Turn on file extensions in Windows Vista

File extensions are absolutely critical to knowing what type of file you are looking at. Have you ever had someone send a file to you but didn’t include the file extension? Mac users often ignore adding file extensions because they aren’t necessary on Macintosh systems. So what do you do? Rename the file with the correct extension, if you know it.

When you look at a list of files in a folder, you should be able to see the file extensions (the parts of the file name after the period). Notice, we can’t see the extensions on these files:

To change this, follow these steps:

1. Open any window such as Documents or Pictures.

2. Click on the Organize button and select Folder and Search options.

3. Next, click on the View tab.

4. Uncheck the box that says to hide the file extensions.

5. Click the Apply button and close the window.

Your file extensions should now appear on all your files!