What is an unused file extention?

Question

When i use Ccleaner and scan for issues, sometimes i get an unused file extention. What is one of those?

xxxx

Answer 1

There registry keys what are left behind after uninstalling programs

Answer 2

you have '.doc' for MS word, '.jpg' for pictures etc

if there is one that none of your programs recognise then it is unused.

so if you have a random file with the extension '.fgh' and no program uses it then its pointless being there,

so delete away :D

Answer 3

A file extension generally identifies the type of program that should open that file.  So jpg, jpeg are image files, doc is a word document and xls is a spreadsheet.

That said if you do find a file with an unused file extension please do not delete it.  All this means is that you have a file that is possibly from an application that you have not looked at outside of that application.  These files could be data that is used by an application.  Deleting these files may leave your application or program not working and you do not want that.

If you have any issues with these files then publish the file path and file name that has been identified here in another question and ask if it is safe to delete the file.

I hope this helps.