How-To

How to Show or Hide File Extensions on Windows 11

By Brian Burgess

Published July 4, 2023

File extensions let you know what a file is for and the apps that will open it. Learn how to view or hide these extensions using this guide.

File extensions, or file types, let you know what a file is for and which apps can open it. However, they are hidden by default, and you may need to show or hide file extensions on Windows 11.

File extensions are the three or four letters that follow the name of a file and indicate the file format type. Common file extensions that you might recognize include MP3 for music, TXT for text files, and DOCX for Microsoft Word.

If you need to see or hide file types, there are different ways to do it. In this guide, we’ll show you how to make Windows display file extension types.

How to Use File Explorer to Show File Extensions on Windows 11

One of the easier ways to show or hide file extensions on Windows 11 is directly from settings in File Explorer.

To show or hide file extensions via File Explorer:

1. Open File Explorer (folder icon) from the taskbar and navigate to the location of your files.
2. Click the View tab at the top and select Show > File name extensions.
3. Toggle this setting to show or hide file extensions in File Explorer.

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

If you want to make Windows 11 always show or hide file extensions, you can do it from the folder options settings.

To always show or hide file extension types:

1. Press Windows key + E to launch File Explorer.
2. Click the See more (three-dot) button at the top and click Options from the menu that appears.
3. Once the Folder Options window opens, scroll down the Advanced settings section and check or uncheck the Hide extensions for known file types option. Checking it hides file extensions from view while unchecking it makes the extensions appear.
4. Once you make your selection, click the Apply and OK buttons at the bottom.

While you can turn this setting on or off, it’s a deep Windows setting, so you’ll want to decide if you always want to show file extensions or keep them hidden. Then you can toggle them on or off easily using the File Explorer setting above.

How to View File Extensions Using Windows Terminal

You can show or hide file extensions using the Windows terminal if you want to work from the command line.

To show or hide file types:

1. Launch PowerShell as Administrator.
2. To show file extensions, run the following command in the terminal:

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

3. To hide file extensions, run the following:

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

   

4. Once you run either command, right-click in File Explorer, select Show more options and click Refresh to see the changes.

Managing Files on Windows 11

The ability to show or hide file extensions on Windows 11 is helpful when managing your data. For example, showing file extensions allows you to select only that file type and put them in a folder.

There are other helpful ways to manage your files and folders on Windows 11. For instance, you might want to save drive space by zipping files and folders on your PC. Or,  if you have sensitive data you want to keep hidden, you can hide files and folders.

Also, if you want a more efficient method to search for files, try adding tags to your files. And while File Explorer is great for file management on Windows 11, it doesn’t always work. If you have problems with it, check out how to fix File Explorer not working.