I Can Learn Computer Skills Blog

Know Your File Extensions

Have you ever had anyone send you a file through e-mail and when you go to open it, you get a message that looks like this.

Now, how did that happen and how do I fix it?

There are ways to get around it.

I would first ask the person who sent it to you, what kind of a file is it. Was it suppose to be a document or a picture?

Sometimes an e-mail program can change the file extension during transmission. If you know what kind of file it should be; with the e-mail open and the attachment closed, right click on the attachment and go to Save As. The Save As screen comes up. In the file name, change the extension to what it should be. Then, Save As Type (choose) All Files. Now when you go to open it, it should open right up. As a good rule of thumb, you should always save your file to a folder you created so you will know where it is. When you click Save or Save As, your files automatically get saved in My Documents. If you have a lot of documents in there, it could get lost. At a later date I will cover, Cleaning up and organizing files.

Another way to attack the problem is to Google the file extension. You may find a good way around it there. Or you could call me!

Here is a good site that lists common file extensions, organized by file format.

Oh, and remember, never open an Executable File (exe) if you receive it in an e-mail. More than likely it is a worm or virus.