 95. It is actually a virtual device driver (vxd).
PHP   -Web page that contains a PHP script.
PHTML -Web page that contains a PHP script.
PIF   -Program Information File
PIF   -Vector graphics GDF file(IBM Mainframe)
PIF   -Macintosh Compressed archive
PL    -Perl source code file.
PM    -Perl Module.
PM3   -PageMaker 3.0 document.
PM4   -PageMaker 4.0 document.
PM5   -PageMaker 5.0 document.
PM6   -PageMaker 6.0 document.
PNG   -Portable Network Graphic file.
POL   -System Policy file for Windows NT.
POT   -Microsoft PowerPoint design template.
PPD   -PostScript Printer description file used in Macintosh and Windows operating systems to provide printer specific features to a driver.
PPS   -Microsoft PowerPoint slide show.
PPT   -Microsoft PowerPoint presentation (default extension).
PRN   -A print file created as the result of "printing to file".
PS    -PostScript file.
PSD   -Native Adobe Photoshop format.
PSP   -Paint Shop Pro image.
PST   -Personal Folder File for Microsoft Outlook.
PUB   -Microsoft Publisher document.
PWL   -Windows Password list file.
QIF   -Quicken Import file.
RAM   -RealAudio Metafile.
RAR   -RAR compressed archive created by Eugene Roshall.
RAW   -Raw File Format.
RCF   -eXtremeDNC file that contains CNC machine specific parameters
RDO   -Raster Document Object. Proprietary file type used on Xerox
Digipath Scan and Makeready workstations.
REG   -Registry file that contains registry settings.
RM    -RealAudio video file.
RPM   -RedHat Package Manager.
RSC   -Standard resource file.
RTF   -Rich Text Format which is similar to HTML.
SCR   -Screen Saver file.
SEA   -Self-extracting archive for Macintosh Stuffit files.
SGML  -Standard Generalized Markup Language.
SH    -Unix shell script.
SHTML -HTML file that supports Server Side Includes(SSI).
SIT   -Compressed Macintosh Stuffit files.
SMD   -SEGA mega drive ROM file.
SVG   -Adobe scalable vector graphics file.
SWF   -Shockwave Flash file by Macromedia.
SWP   -DOS swap file.

SYL   -symbolic SYLK format used for some old spreadsheet programs

SYS   -Windows system file used for hardware configuration or drivers.
TAR   -Unix Tape Archive.
TGA   -Targa bitmap.
TIFF  -Tagged Image File Format. Universal graphics format supported
by most graphics applications.
TMP   -Windows temporary file.
TTF   -True Type font.
TXT   -Text Format.
UDF   -Uniqueness Definition File. Used for Windows unattended installations.
UUE   -UU-encoded file.
VBX   -Microsoft Visual basic extension.
VM    -Virtual Memory file.
VXD   -Windows 9x virtual device driver.
WAV   -Waveform sound file.

WKS   -file format for Lotus 1-2-3
WMF   -Windows Metafile (graphics format).
WRI   -Write Document: This is equivalent to RTF, Rich Text Format,
that enables saving text with formatting information.
WSZ   -Winamp Skin.
XCF   -The GIMP's native image format.
XIF   -Wang imaging file. Wang Image Viewer comes with Windows 95/2000.
XIF   -Xerox Image file (same as TIFF).
XIF   -Image file eXtended by ScanSoft is similar to TIFF and is a Pagis application format.
XLS   -Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet.
XLT   -Microsoft Excel Template.
XML   -Extensible markup language.
XSL   -XML style sheet.
ZIP   -Compressed Zip archive.