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In Windows 11, you can choose to Show File Extension. The file extension tells you what kind of file it is. By default, they are not shown, but Windows 11’s new View menu makes it easy to show file extensions. The file extension is the group of three or four letters that come after a period at the end of a file name and tell you what kind of file format it is. For example, my-notes.txt, my-document.docx, etc.

Even though extensions aren’t needed after you save a file, they give you another visual clue about the file’s format. Also, it makes it easier to change extensions, like from.txt to.bat, if needed when writing a script or batch file. For further information regarding this File Extension, you can also visit official Microsoft support website.

The name of a computer file is made up of two parts: the name and the file extension. The first one tells you what’s in the file, and the second one tells you which app to use to open it. For instance, the file July report.doc is about things that happened in July and was made by Microsoft Word. Because it ends in.doc, you know this. We mentioned below are the ways to Show/Hide Windows File Extension.

Ways To Show/Hide Windows File Extension

View File Extensions Using Show Menu

How To Show File Extension in Windows 11

This is a simple way to see file extensions on your desktop, in File Explorer, and everywhere else on your desktop computer.

Open File Explorer and click on the “View” menu from the tool bar.
Choose “Show” from the dropdown menu.
To turn it on, click the “File name extensions” option.
Now, File Explorer will show you the file extension for each file. You can also go to your desktop and look at the files to see if the extensions are showing.

Enable Showing File Extensions from Control Panel

Click “Search” in the taskbar and type “control panel” to find it.
Find the “Control Panel” app in the list of search results and open it.
Sort the things into groups, and then click on the “Ease of Access” link.
Click on “Appearance and Personalization” from the list of menu items that shows up in the sidebar.
Under “File Explorer Options,” click the link that says “Show hidden files and folders.“
This will open the “File Explorer Options” dialogue box, where you can turn off the “Hide extensions of known file types” option under the “View” tab.
To start showing known file extensions, click the “Apply” button and then “OK.”

Disable Hiding Known File Extensions

As was already said, Windows will hide known file extensions like JPG and DOCX by default. You can turn off this feature, though, in the File Explorer settings.

When you’re in File Explorer, hover your mouse over the three dots in the tool bar that say “See more.” Click on those dots.
To open the “Folder Options” box, choose “Option” from the list of menu items.
Go to the “View” tab and disable the “Hide extensions for known file types” option in the “Advanced settings” section.
To close the dialogue box, click the “Apply” button and then the “OK” button.
This will show all known file extensions right away. This option makes it easy to find unknown or suspicious files that don’t have an extension at the end.

Using Details View in File Explorer to See Extensions

Open File Explorer and navigate to the folder where the files are.
Click on the icon with the horizontal lines in the bottom right corner.
You can also click “View” in the toolbar and then choose “Details.”
This will change the view so that all file details will be shown.
Check the “Type” column to see what kind of file it is.
Even though this is an easy way to do it, as you can see, Windows shows “JPG” for an image and “Microsoft Word Document” for a.docx file. Follow one of the steps below if you want to see the full file extension.

Show File Extensions from Command Prompt

You can also use the Command Prompt in Windows to show or hide file extensions (or Terminal app).

Edit Registry for Showing File Extensions

Next, you can use Registry Editor to turn on showing file extensions. Try this option only if you really want to mess around with the registry. Otherwise, use one of the options above.

To open the Run prompt, press the “Win + R” keys.
In the box, type regedit and press the enter key.
This will open the app called Registry Editor.
Copy and paste the following path into the address bar of Registry Editor. Press the “Enter” key to go there.

Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

Look on the right pane for HideFileExt. Just right-click on it and choose “Modify…”
It opens a pop-up that lets you edit the DWORD. In the “Value data” box, type 0 and click the “OK” button. The value 0 shows file extensions, and the value 1 hides them.
Close all of your apps and restart your computer, and the file extensions will start to appear next to all of your files.

FAQ

How do I show hidden file extensions?

Type “file explorer” into the search box on the taskbar, and then choose “File Explorer” from the list of results.
In File Explorer, go to View, then Show/Hide, and check the box next to File name extensions.

Which File Explorer setting is used to show or hide file extensions?

Click on Folder and search options. Click the tab View. Scroll down until you see “Hide extensions for known file types.” Click the checkbox next to this line to uncheck it. Check this line to hide the end of file names.

How do I make Windows 11 always show more options?

To allow showing more choices In Windows 11, you need to right-click your desktop and choose “Show more options” or press the Shift and F10 keys at the same time. You might get the “let’s finish setting up your device” message after running the Windows 11/10 update.

Does Windows hide file extensions by default?

By default, Microsoft sets Windows to hide file extensions, so a file named “report.txt” will just be called “report” in File Explorer. The original reason for this was probably to make things easier for users to understand, but attackers take advantage of this security risk.

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How To Show File Extension in Windows 11: 6 simple ways