How to Change a File Extension in Windows 10?

Do you want to change a file extension of a file in your Windows 10 system? File extension describes the type of file. Like ‘. dox’ is a document file, ‘.xlsx’ is an excel sheet. The file extension is always added as a suffix to the file name.

The changed file extension must be compatible with your existing file like a file with an image may have an extension .png and you might change it to .jpeg, both are an extension of the file containing the image.

In this section, we will discuss the method to change a file extension in Windows 10.

Steps to Change File Extension in Windows 10:

Step 1: In Windows 10 by default the file extension is hidden. As you can see in the image below the Image file’s extension is hidden. First, we need to unhide the file extension so that we are aware of the file extension of a file.

Step 2: Search for the control panel in the Windows search box.

Step 3: In the control panel window click on the Appearance and Personalization.

Step 4: In the Appearance and Personalization window you have to click on File Explorer Option.

Step 5: A new window File Explorer Options will pop up. Under Advanced settings, you have to uncheck ‘Hide extension for known file type’. After this click on Apply and then on OK.

Step 6: Now, you can observe that the Image file has a .bmp extension.

Right-click on the file and from the displayed options click on Rename.

Step 7: Now you can change the files extension. Like I have changed it from .bmp to .jpeg.

Step 8: A Rename dialog box will pop up which warns you that changing the file name extension might make your file unusable. But if you want to change the file extension then you have to click yes.

Done your file extension is changed.

So, with this method, you can change the file extension in Windows 10. You can explore some more methods to do so. Hope the information is useful. Keep reading.