But How To Do It .......: Changing the file extension

First of all lets say you have one file in some of your folders and you don't even know what extension it is.You can see the icon of a software that is associated with (program that will open that file) but the extension is hidden

for example:

(opens in a new window)

To see the extension and further on to change it you will need to do :

1. Go to the top of the Windows explorer , click on the Tools and than pick(click on) Folder options...

when window like next one pops up click on the view tab

After that in the view tab, on the Hide the extension for known file types option , clear the check sign (by clicking on it) press Apply and than OK

So now you are able to see the extension, in this case it is somepicture.jpg

To change the extension just rename that what goes after the dot (somepicture.jpg ->somepicture.whatever)

After you have changed the extension the confirmation window will pop up and you have to press yes in oder to change it.

Note: when you rename the extension into something of your own free will the file wll no longer be associated with default software (the program you used to open that file will no longer open it) but you can always rename back extension

It isn't handy to leave setting in your window explorer like this cause every time you rename a file you will have to be careful not to rename the extension also

SO THE BEST THING IS TO RESTORE THE DEFAULTS

To do that yoh have to go again to Tools->Folder options... click on the view tab and than click on the restore defaults button and than click OK and things will be back the way they used to be before you have made the change

But what if i want to change extension of 50 files ?????

Now that you have learned how to see and change extension manually i will show you how you can do it very easy by using a Free software (yes you don't have to pay for it),This software is very useful because it can change the extension of several files in matter of seconds:

The software is called Extension Changer and here is some overview from their site:

Overview: Extension changer is ideal for changing files extension, with a few clicks you can have the job done. The old methods were unchecking 'Hide file extensions of known file types' option from the 'Folder Options' dialog. or renaming the file from DOS. Using Extension Changer you can change hundreds of files extension in one go Here some features: How Yo Use It: All you have to do is right click the file you want to change,enter the new extension, and click on change. A new feature in version 0.4 allow to change the extension of several files and even folders in one go.
You can download it from here

http://www.seegh.com/extchanger/index.php?view=download

How it works :

After you download and install the software (i hope you know how to do that) open the folder witch contains files you are trying to change extension, highlight the files you want to change extension,right-click on it and select Edit the Extension.Small window will pop up and just type the extension you want the files to have and press change button like on the pictures :

1. Select the files witch extension you want to change

2. Right-click on the files (make sure that you right-click on one of the files not the non-highlighted space between them) and click on the Edit the Extension