What Is a File Extension and MIME Type? - The first knowledge sharing application in Vietnam

A multipurpose internet mail extension, or MIME type, is an internet standard that describes the contents of internet files based on their natures and formats. This cataloging helps the browser open the file with the appropriate extension or plugin. Although the term includes the word “mail” for electronic mail, it’s used for web pages, too.

Defining MIME Types

MIME types contain two parts: a type and a sub-type.

The type describes the categorization of MIME types linked to each other.
In contrast, a subtype is unique to a specific file type that is part of the type.

Here is the MIME type for HTML:

text/html

MIME types are defined in HTML by the type attribute on links, objects, and script and style tags.

A mime looking at a laptop with surprised look on his face

vladimir_karpenyuk / Getty Images

Distinguishing Among MIME Types

Following is a list of most MIME types, their file extensions, and the applications that use them. Many computers use file extensions to identify file types. So, if you have a file with an odd extension on your website, you can look up the MIME type in this list.

Some types come with the X prefix, and some have the prefix VND. These prefixes, respectively, refer to sub-types not listed with the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority or values specific to a vendor.

MIME Types: Applications

Here’s a broad list of MIME types by application and file extension.

Application
MIME Type
File Extension

Corel Envoy
application/envoy
evy

fractal image file
application/fractals
fif

Windows print spool file
application/futuresplash
spl

HTML application
application/hta
hta

Atari ST Program
application/internet-property-stream
acx

BinHex encoded file
application/mac-binhex40
hqx

Word document
application/msword
doc

Word document template
application/msword
dot

Binary file
application/octet-stream
*

binary disk image
application/octet-stream
bin

Java class file
application/octet-stream
class

Disk Masher image
application/octet-stream
dms

executable file
application/octet-stream
exe

LHARC compressed archive
application/octet-stream
lha

LZH compressed file
application/octet-stream
lzh

CALS raster image
application/oda
oda

ActiveX script
application/olescript
axs

Acrobat file
application/pdf
pdf

Outlook profile file
application/pics-rules
prf

certificate request file
application/pkcs10
p10

certificate revocation list file
application/pkix-crl
crl

Adobe Illustrator file
application/postscript
ai

postscript file
application/postscript
eps

postscript file
application/postscript
ps

rich text format file
application/rtf
rtf

set payment initiation
application/set-payment-initiation
setpay

set registration initiation
application/set-registration-initiation
setreg

Excel Add-in file
application/vnd.ms-excel
xla

Excel chart
application/vnd.ms-excel
xlc

Excel macro
application/vnd.ms-excel
xlm

Excel spreadsheet
application/vnd.ms-excel
xls

Excel template
application/vnd.ms-excel
xlt

Excel workspace
application/vnd.ms-excel
xlw

Outlook mail message
application/vnd.ms-outlook
msg

serialized certificate store file
application/vnd.ms-pkicertstore
sst

Windows catalog file
application/vnd.ms-pkiseccat
cat

stereolithography file
application/vnd.ms-pkistl
stl

PowerPoint template
application/vnd.ms-powerpoint
pot

PowerPoint slide show
application/vnd.ms-powerpoint
pps

PowerPoint presentation
application/vnd.ms-powerpoint
ppt

Microsoft Project file
application/vnd.ms-project
mpp

WordPerfect macro
application/vnd.ms-works
wcm

Microsoft Works database
application/vnd.ms-works
wdb

Microsoft Works spreadsheet
application/vnd.ms-works
wks

Microsoft Works word processor document
application/vnd.ms-works
wps

Windows help file
application/winhlp
hlp

binary CPIO archive
application/x-bcpio
bcpio

computable document format file
application/x-cdf
cdf

Unix compressed file
application/x-compress
z

gzipped tar file
application/x-compressed
tgz

Unix CPIO archive
application/x-cpio
cpio

Photoshop custom shapes file
application/x-csh
csh

Kodak RAW image file
application/x-director
dcr

Adobe Director movie
application/x-director
dir

Macromedia Director movie
application/x-director
dxr

device independent format file
application/x-dvi
dvi

Gnu tar archive
application/x-gtar
gtar

Gnu zipped archive
application/x-gzip
gz

hierarchical data format file
application/x-hdf
hdf

internet settings file
application/x-internet-signup
ins

IIS internet service provider settings
application/x-internet-signup
isp

ARC+ architectural file
application/x-iphone
iii

JavaScript file
application/x-javascript
js

LaTex document
application/x-latex
latex

Microsoft Access database
application/x-msaccess
mdb

Windows CardSpace file
application/x-mscardfile
crd

CrazyTalk clip file
application/x-msclip
clp

dynamic link library
application/x-msdownload
dll

Microsoft media viewer file
application/x-msmediaview
m13

Steuer2001 file
application/x-msmediaview
m14

multimedia viewer book source file
application/x-msmediaview
mvb

Windows meta file
application/x-msmetafile
wmf

Microsoft Money file
application/x-msmoney
mny

Microsoft Publisher file
application/x-mspublisher
pub

Turbo Tax tax schedule list
application/x-msschedule
scd

FTR media file
application/x-msterminal
trm

Microsoft Write file
application/x-mswrite
wri

computable document format file
application/x-netcdf
cdf

Mastercam numerical control file
application/x-netcdf
nc

MSX computers archive format
application/x-perfmon
pma

performance monitor counter file
application/x-perfmon
pmc

process monitor log file
application/x-perfmon
pml

Avid persistent media record file
application/x-perfmon
pmr

Pegasus Mail draft stored message
application/x-perfmon
pmw

personal information exchange file
application/x-pkcs12
p12

PKCS #12 certificate file
application/x-pkcs12
pfx

PKCS #7 certificate file
application/x-pkcs7-certificates
p7b

software publisher certificate file
application/x-pkcs7-certificates
spc

certificate request response file
application/x-pkcs7-certreqresp
p7r

PKCS #7 certificate file
application/x-pkcs7-mime
p7c

digitally encrypted message
application/x-pkcs7-mime
p7m

digitally signed email message
application/x-pkcs7-signature
p7s

Bash shell script
application/x-sh
sh

Unix shar archive
application/x-shar
shar

Flash file
application/x-shockwave-flash
swf

Stuffit archive file
application/x-stuffit
sit

system 5 release 4 CPIO file
application/x-sv4cpio
sv4cpio

system 5 release 4 CPIO checksum data
application/x-sv4crc
sv4crc

consolidated Unix file archive
application/x-tar
tar

Tcl script
application/x-tcl
tcl

LaTeX source document
application/x-tex
tex

LaTeX info document
application/x-texinfo
texi

LaTeX info document
application/x-texinfo
texinfo

unformatted manual page
application/x-troff
roff

Turing source code file
application/x-troff
t

TomeRaider 2 ebook file
application/x-troff
tr

Unix manual
application/x-troff-man
man

readme text file
application/x-troff-me
me

3ds Max script file
application/x-troff-ms
ms

uniform standard tape archive format file
application/x-ustar
ustar

source code
application/x-wais-source
src

internet security certificate
application/x-x509-ca-cert
cer

security certificate
application/x-x509-ca-cert
crt

DER certificate file
application/x-x509-ca-cert
der

public key security object
application/ynd.ms-pkipko
pko

zipped file
application/zip
zip

MIME Types: Sound Files

This list details common sound file MIME types by file extension and application.

Application
MIME Type
File Extension

audio file
audio/basic
au

sound file
audio/basic
snd

midi file
audio/mid
mid

media processing server studio
audio/mid
rmi

MP3 file
audio/mpeg
mp3

audio interchange file format
audio/x-aiff
aif

compressed audio interchange file
audio/x-aiff
aifc

audio interchange file format
audio/x-aiff
aiff

media playlist file
audio/x-mpegurl
m3u

Real Audio file
audio/x-pn-realaudio
ra

Real Audio metadata file
audio/x-pn-realaudio
ram

WAVE audio file
audio/x-wav
wav

MIME Types: Image Files

Image files also come in various MIME types by application.

Application
MIME Type
File Extension

Bitmap
image/bmp
bmp

compiled source code
image/cis-cod
cod

graphic interchange format
image/gif
gif

image file
image/ief
ief

JPEG image
image/jpeg
jpe

JPEG image
image/jpeg
jpeg

JPEG image
image/jpeg
jpg

JPEG file interchange format
image/pipeg
jfif

scalable vector graphic
image/svg+xml
svg

TIF image
image/tiff
tif

TIF image
image/tiff
tiff

Sun raster graphic
image/x-cmu-raster
ras

Corel metafile exchange image file
image/x-cmx
cmx

icon
image/x-icon
ico

portable any map image
image/x-portable-anymap
pnm

portable bitmap image
image/x-portable-bitmap
pbm

portable graymap image
image/x-portable-graymap
pgm

portable pixmap image
image/x-portable-pixmap
ppm

RGB bitmap
image/x-rgb
rgb

X11 bitmap
image/x-xbitmap
xbm

X11 pixmap
image/x-xpixmap
xpm

X-Windows dump image
image/x-xwindowdump
xwd

MIME Types: Mail Message Files

Mail message files come in these MIME types and file extensions.

Application
MIME Type
File Extension

MHTML web archive
message/rfc822
mht

MIME HTML file
message/rfc822
mhtml

Windows Live Mail newsgroup file
message/rfc822
nws

MIME Types: Text Files

You might encounter text files in the following MIME types and with these familiar file extensions.

Application
MIME Type
File Extension

Cascading Style Sheet
text/css
css

H.323 internet telephony file
text/h323
323

HTML file
text/html
htm

HTML file
text/html
html

Exchange streaming media file
text/html
stm

NetMeeting user location service file
text/iuls
uls

BASIC source code file
text/plain
bas

C/C++ source code file
text/plain
c

C/C++/Objective C header file
text/plain
h

text file
text/plain
txt

rich text file
text/richtext
rtx

Scitext continuous tone file
text/scriptlet
sct

tab separated values file
text/tab-separated-values
tsv

hypertext template file
text/webviewhtml
htt

HTML component file
text/x-component
htc

TeX font encoding file
text/x-setext
etx

vCard file
text/x-vcard
vcf

MIME Types: Video Files

This table lists video file MIME types and commonly used applications.

Application
MIME Type
File Extension

MPEG-2 audio file
video/mpeg
mp2

MPEG-2 audio file
video/mpeg
mpa

MPEG movie file
video/mpeg
mpe

MPEG movie file
video/mpeg
mpeg

MPEG movie file
video/mpeg
mpg

MPEG-2 video stream
video/mpeg
mpv2

MPEG-4
video/mp4
mp4

Apple QuickTime movie
video/quicktime
mov

Apple QuickTime movie
video/quicktime
qt

Logos library system file
video/x-la-asf
lsf

streaming media shortcut
video/x-la-asf
lsx

advanced systems format file
video/x-ms-asf
asf

ActionScript remote document
video/x-ms-asf
asr

Microsoft ASF redirector file
video/x-ms-asf
asx

audio video interleave file
video/x-msvideo
avi

Apple QuickTime movie
video/x-sgi-movie
movie

MIME Types: Virtual World Files

This list covers virtual world file MIME types by application.

Application
MIME Type
File Extension

Flare decompiled actionscript file
x-world/x-vrml
flr

VRML file
x-world/x-vrml
vrml

VRML world
x-world/x-vrml
wrl

compressed VRML world
x-world/x-vrml
wrz

3ds max XML animation file
x-world/x-vrml
xaf

Reality Lab 3D image file
x-world/x-vrml
xof

FAQ

How do browsers deal with unknown MIME data types?
If a server reports an unknown MIME type, your browser won’t be able to properly display the content. Some browsers will try to guess the MIME type, which can result in unexpected behavior. Other browsers will display unknown content as plain text or not at all.
What is S/MIME?
S/MIME stands for Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions. It’s an encryption standard you can use to encrypt emails in Gmail and other email clients that support it. Enabling S/MIME allows you to digitally sign emails to verify that you are the legitimate sender of the message.

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