Work
with computers for any length of time and you’ll be shocked at the many
different types of files that you come across. Take a look at the file
extensions in your PC and you’ll see hundreds, if not thousands of
different files that all work on your computer.
While you don’t need to know what
every one of these files is, having some idea as to what type of media they are
can help you a lot. In this article, we’re going to look at some of the most
common types of files and what they are. Let’s get started.
1.
Document Files
First off, we have one of the most
common types of files: document files. These are the files that you’ll save
when you work with a word processor like Microsoft Word, LibreOffice, or
OpenOffice. They contain every word you’ve typed along with data on the font of
choice, font size, formatting, and more.
The most common types of document
files are .doc and .docx, which are used by Microsoft Word. Other popular forms
of text files include .odt, .rtf, and .txt, though .txt is a much more basic
file format.
Another popular format is .pdf,
which is a highly polished format. You can even make other formats like HTML
into .pdf using Spire
PDF.
2.
Media Files
Next up we have media files. These
are files that encode your music, podcasts, and videos. For audio files, the
most common file type, by far, is .mp3.
Pretty much any media player can
play .mp3 files, while other files like .wma and .aac are much more
specialized.
For videos, there are a few
different file types including .avi, .mp4, and .mkv. They all have different
pros and cons but most media players will play them, regardless.
3.
Image Files
Image files encode images and are
responsible for how the image looks. A .jpg file will be the most common type
you’ll encounter: these compress images without sacrificing too much quality,
so are great for websites and emails.
Other image types include .gif
(which aren’t just animated), .png, and .tiff. In general, a larger file size
will mean less compression and a better picture.
There are also non-traditional image
file types like .webm, which most image viewers will have problems opening but
are used online a lot.
4.
Program Files
When you’re dealing with programs
themselves, there will be a lot of files involved but the one that starts and
runs the program itself will be a .exe, which means executable. This means that
your CPU runs the file, which then runs the program, so to speak.
If you’re dealing with very old
programs, you may also run into .bat files and the like, but .exe is the modern
standard for Windows.
Different
Types of Files: Explained
We hope that you feel more secure
and understand the different types of files that you’re likely to encounter. If
you’d like to read more informative articles like this, check out the rest of
our blog!
