Mouse over “Show” at the bottom of the drop-down menu, and then click “File Name Extensions” in the sub-menu. Windows 11 changed the user interface for File Explorer quite a bit between Windows 10 and 11, but the option to show file extensions is still readily accessible.Ĭlick the “View” tab along the top of the File Explorer window.

How to Show File Extensions in Windows 11 In the Explorer status bar, you'll see how many files and folders are highlighted, as shown in the picture below. Highlight one of the files in that folder and press the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + A to highlight all files and folders in that folder. You could look at the file’s properties window for more information, but you don’t need to do that if you’ve enabled file extensions. Browse to the folder containing the files you want to count. If you had Windows set to show file extensions, you’d be able to see whether it’s a safe document with the name “document.pdf” or a dangerous file with a name like “document.exe”. With file extensions hidden, there’s no quick way to tell if this is a legitimate PDF document or is actually a malicious program using your PDF reader’s icon as a disguise. If you can’t see what a file’s extension is, it’s hard to tell whether it’s a program or a safe document or media file at a glance.Īs an example, you may have a file named “document” that has the icon of your installed PDF reader. exe file extension is one of many file extensions that Windows runs as a program. Setting Windows to show file extensions is helpful for security.

How to view file types in xp