How to Show or Hide File Extensions on Windows 11

When you know a file extension or file type will let you know the app that can open it. File extensions are usually three to four letters that come after the file name. An example of file extensions are txt for text files, doc for Word documents, mp4 for a video file, and mp3 for audio files. Microsoft makes it very easy for someone to quickly show or hide file extensions. In this guide, I will be showing you How to Show or Hide File Extensions on Windows 11. Please see how to Create and access a hidden share folder on Windows, and how to hide the Windows 10 Taskbar.

Below is a YouTube video showing the steps on how to show or hide file extensions on Windows.

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Use File Explorer to Show or Hide File Extensions on Windows 11

1: Open File Explorer from the taskbar and navigate to where your file is located. You will notice that each file does not have an extension attached to the file.

2: Click the View tab at the top and select Show > File name extensions.

Immediately 1 and 2 is done you will see the extension added.

2.    How to Use Folder Options to Show or Hide File Extensions on Windows 11

1: Open the file explorer click the three dots button at the top and click Options from the menu that appears.

2: After opening the Folder Options window scroll down to the Advanced settings section. You can check or uncheck the Hide extensions for known file types option.

When you check this option, it will hide the file extensions from view while unchecking it will display the extension.

Click Apply and OK buttons at the bottom.

Also, see how to fix Error Code: 0x80070035: MDT unable to access the Log share, the Network Path was not found, and Hide or Remove Search Button from Windows 10 Taskbar.

3. How to Use PowerShell to Show File Extensions on Windows

1: Run PowerShell as Administrator
2: Enter the below command if you want to show the file extension.

reg add HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced /v HideFileExt /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

3: Enter the below command if you want to Hide the file extension.

reg add HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced /v HideFileExt /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

After running the above commands, right-click in File Explorer, select Show more options and click Refresh so that you can see the changes.

FAQs

I hope you found this blog post on how to Show or Hide File Extensions on Windows 11 Interesting and helpful. In case you have any questions do not hesitate to ask in the comment section.