

Mouse over “Show” at the bottom of the drop-down menu, and then click “File Name Extensions” in the sub-menu. Windows 11 changed the user interface for File Explorer quite a bit between Windows 10 and 11, but the option to show file extensions is still readily accessible.Ĭlick the “View” tab along the top of the File Explorer window. How to Show File Extensions in Windows 11 You could look at the file’s properties window for more information, but you don’t need to do that if you’ve enabled file extensions. If you had Windows set to show file extensions, you’d be able to see whether it’s a safe document with the name “document.pdf” or a dangerous file with a name like “document.exe”. On the right side of the screen, type datemodified: (make sure to include the colon) in the search box ( B ). On the left side-scrolling menu, select the drive or folder that you want to view the last modified date (s) ( A) for the contents. With file extensions hidden, there’s no quick way to tell if this is a legitimate PDF document or is actually a malicious program using your PDF reader’s icon as a disguise. How to find the date of modified files Press the Windows key + E on the keyboard to open File Explorer. Connected ext hd to my laptop and booted up the files. If you can’t see what a file’s extension is, it’s hard to tell whether it’s a program or a safe document or media file at a glance.Īs an example, you may have a file named “document” that has the icon of your installed PDF reader. Copied documents from PC to external hard drive. exe file extension is one of many file extensions that Windows runs as a program.


Setting Windows to show file extensions is helpful for security.
