Windows 7 – How to display file extensions

By default in Windows 7 file extensions are not displayed.

All files in Windows have a file extension, for example Document.docx

Windows uses these to know how to open the file.

The steps below detail how to display them.

  1. Open Windows explorer, for example, open ‘Computer’ (My Computer)
  2. Click the ‘Alt’ button on the keyboard to display the file menu
  3. Then select ‘Tools’ and ‘Folder options’
  4. MSWindows7-DisplayFileExtension1
  5. Open the ‘View’ tab then un-tick ‘Hide extensions for known file types’
  6. MSWindows7-DisplayFileExtension2
  7. Click ‘OK’ to save the changes
  8. File extensions will now be visable in Windows Explorer.
  9. MSWindows7-DisplayFileExtension3