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by John W. Simek, Vice President of Sensei Enterprises, Inc.

Expose File Extensions in Windows 10

November 19, 2020

I've often wondered why Microsoft thought it was a good idea to hide file extensions from a user. I guess it cleans up the display of file names and doesn't add additional information that may confuse the common person. However, hiding the file extension is a potential security risk and may allow someone to inadvertently click on a file they shouldn't. As an example, badfile.jpg.exe will show up as badfile.jpg, making you think that it is just a picture file.

TechViral has a post that with instructions to display the extensions for file in Windows 10. Basically, the steps are:

  1. Open File Explorer
  2. Click on the File menu choice
  3. Select Change folder and search options
  4. Select the View tab
  5. Now scroll down and uncheck the Hide extensions for known file types option.
  6. Click Apply
  7. Click OK

Go back and undo the actions if you want to hide the file extensions again.

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