How to Change File Format in Windows 10

When you transfer images or documents, you notice that there is a letter code at the end of the files. In fact, the code is a file extension that tells Windows what type of file type you are saving belongs to. But sometimes we will want change the format of a file in windows 10.

What is file extension?

A file extension or known as a filename extension is a suffix at the end of a computer file. On Windows PCs, the OS They use file extensions to recognize which applications are related to which types of files.

The file extension is a three-letter code that appears at the end of the file name. If you've opened documents or checked images, you might notice these letters. For example, if a file is named awesome.doc, .doc is the file extension, indicating that this file was created with Microsoft Word.

There are many types of file extensions, so only a small portion of the commonly used file extensions will be listed here.

• DOC / DOCX: a Microsoft document Word. DOC is the original extension used for Word documents, but Microsoft changed the format when Word 2007 debuted. Now, Word documents are based on the XML format, and therefore an “X” is added to the end of the extension.
• XLS / XLSX: A Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.
• PNG: Network graphs portable, a lossless image file format.
• HTM / HTML: Hypertext Markup Language format is used to create online web pages.
• PDF: Portable Document Format, developed by Adobe, is used to maintain formatting in distributed documents.
• EXE: executable file format used for programs that you can run.

To change the format of a file in Windows 10, You should know how to show file extensions in Windows 10. All file extensions are hidden by default. However, sometimes you may need to check file extensions for certain purposes. The following is the method to change file extension in Windows 10.

How to display file formats in Windows 10

The first thing you need to do if you want to change the format of a file in Windows 10 is to view the formats. To make Windows show the extensions you can do it in the following ways:

Way 1. Using Control Panel

Follow the steps below to display file extensions.

• Step 1: Open the Control panel by typing Control Panel in the Cortana search box and selecting the first search result.
• Step 2: Search Appearance and customization, Click on Explorer Options of folders and navigate to the tab View after getting a pop-up window.
• Step 3: On the View tab, in Advanced settings, look for the option Hide extension for known file types. If checked, uncheck it and click Apply and Accept in order.

Way 2. Use Windows File Explorer

To display file extensions in Windows 10, you can also apply File Explorer. The operation is quite easy, you just need to follow these steps:

• Step 1: Open the File Browser and navigate to the tab View
• Step 2: There you choose Options y Change folder and search options.
• Step 3: Then, a pop-up window will appear. There, you just need to navigate to the tab View and repeat Step 3 on Form 1.

Way 3: Use Registry Editor

Registry Editor can also help you view file extensions in Windows 10 which is a necessary step to change the format of a file. Follow the steps below to display file extensions via Registry Editor.

• Step 1: Run the Registry Editor performing the following operations.
  • Press the key Windows and the R key simultaneously.
  • After you get the Run window, type regedit and click OK
• Step 2: Once you access the Registry Editor window, navigate to the following folders:
  • Computer > HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > Explorer > Advanced.
• Step 3: Find an entry DWORD labeled as HideFileExt and double-click on it to set its value to 0. Then click the OK button to confirm the change. This will show the hidden file extensions.

• Step 4: Exit the Registry Editor and then restart your computer to complete the changes.

Don't stop reading: 10 Best Programs To Rename Files In Windows

How to change the format of a file in Windows 10

If you wish to change the extension or format of a file After seeing the full file name, you should be careful about it. Do not change file extensions unless you have sufficient reasons, as changing file extensions can lead to problems.

If you remove a file extension in Windows, Windows will not know how to handle the file.

When you change a file extension, for example, after renaming the file “coolpic.jpg” to “coolpic.txt”, Windows will try to open the file with the application related to the new file extension. However, you will only receive an error message or open a useless document.

How to change file format in Windows 10? To change file extensions correctly, follow the steps below.

• Step 1: After opening the File Browser, click the option View to view the ribbon menu.
• Step 2: Then check the option File name extensions to allow file extensions to be displayed in Windows 10.

• • Alternatively, you can also click on Options in the upper right corner to disable the option Hide extensions for known file types from File Explorer Options in Windows 10 by unchecking the option.
• Step 3: look for the file that you would like to change through the search window. When you find the file, click right click in it. Select the rename option from the menu and then write the new file extension.
• Step 4: Then a warning window will appear on the page. If you confirm to change it, click Yes to finish the operation.

Final words

If you would like to change the format of a file in windows 10 It is possible but you must first keep in mind that you need to show the extensions or formats of the files. The good news is that in this article we have gathered all the steps you need to follow to do this without any problems.