File Formats - Descriptions and

Meanings
There are a huge number of different computer file formats available - here we
describe some of the most popular - Click on a file extension for more detailed
information.
If you want to convert a file from one format to another we make that supereasy to do at Zamzar - just upload your file and let us do all the hard
work. Zamzar supports conversion between most of the formats below !
We're adding support for new formats all the time - if there's a format that you'd
like us to support why notcontact us and we'll do our best to add it.

Document file
formats
File format

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Author

What programs use it ?

csv - Comma Separated

Values

Microsoft

djvu - DjVu File

AT&T Labs Research

doc - Microsoft Word

Document

Microsoft

docx - Microsoft Word

2007 Document

Microsoft

eml - E-Mail

Microsoft

eps - Encapsulated
PostScript

Adobe Systems

The CSV file format is very

simple and supported by
almost all spreadsheets and
database management
systems
DjVuLibre DjView
LizardTech Browser Plug In
MacDjView Desktop Viewer
WinDjView
AbiWord
Apple Pages
AppleWorks
KWord
Microsoft Word
StarOffice
Microsoft Word 2007
Microsoft Word 2008 (MAC)
OxygenOffice Professional
(Linux)
Word 2010
Apple Mail
IncrediMail
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Windows Live Mail
Mozilla Thunderbird
Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Photoshop
CorelDRAW
Microsoft Digital Image Editor
QuarkXPress
Any Web Browser (e.g. Internet
Explorer, Safari, Firefox,
Google Chrome)
Any Web Browser (e.g. Internet
Explorer, Safari, Firefox,
Google Chrome)
Any Web Browser (e.g. Internet
Explorer, Safari, Firefox,
Google Chrome)
Keynote 5.0

html - Hypertext Markup

Language

World Wide Web

Consortium &
WHATWG
html4 - Hypertext Markup World Wide Web
Language
Consortium &
WHATWG
html5 - Hypertext Markup World Wide Web
Language
Consortium &
WHATWG
key - Apple iWork '09
Apple Inc

Keynote Presentation

Keynote 5.1
iWork '09

key.zip - Apple iWork '05-'08 Keynote

Presentation
mdb - Microsoft Access Database

Microsoft

mpp - Microsoft Project Document

msg - Encapsulated email message

Microsoft
Microsoft

numbers - Apple iWork '09 Numbers

Spreadsheet
numbers.zip - Apple iWork '08
Numbers Spreadsheet
odp - OpenDocument presentation

Apple

ods - OpenDocument spreadsheet

Sun Microsystems

odt - OpenDocument spreadsheet

Sun Microsystems

pages - Apple iWork '09 Pages

Document

Apple Inc

Sun Microsystems and

Oasis

pages.zip - Apple iWork '05-'08 Pages

Document
pdf - Portable Document Format
Adobe Systems

pps - Microsoft PowerPoint

Presentation

Microsoft

ppsx - Microsoft PowerPoint 2007

Slide Show

Microsoft

ppt (1997-2003) - Microsoft PowerPoint

Presentation
ppt - Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft
Presentation
pptx - Microsoft PowerPoint 2007
Presentation

Microsoft

ps - PostScript

Adobe Systems

pst - Personal Folder File

pub - Microsoft Publisher
rtf - Rich Text Format

Microsoft
Microsoft

swf - Macromedia Flash Format File

FutureWave Software

txt - Text Document

Various

vsd - Visio Drawing

Microsoft

MDB Viewer Plus

Microsoft Access
Microsoft Project
Encryptomatic MsgViewer Pro
Microsoft Outlook
Priasoft MSG File Viewer and Assessor
Apple iWork

Corel WordPerfect
KOffice
Lotus Symphony
NeoOffice
OpenOffice Impress
StarOffice
Microsoft Office 2007
Microsoft Office 2010
OpenOffice Calc
Microsoft Office 2007
Microsoft Office 2010
OpenOffice Writer
Pages 4.0
Pages 4.1
Pages 4.2
iWork '09
Adobe Viewer
Ghostscript
Ghostview
Xpdf
gPDF
Apple Keynote
Microsoft PowerPoint
OpenOffice
Apple Keynote
Microsoft PowerPoint
OpenOffice
Apple Keynote
Microsoft PowerPoint
OpenOffice
Apple Keynote
Microsoft PowerPoint
OpenOffice
Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Photoshop
Quark Xpress
Microsoft Publisher
AbiWord
Kword
Microsoft Word
TextEdit
WordPad
Adobe Flash Player (standalone program)
Web browser with the Flash plug-in installed
Notepad
TextEdit
WordPad
Microsoft Internet Explorer

wks - Microsoft Works Spreadsheet

wpd - WordPerfect Document

Microsoft
Corel

wps - Microsoft Works Document

Microsoft

xls - Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet

Microsoft

xlsx - Microsoft Excel 2007

Spreadsheet

Microsoft

xlr - Works Spreadsheet or Chart

(Microsoft Corporation)
xml - Extensible Markup Language

Microsoft

xps - Open XML Paper Specification

Microsoft

World Wide Web

Consortium

Microsoft Visio
Microsoft Visio Viewer
Microsoft Works
Corel WordPerfect
Microsoft Word
OpenOffice Writer
Microsoft Word
Microsoft Works Word Processor
NeoOffice
OxygenOffice
Works Converter
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Excel Viewer
OpenOffice
Microsoft Excel 2007
OpenOffice
OxygenOffice Progessional (Linux)
Microsoft Works
Chrome
Firefox
Microsoft Internet Explorer
Microsoft Office InfoPath
Notepad
Oxygen XML Editor
Safari
Chrome
Firefox
Microsoft Internet Explorer
Microsoft XPS Viewer
Safari

Image file formats

File format

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Author

What programs use it ?

ai - Adobe Illustrator Artwork

Adobe

bmp - Windows bitmap

Microsoft

cdr - Corel Draw Vector drawing file

Corel Corporation

cr2 - Canon RAW version 2

Canon Inc.

emf - Windows Enhanced Metafile

Microsoft

Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Reader
Corel Paint Shop Pro
Adobe Photoshop
MS Paint
Microsoft Photo Editor
Paintbrush
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Reader
Corel PaintShop Photo Pro
Corel WordPerfect Office
LibreOffice
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
Paint Shop Pro
Picasa
digiKam
Microsoft Publisher
Microsoft Word
QuarkXPress
Adobe Photoshop
Apple Preview
Corel Paint Shop Pro
Microsoft Windows Photo Gallery Viewer
Adobe Photoshop
Microsoft Paint
Windows Picture and Fax Viewer
Adobe Photoshop

gif - Compuserve graphics interchange CompuServe

ico - Windows Icon

Microsoft

jpg - JPEG compliant image

The JPEG Committee

mdi - Microsoft Document Imaging

nef - Nikon Electronic Format

Microsoft
Nikon Inc.

odg - OpenDocument Drawing

Sun Microsystems

pcx - Paintbrush Bitmap Image

ZSoft Corporation

png - Portable Network Graphic

PNG Development Group

psd - Photoshop Document

Adobe Systems

svg - Scalable Vector Graphics

World Wide Web

Consortium

tga - Truevision Targa Graphic

Truevision

thumbnail - Thumbnail image

tiff - Tagged image file format

Aldus, Adobe Systems

wbmp - Wireless Bitmap File Format

WAP Forum

webp - Lossily compressed image file Google

wmf - Windows Metafile

Microsoft

Apple Preview
Corel Paint Shop Pro
Microsoft Windows Photo Gallery Viewer
Microsoft Office Imaging
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
Paint Shop Pro
Picasa
digiKam
Libre Office
OpenOffice Draw
Adobe Photoshop
Microsoft Paint
Windows Picture and Fax Viewer
Apple Preview
Corel Paint Shop Pro
GIMP - The GNU Image Manipulation
Program (LINUX)
Microsoft Windows Photo Gallery Viewer
Safari
Adobe Illustrator CS6
Adobe InDesign CS6
Adobe Photoshop
GIMP
Adobe Photoshop
Apple Preview
Corel Paint Shop Pro
Corel SVG Viewer
Adobe Photoshop
Corel Paint Shop Pro
GIMP
Painter
CyberLink PowerDVD
InterVideo WinDVD
VideoLAN VLC Media Player
Windows Media Player
Adobe Photoshop
Microsoft Paint
Windows Picture and Fax Viewer
Adobe Photoshop
Google Chrome
Picasa
Microsoft Publisher
Microsoft Word
QuarkXPress

Music file formats

File format
3ga - 3GA Multimedia File
aac - Advanced Audio Coding File

ac3 - AC3 Audio File

aiff - Audio Interchange File Format

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Author

What programs use it ?

3rd Generation Partnership QuickTime Player

Project (3GPP)
VLC Media Player
Windows Media Player
A combination of FraunhoferKMPlayer
IIS, AT&T Bell Laboratories, RealPlayer
Dolby and Sony Corporation VideoLAN VLC Media Player
Windows Media Player
iTunes
Dolby Digital
QuickTime Player
VLC Media Player
Windows Media Player
Apple Inc
Apple QuickTime
VLC media Player

flac - Free Lossless Audio Codec

Xiph.Org Foundation

m4a - Compressed video file

Apple

m4r - iPhone Ringtone File

Apple

midi - Musical Instrument Digital

Interface

Various

mp3 - Compressed audio file

Moving Picture Experts

Group

ogg - Ogg Vorbis Compressed Audio

File

Xiph.Org Foundation

ra - RealMedia Streaming Media

ram - RealMedia Metafile
rm - RealMedia Streaming Media
wav - Windows audio file

Real Networks
Real Networks
Real Networks
Microsoft & IBM

Winamp
Windows Media Player
Real Player
VLC Media Player
Windows Media Player
Apple QuickTime Player
Apple iTunes
Microsoft Windows Media Player
Apple QuickTime Player
Apple iTunes
Audio Evolution
GarageBand
Master Tracks Pro
Sonar
RealOne
WinAmp
Windows Media Player
iTunes
Apple QuickTime Player
Real Player
Windows Media Player
RealNetworks RealPlayer
RealNetworks RealPlayer
RealNetworks RealPlayer
CyberLink PowerDirector
Microsoft Windows Media Player
Roxio Creator 2009

Video file formats

File format
264 - H.264 Raw Files

3g2 - 3GPP2 Multimedia File

3gp - 3GPP Multimedia File

3gpp - 3GPP Multimedia File
asf - Advanced Streaming Format
avi - Windows video file

f4v - Flash MP4 video

flv - Flash video

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Author

What programs use it ?

International
Telecommunications Union
and International
Organization for
VideoLAN VLC Media Player
Standardization/Internationa
l Electrotechnical
Commission Moving Picture
Experts Group
3rd Generation Partnership Apple QuickTime Player
Project 2
GOM Player
Microsoft Media Player Classic
Totem
VideoLAN VLC Media Player
3rd Generation Partnership QuickTime Player
Project (3GPP)
VLC Media Player
Windows Media Player
3rd Generation Partnership QuickTime Player
Project (3GPP)
VLC Media Player
Windows Media Player
Microsoft
Real Player
VLC Media Player
Windows Media Player
Microsoft
ALLPlayer
Apple QuickTime Player
Microsoft Windows Media Player
VideoLAN VLC Media Player
Apple
FFDShow
Microsoft Windows Photo Gallery Viewer
VideoLAN VLC Media Player
Windows Media Player
Adobe Systems
FFDShow
Incorporated
Microsoft Windows Photo Gallery Viewer

gvi - Google video file

Google

ipad - MPEG-4 (H264) Video File

iphone - MPEG-4 (H264) Video File
ipod - MPEG-4 Video File
m4v - MPEG-4 Video File

Apple

mkv - Matroska Multimedia Container Steve Lhomme

mov - Apple QuickTime Movie
Apple
mod - Hard disk camera movie

JVC/Panasonic

mp4 - MPEG-4 Video File

Moving Picture Experts

Group

mpg - Moving Picture Experts Group

File
mts - AVCHD Video File

ISO, IEC
Sony, Panasonic

rmvb - RealVideo Variable Bit Rate FileRealNetworks

ts - Video Transport Stream File
vob - Video Object File

MPEG
Apple

webm - Multimedia Container Format Google (Previously

developed by On2, Xiph,
and Matroska)
wmv - Windows Media Video
Microsoft

VideoLAN VLC Media Player

Windows Media Player
Google VideoPlayer
VideoLAN VLC Media Player
Windows MediaPlayer classic

Apple QuickTime Player

Apple iTunes
VLC Media Player
VLC Media Player
Apple QuickTime Player
CyberLink PowerDirector
Roxio Easy Media Creator
Quicktime Player
VLC Media Player
Windows Media Player
Apple QuickTime Player
Apple iTunes
Microsoft Windows Media Player
VideoLAN VLC Media Player
VideoLAN VLC Media Player
Windows Media Player
VideoLAN VLC Media Player
Windows Media Player
RealPlayer
VLC Media Player
VideoLAN VLC Media Player
Adobe Flash Player (standalone program)
Web browser with the Flash plug-in installed
Google Chrome
Mozilla Firefox
VLC Media Player
MPlayer
Microsoft Windows Media Player
PowerDVD
RealPlayer
VideoLAN VLC Media Player

e-Book file formats

File format

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Author

What programs use it ?

azw - Amazon Kindle eBook File

Amazon

azw3 - Amazon KF8 eBook File

Amazon

cbc - eBook Format

cbr - Comic Book RAR Archive

Various
Various

cbz - Comic Book Archive File

Various

chm - Compiled HTML Help File

Microsoft

epub - Open eBook File

International Digital
Publishing Forum (IDPF)

Kindle Reader
Kindle for Android
Kindle for iOS
Kindle Fire
Kindle Reader
Kindle for Android
Kindle for iOS
Comic Book Collector
CDisplay
ComicFlow
Perfect Viewer
CDisplay
ComicFlow
Perfect Viewer
Beyond CHM
Internet Explorer
Microsoft Reader
Mozilla Firefox
Adobe Digital Editions
Apple iBooks

fb2 - FictionBook 2.0 File

FictionBook

lit - Microsoft eBook File

lrf - Sony Portable Reader File
lzh - Compressed Archive File

Microsoft
Sony
Haruyasu Yoshizaki

mobi - Mobipocket eBook

Mobipocket / Amazon

oeb - Open eBook File

International Digital
Publishing Forum (IDPF)

pdb - Palm Media eBook File

Palm, Inc.

pml - eBook File

Palm, Inc.

prc - Mobipocket eBook File

Mobipocket

rb - RocketEdition eBook File

NuvoMedia

Mobipocket Reader Desktop

Sony Reader
Apple iBooks
Calibre
Cool Viewer
Microsoft Reader
Sony Reader
LHA
WinRAR
WinZip
Amazon Kindle
Apple iBooks
Mobipocket Reader Desktop
Adobe Digital Editions
Apple iBooks
Sony Reader
ICE Book Reader
Palm Reader
Adobe Framemaker
Dropbook
MakeBook
Amazon Kindle
Apple iBooks
Mobipocket Reader Desktop
Book Designer
GEB Librarian
RB2Project

Compressed file formats

File format

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Author

What programs use it ?

7z - 7-Zip Compressed File

7-zip

cab - Cabinet File

Microsoft

rar - WinRAR Compressed Archive

Eugene Roshal

tar - Tape Archive File

The GNU Project

7Zip
WinRAR
WinZip
MakeCab
StuffIt
WinRAR
WinZip
7Zip
StuffIt
WinRAR
WinZip
Apple Archive Utility
GNU Tar
StuffIt
WinZip

tar.bz2 - Bzip 2 UNIX Compressed File

tar.gzh - Gzip Compressed Archive
tar.gz - Gzip Compressed Archive

The GNU Project

tcr - Psion eBook File

Psion Teklogix

yz1 - DeepFreezer Compressed Archive

Yamazaki ZIPPER

zip - Compressed Archive File

PKWARE

STDU Viewer
eBook for EPOC
Apple Archive Utility
GNU Tar
StuffIt
WinZip
DeepFreeezer
IZArc
TUGZip
ZipZag
StuffIt
WinRAR
Winzip

zip1 - Compressed Archive File

CAD file formats

File format

(Back to top)

Author

What programs use it ?

dwg - AutoCAD Drawing Database

Autodesk

dxf - AutoCAD Drawing Interchange

Format

Autodesk

Adobe Illustrator
AutoCAD
Autodesk DWG TrueView
CorelCAD
Adobe Illustratror
AutoCAD
CorelCAD
Open Office
PaintShop Pro