How to hide known file extensions in Windows
Hiding file extensions in Windows
By default, the file extensions of known file types that are associated with some software installed in your computer are hidden. Sometimes, some software or even the user makes them manually all visible as you can see on the screenshot below, where the TXT file extension is visible in Windows Explorer, because the TXT file type is associated with a Notepad program.
Visible TXT file extension in Windows Explorer
To make the file extensions of known file types hidden in Windows Explorer, go to Start → Control Panel and launch the Folder Options control panel.
Windows 7 Control Panel screenshot
In the View tab of Folder Options control panel locate the Hide extensions for known file type option. By default, its box is checked and the known file extensions are hidden. But if the box is not checked, all file extensions are visible in Windows Explorer. To hide all the known .ie associated file extensions in Windows Explorer, simply check this box and Apply the changes.
Folder Options control panel screenshot with all file extensions visible
After the changes are saved, all associated file extensions in your Windows Explorer will be hidden, like is shown on the screenshot below, where the TXT file extension is no longer visible.
Visible TXT file extension in Windows Explorer
File-Extensions.org Search application for Windows
You can also quickly show and hide file extensions of known file types with our free File-Extensions.org Search utility. Beyond its base capability to quickly search our database for your file extensions, it also has a handy toggle, that allows you to show/hide file extensions in Windows Explorer.
File-Extensions.org Search App show/hide file extensions toggle
Find out more about the free File-Extensions.org Search application for Windows and its features.
