By default the windows file explorer is set to hide the file format extension. So the users can only see the file names without extension. We can enable the filename.extension view if you require to view and edit the file extensions so often. So how can we do that ?
View file extension in Windows 10
Open File Explorer
Click on VIEW tab from the top Ribbon
Check the box near to File Name Extensions (Refer below image)
how to view file extensions windows 7 and earlier [ Alternative method ]
Open File Explorer
Click on File -> Options , which will open Folder options pop up.
Uncheck the box near Hide extension for known file types (Refer to below image)
Click Apply and OK to close the pop up and you should be able to view the file extension along with the file names.
Closing note
Many a times security breaches and attack attempts make use of this hidden nature of the file extension. Attack scripts and code are named in such a way that it include know extension in the file name. For example: abc.pdf.script, will be disguised as a pdf file in the name of abc and rest of the file name extension will not be shown. When the users unknowingly click on this and tries to open these file, the codes get executed which may lead the attack to get triggered.
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