List of Executable File Extensions

A file with an executable file extension means that the file format supports some ability to run an automatic task. This is in contrast to other file formats that simply display data, play a sound or video, etc.

In other words, if you open a file with one of these file extensions, your computer could, without your continued permission, run one or more operations programmed into that file.

Those additional operations would be welcome and necessary if, for example, you were to run a program setup for a free software program you just downloaded from a trusted website.

Those operations could be damaging if, for example, you were to run a virus-infected executable file that you received via email from someone you don't know.

Important: Please exercise caution before opening any executable file, especially those received in suspicious emails or downloaded from unfamiliar websites.

Note: This is not a complete list of executable file extensions, nor is it a list of dangerous but non-executable file types. If you know of more executable file formats, or believe one deserves a change in risk level, please let me know so we can discuss it.

High Risk

I've rated the following executable file types as High Risk because essentially all computers with the listedoperating system installed have the ability to carry out the commands contained in the executable file.

In other words, files with the extensions listed below can be executed with some basic part of Windows, Mac OS, Linux, etc. No additional program is required.

Extension	Format	Operating System(s)
ACTION	Automator Action	Mac OS
APK	Application	Android
APP	Executable	Mac OS
BAT	Batch File	Windows
BIN	Binary Executable	Windows, Mac OS, Linux
CMD	Command Script	Windows
COM	Command File	Windows
COMMAND	Terminal Command	Mac OS
CPL	Control Panel Extension	Windows
CSH	C Shell Script	Mac OS, Linux
EXE	Executable	Windows
GADGET	Windows Gadget	Windows
INF1	Setup Information File	Windows
INS	Internet Communication Settings	Windows
INX	InstallShield Compiled Script	Windows
IPA	Application	iOS
ISU	InstallShield Uninstaller Script	Windows
JOB	Windows Task Scheduler Job File	Windows
JSE	JScript Encoded File	Windows
KSH	Unix Korn Shell Script	Linux
LNK	File Shortcut	Windows
MSC	Microsoft Common Console Document	Windows
MSI	Windows Installer Package	Windows
MSP	Windows Installer Patch	Windows
MST	Windows Installer Setup Transform File	Windows
OSX	Executable	Mac OS
OUT	Executable	Linux
PAF	Portable Application Installer File	Windows
PIF	Program Information File	Windows
PRG	Executable	GEM
PS1	Windows PowerShell Cmdlet	Windows
REG	Registry Data File	Windows
RGS	Registry Script	Windows
RUN	Executable	Linux
SCT	Windows Scriptlet	Windows
SHB	Windows Document Shortcut	Windows
SHS	Shell Scrap Object	Windows
U3P	U3 Smart Application	Windows
VB	VBScript File	Windows
VBE	VBScript Encoded Script	Windows
VBS	VBScript File	Windows
VBSCRIPT	Visual Basic Script	Windows
WORKFLOW	Automator Workflow	Mac OS
WS	Windows Script	Windows
WSF	Windows Script	Windows

[1] To execute an INF file, you must open the pop-up menu (usually by right-clicking on the file) and choose Install.

Other Executable File Extensions

The following file extensions are only executable if you happen to have the software installed that carries out the commands contained in the file.

If you do have one of the programs below installed, consider files with the associated extensions as executable and High Risk. If you don't have a particular program installed and you try to execute a file with that extension, either a harmless error will appear or nothing at all will happen.

Extension	Format	Program
0XE	Renamed Virus File	F-Secure Internet Security
73K	TI-73 Application	TI Connect
89K	TI-89 Application	TI Connect
A6P	Authorware 6 Program File	Adobe Authorware
AC	GNU Autoconf Script	Autoconf
ACC	GEM Accessory File	Gemulator
ACR	ACRobot Script	ACRobot
ACTM	AutoCAD Action Macro	AutoCAD
AHK	AutoHotkey Script	AutoHotkey
AIR	Adobe AIR Installation Package	Adobe AIR
APP	FoxPro Application	Visual FoxPro
ARSCRIPT	ArtRage Script	ArtRage Studio
AS	Adobe Flash ActionScript File	Adobe Flash
ASB	Alphacam Stone VB Macro	Alphacam
AWK	AWK Script	AWK
AZW2	Kindle Active Content App File	Kindle Collection Manager
BEAM	Compiled Erlang File	Erlang
BTM	4DOS Batch File	4DOS
CEL	Celestia Script	Celestia
CELX	Celestia Script	Celestia
CHM	Compiled HTML Help File	Firefox, IE, Safari
COF	MPLAB COFF File	MPLAB IDE
CRT	Security Certificate	Firefox, IE, Chrome, Safari
DEK	Eavesdropper Batch File	Eavesdropper
DLD	EdLog Compiled Program	Edlog
DMC	Medical Manager Script	Sage Medical Manager
DOCM	Word Macro-Enabled Document	Microsoft Word
DOTM	Word Macro-Enabled Template	Microsoft Word
DXL	Rational DOORS Script	Rational DOORS
EAR	Java Enterprise Archive File	Apache Geronimo
EBM	EXTRA! Basic Macro	EXTRA!
EBS	E-Run 1.x Script	E-Prime (v1)
EBS2	E-Run 2.0 Script	E-Prime (v2)
ECF	SageCRM Component File	SageCRM
EHAM	ExtraHAM Executable	HAM Programmer Toolkit
ELF	Nintendo Wii Game File	Dolphin Emulator
ES	SageCRM Script	SageCRM
EX4	MetaTrader Program File	MetaTrader
EXOPC	ExoPC Application	EXOfactory
EZS	EZ-R Stats Batch Script	EZ-R Stats
FAS	Compiled Fast-Load AutoLISP File	AutoCAD
FKY	FoxPro Macro	Visual FoxPro
FPI	FPS Creator Intelligence Script	FPS Creator
FRS	Flash Renamer Script	Flash Renamer
FXP	FoxPro Compiled Program	Visual FoxPro
GS	Geosoft Script	Oasis Montaj
HAM	HAM Executable	Ham Runtime
HMS	HostMonitor Script	HostMonitor
HPF	HP9100A Program File	HP9100A Emulator
HTA	HTML Application	Internet Explorer
IIM	iMacro Macro	iMacros (Firefox Add-on)
IPF	SMS Installer Script	Microsoft SMS
ISP	Internet Communication Settings	Microsoft IIS
JAR	Java Archive	Firefox, IE, Chrome, Safari
JS	JScript Executable Script	Firefox, IE, Chrome, Safari
JSX	ExtendScript Script	Adobe ExtendScript Toolkit
KIX	KiXtart Script	KiXtart
LO	Interleaf Compiled Lisp File	QuickSilver
LS	LightWave LScript File	LightWave
MAM	Access Macro-Enabled Workbook	Microsoft Access
MCR	3ds Max Macroscript or Tecplot Macro	3ds Max
MEL	Maya Embedded Language File	Maya 2013
MPX	FoxPro Compiled Menu Program	Visual FoxPro
MRC	mIRC Script	mIRC
MS	3ds Max Script	3ds Max
MS	Maxwell Script	Maxwell Render
MXE	Macro Express Playable Macro	Macro Express
NEXE	Chrome Native Client Executable	Chrome
OBS	ObjectScript Script	ObjectScript
ORE	Ore Executable	Ore Runtime Environment
OTM	Outlook Macro	Microsoft Outlook
PEX	ProBoard Executable	ProBoard BBS
PLX	Perl Executable	ActivePerl or Microsoft IIS
POTM	PowerPoint Macro-Enabled Design Template	Microsoft PowerPoint
PPAM	PowerPoint Macro-Enabled Add-in	Microsoft PowerPoint
PPSM	PowerPoint Macro-Enabled Slide Show	Microsoft PowerPoint
PPTM	PowerPoint Macro-Enabled Presentation	Microsoft PowerPoint
PRC	Palm Resource Code File	Palm Desktop
PVD	Instalit Script	Instalit
PWC	PictureTaker File	PictureTaker
PYC	Python Compiled File	Python
PYO	Python Optimized Code	Python
QPX	FoxPro Compiled Query Program	Visual FoxPro
RBX	Rembo-C Compiled Script	Rembo Toolkit
ROX	Actuate Report Object Executable	eReport
RPJ	Real Pac Batch Job File	Real Pac
S2A	SEAL2 Application	SEAL
SBS	SPSS Script	SPSS
SCA	Scala Script	Scala Designer
SCAR	SCAR Script	SCAR
SCB	Scala Published Script	Scala Designer
SCR	Generic Script	Original Scripting Engine1
SCRIPT	Generic Script	Original Scripting Engine1
SMM	Ami Pro Macro	Ami Pro
SPR	FoxPro Generated Screen File	Visual FoxPro
TCP	Tally Compiled Program	Tally Developer
THM	Thermwood Macro	Mastercam
TLB	OLE Type Library	Microsoft Excel
TMS	Telemate Script	Telemate
UDF	Excel User Defined Function	Microsoft Excel
UPX	Ultimate Packer for eXecutables File	Ultimate Packer for eXecutables
URL	Internet Shortcut	Firefox, IE, Chrome, Safari
VLX	Compiled AutoLISP File	AutoCAD
VPM	Vox Proxy Macro	Vox Proxy
WCM	WordPerfect Macro	WordPerfect
WIDGET	Yahoo! Widget	Yahoo! Widgets
WIZ	Microsoft Wizard File	Microsoft Word
WPK	WordPerfect Macro	WordPerfect
WPM	WordPerfect Macro	WordPerfect
XAP	Silverlight Application Package	Micrsoft Silverlight
XBAP	XAML Browser Application	Firefox, IE
XLAM	Excel Macro-Enabled Add-In	Microsoft Excel
XLM	Excel Macro-Enabled Workbook	Microsoft Excel
XLSM	Excel Macro-Enabled Workbook	Microsoft Excel
XLTM	Excel Macro-Enabled Template	Microsoft Excel
XQT	SuperCalc Macro	CA SuperCalc
XYS	XYplorer Script	XYplorer
ZL9	Renamed Virus File	ZoneAlarm

[1] By "Original Scripting Engine" I mean whatever program created the script. It would be impossible to list, and keep updated, the number of scripting engines that might use these file extensions.

What is an MDB File?

Did you find an MDB file on your computer and wonder what program should open it? Maybe someone emailed you an MDB file but you're not sure how to use it. Perhaps you tried to open the MDB file but Windows told you that it could not open it.

Before you can open an MDB file (assuming it's even a file format that's intended to be viewed or edited), you'll need to determine what kind of file the .MDB file extension refers to.

Answer: A file with the MDB file extension is a Microsoft Access Database file.

Other types of files may also use the MDB file extension. If you know of any additional file formats that use the .MDB extension, please let me know so I can update this information.

How To Open an MDB File:

The easiest way to open an MDB file is to double-click on it and let your PC decide which default application should open the file. If no program opens the MDB file then you probably don't have an application installed that can view and/or edit MDB files.

Warning: Take great care when opening executable file formats received via email or downloaded from websites you're not familiar with. See my List of Executable File Extensions for a listing of file extensions to avoid and why.

MDB files can be opened with Microsoft Access and probably some other database programs as well.

MDB Viewer Plus is a free program that can open and edit MDB files. You do not need to have Microsoft Access installed to use this program.

If you know anything else useful about MDB files, like other programs that open the file type, please let me know so I can update this page.

Tip: Use Notepad or another text editor to open the MDB file. Many files are text-only files meaning no matter the file extension, a text editor may be able to properly display the file's contents. This may or may not be the case with MDB files but it's worth a try.

If you find that an application on your PC does try to open the MDB file but it's the wrong application or if you would rather have another installed program open MDB files, see my How To Change the Default Program for a Specific File Extension guide for making that change in Windows.

How To Convert an MDB File:

There are two main ways to attempt to convert an MDB file to another file type:

• Open the MDB file in its default program and choose to save the open file as another file format.
  
• Use a File Conversion Online Service or Software Program to convert the MDB file to another file format.

The first option involving opening the MDB file in its native program is preferable because it's both easier and will probably result in a more accurate file conversion. Of course if you don't have a program that opens MDB files, a third-party file conversion tool (the second option) could be very useful.

Important: You cannot usually change a file extension (like the MDB file extension) to one that your computer recognizes and expect the newly renamed file to be usable. An actual file format conversion using one of the methods described above must take place in most cases.

Still Having Problems Opening or Using an MDB File?

Let a community of computer support enthusiasts help out! Post in the PC Support Forumabout what kinds of problems you're having with opening or using the MDB file and we'll see what we can do to help.

Differences between extension and format in a file

some basic concepts about the files that the 99% of the people that use a computer don't understand it very well.
are at the end of a file (the extension), identifies the type of file, so, for instance, an archive ended in .JPG is a type of file of image and another ended in .GIF is a different image format with other characteristics. This, is true for most cases, but causes confusion in the cases where the extension isn't of a concrete format, unless of a format container. But, what is a format container? Following with the example of the image files, the .TIF is a container of image formats. Inside a .TIF we can have the image without compression in raw format, or compressed in different ways, or even can be a JPG. In the same way, the files ended in .AVI, .MKV or .OGM, aren't formats by itself, are containers of video formats, for instance, a .AVI can contain a compressed video in the same format of a .MKV, which can be DivX, Xvid or any else. Surely that many have been in situations of this kind: Luser: Can you convert this video? User: To what format? Luser: To AVI User: ^^U AVI isn't a format The difference between these containers is in the video formats and the sound that supports, the combinations that can do between them and if are proprietary or free. Also the extension .MPG can contain different formats although, in this case, all are normalized by the group MPEG (Moving Pictures Experts Group). Also we have the users that think that simply renaming the file and changing the extension can change the format. Change the extension of the file don't serves to change its format. The extension serves to, in some cases, the program that open the file knows the algorithm that have to use to read it, and sometimes the program that opens even don't read the extension. For instance, we can rename a .GIF to .JPG and most of browsers will open it. This is because the browser doesn't look at the extension, look at the first bytes inside the file that identifies its format, find the identifier of the GIF and applies the algorithm to show GIF, although it has the extension .JPG. If by opposite we try to read the image, with a image viewer that reads the extension to apply an algorithm or another, will return an error trying to show the .GIF renamed to .JPG, because it will apply the algorithm to decompress the information in JPG, when really the information still is in .GIF. The only way of change the format of the information inside of a file is using a program that transform it. Change the extension only serve to change the way of interpret the information, not to change the information itself. We can interpret the information of an image as if was music, music as if was an image or an image as it was the code of a program, but in most cases will get nothing more that an error or something unintelligible. However, we can do programs that can adapt to these situation to show in a coherent way, for instance, music as an animation, like some players do, or convert music in a web page, or hide secret messages inside of images or other kind of files, which is called steganography.

Interesting Facts About Google

#1

The prime reason the Google home page is so bare is due to the fact that the founders didn’t know HTML and just wanted a quick interface. In fact it was noted that the submit button was a long time coming and hitting the RETURN key was the only way to burst Google into life.

#2

Due to the sparseness of the homepage, in early user tests they noted people just sitting looking at the screen. After a minute of nothingness, the tester intervened and asked ‘Whats up?’ to which they replied “We are waiting for the rest of it”. To solve that particular problem the Google Copyright message was inserted to act as a crude end of page marker.

#3

One of the biggest leap in search usage came about when they introduced their much improved spell checker giving birth to the “Did you mean…” feature. This instantly doubled their traffic, but they had some interesting discussions on how best to place that information, as most people simply tuned that out. But they discovered the placement at the bottom of the results was the most effective area.

#4

The infamous “I feel lucky” is nearly never used. However, in trials it was found that removing it would somehow reduce the Google experience. Users wanted it kept. It was a comfort button.

#5

Orkut is very popular in Brazil. Orkut was the brainchild of a very intelligent Google engineer who was pretty much given free reign to run with it, without having to go through the normal Google UI procedures, hence the reason it doesn’t look or feel like a Google application. They are looking at improving Orkut to cope with the loads it places on the system.

#6

Google makes changes small-and-often. They will sometimes trial a particular feature with a set of users from a given network subnet; for example Excite@Home users often get to see new features. They aren’t told of this, just presented with the new UI and observed how they use it.

#7

Google has the largest network of translators in the world

#8

They use the 20% / 5% rules. If at least 20% of people use a feature, then it will be included. At least 5% of people need to use a particular search preference before it will make it into the ‘Advanced Preferences’.

#9

They have found in user testing, that a small number of people are very typical of the larger user base. They run labs continually and always monitoring how people use a page of results.

#10

The name ‘Google’ was an accident. A spelling mistake made by the original founders who thought they were going for ‘Googol’

#11

Gmail was used internally for nearly 2years prior to launch to the public. They discovered there was approximately 6 types of email users, and Gmail has been designed to accommodate these 6.

#12

They listen to feedback actively. Emailing Google isn’t emailing a blackhole.

#13

Employees are encouraged to use 20% of their time working on their own projects. Google News, Orkut are both examples of projects that grew from this working model.

#14

This wasn’t a technical talk so no information regarding any infrastructure was presented however they did note that they have a mantra of aiming to give back each page with in 500ms, rendered.

(Source: Alan Williamson)