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Understanding File Formats
Ever wondered why some images look crisp while others are blurry? Or why your PDF won't open in Word? File formats aren't just random letters – they define how your data is stored, compressed, and shared.
We've put together this guide to help you understand what each format actually does, when to use it, and why it matters. No technical jargon, just the basics you need to know.
Images
Not all images are created equal. JPG is everywhere - your phone, the web, email attachments - because it's small and works on everything. But it sacrifices quality. PNG keeps every pixel perfect, which is why designers love it (and why the files are bigger). WebP is the new kid on the block, offering better compression than JPG without the quality loss. And if you're on an iPhone, you've probably seen HEIC - Apple's answer to storage problems.
JPG
Joint Photographic Experts Group
PNG
Portable Network Graphics
WebP
Web Picture Format
HEIC
High Efficiency Image Container
GIF
Graphics Interchange Format
BMP
Bitmap Image File
ICO
Icon File
SVG
Scalable Vector Graphics
JPEG
Joint Photographic Experts Group
TIFF
Tagged Image File Format
TIF
Tagged Image File Format
Documents
PDF is the go-to when you need something to look exactly the same on every device - think contracts, forms, resumes. DOCX is what you use when people actually need to edit your work. TXT is just pure text, no formatting, no fuss. Markdown has become the writer's favorite - simple syntax, easy to read, perfect for documentation and blogs.
Portable Document Format
DOCX
Microsoft Word Document
DOC
Microsoft Word 97-2003 Document
TXT
Plain Text File
MD
Markdown
ODT
OpenDocument Text
RTF
Rich Text Format
HTML
HyperText Markup Language
EPUB
Electronic Publication
LaTeX
LaTeX Document
Spreadsheets
Excel's XLSX dominates, but CSV is the universal export format - plain text, works everywhere. ODS is the open-source alternative. Numbers is Apple's take.
XLSX
Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet
CSV
Comma-Separated Values
XLS
Microsoft Excel 97-2003 Spreadsheet
ODS
OpenDocument Spreadsheet
Presentations
PowerPoint's PPTX is the standard. ODP is the open format. PDF versions freeze your slides so they look identical everywhere.
PPTX
Microsoft PowerPoint Presentation
PPT
Microsoft PowerPoint 97-2003 Presentation
ODP
OpenDocument Presentation
Videos
MP4 is basically the universal language of video - if it plays somewhere, it's probably MP4. WebM was built for the web, and it's free to use (unlike some codecs that need licensing). AVI is old-school but still kicking around. MOV is Apple's format, common on iPhones and Macs. MKV can hold everything - multiple audio tracks, subtitles, chapters - which is why movie collectors love it.
MP4
MPEG-4 Part 14
AVI
Audio Video Interleave
MOV
QuickTime Movie
WebM
Web Media File
MKV
Matroska Video
WMV
Windows Media Video
FLV
Flash Video
3GP
3rd Generation Partnership Project
M4V
MPEG-4 Video (Apple)
MPG
MPEG Video
MPEG
Moving Picture Experts Group
Audios
MP3 ruled the world for 20 years because it made music files small enough to actually download. WAV is the uncompressed original - huge files, but perfect quality. FLAC gives you that perfect quality in half the space. AAC is what Apple uses, and it's actually better than MP3 at the same file size. Most people just can't hear the difference.
MP3
MPEG Audio Layer 3
WAV
Waveform Audio File Format
AAC
Advanced Audio Coding
M4A
MPEG-4 Audio
OGG
Ogg Vorbis
FLAC
Free Lossless Audio Codec
AIFF
Audio Interchange File Format
Datas
XML and JSON are how computers talk to each other. CSV is data in its simplest form - rows and columns, nothing fancy. YAML is human-friendly configuration.
JSON
JavaScript Object Notation
XML
Extensible Markup Language