18
COMMENTS

Don’t Highlight Extensions When Renaming Files


Filename Highlight One of the things that I always do on a fresh Windows installation is have it show the extensions on all of my files. I’m not sure how many of you do this, but it seems like I’m changing around extensions quite frequently so it makes a lot of sense for me.

I applauded Vista last year because when you go to rename a file it doesn’t highlight the extension (pictured above). This feature alone has saved me a lot of time and hassle, and I thank whoever decided to do this over at Microsoft. Hope is not lost for those of you running Windows XP.

Lifehacker whipped up a quick AutoHotkey script that will automatically deselect the extension each time you go to rename a file using the F2 key. If you’re not the type of person who uses the F2 key to rename the files then maybe you should look to the free Pitaschio application (no installation needed). It has an “allow extended rename” option that works great on XP, and does essentially the same thing as Lifehacker’s script. Best of all it works with other renaming methods besides the F2 key.

I’m curious as to how many of you actually show the extensions on the files. Let us know in the comments whether you find it necessary to see the extension assigned to every file.

"Watch Now" Streaming in Media Center with MyNetflix Plug-in Firefox Live Bookmarks in the Sidebar February 13th, 2008 Written by Ryan
  1. AndrewFebruary 13, 2008 at 3:56 pm

    I show the extensions! It really helps when you are trying to open/read/execute a file that has a different icon. Or sometimes my computer decides that it should be opened with one program, when I know it shouldn’t.

    Reply
  2. OldManDeathAll-StarFebruary 13, 2008 at 4:10 pm

    I always show the files extensions.

    Reply
  3. epiac1216All-StarFebruary 13, 2008 at 4:10 pm

    @Ryan:

    Running the risk of giving the impression of being a total computer ignorant, I don’t use the file extension at all. As a matter of fact, I don’t know how file extensions work.

    The only file extensions that have a meaning to me are: “exe.” and “txt.”

    I’m sorry Ryan, but this is really kanji to me.

    Regards,

    Omar.-

    Reply
  4. kvascolaFebruary 13, 2008 at 4:31 pm

    Always show. I even made in my selfmade image of Vista to show the extensions by default

    Reply
  5. RyanAuthorFebruary 13, 2008 at 5:31 pm

    I had a feeling that most of our readers would have extensions enabled. This also got me thinking whether there is another way to change a file’s extension without enabling this feature? I looked all over but saw no alternate methods.

    Reply
  6. MalintheFebruary 13, 2008 at 5:48 pm

    I also show extensions. Lifehacker’s script is good, but I don’t like running an extra app for sth like this.

    Reply
  7. MohanFebruary 13, 2008 at 6:54 pm

    GNOME has been doing this for some time now, and I love it. Thanks for the Win XP tip. :D

    Reply
  8. AnonymousFebruary 13, 2008 at 9:20 pm

    I always show extensions. How else are you going to know if the file is really the right one or what app to open it with (Windows does not always “guess” right)

    Reply
  9. KateFebruary 13, 2008 at 11:51 pm

    I too always show the extensions. Like others have said, Windows doesn’t always pick the right program to open something with (I especially find this to be true of video files) so I’d rather see the extension so I can pick for myself.

    Reply
  10. AnonymousFebruary 14, 2008 at 12:30 am

    Extensions are good to distinguish a worm fom the rest.

    Reply
  11. conchurFebruary 14, 2008 at 3:17 am

    One of the first things I do with a clean windows install is to enable view extensions, hidden files, system folders and detail view as defaults. Then I install Pitaschio! I don’t know of any way to alter extensions through explorer when they’re hidden, and I have found that I want to do that surprisingly often.

    Reply
  12. FearZipFebruary 14, 2008 at 4:53 am

    Also another utility for doing this is qttabbbar. It is useful if you like the other features of the application (tabs, previsualization of files…)

    Reply
  13. LashiecFebruary 14, 2008 at 8:53 am

    Well, I have enabled the display of extensions for security reasons, and also to ensure that when I rename a file the whole name is highlighted (since I usually include dots in the name).

    Since I use xplorer² which does not select the extensions by default, I don’t need any workaround in XP to simulate the Vista behavior.

    Reply
  14. alekdavisFebruary 14, 2008 at 2:50 pm

    Always show extensions. I wish this were a default Windows setting and I did not have to set it every time I rebuild (or get a new) system.

    Reply
  15. RyanAuthorFebruary 14, 2008 at 5:09 pm
    alekdavis wrote:
    Always show extensions. I wish this were a default Windows setting and I did not have to set it every time I rebuild (or get a new) system.

    I wish it was default as well, but that is coming from a power user’s perspective. Think about how confused regular users would be if they saw extensions!

    Reply
  16. Binny V AFebruary 18, 2008 at 1:21 pm

    I wish Konquror(Linux File manager) had this feature. It seems really useful.

    Reply
  17. MikeAugust 11, 2008 at 12:30 pm

    I always show extensions. I also prefer the rename to highlight the extensions as well. It’s a time waster for me to have to type it out or re-highlight the file name and extension for cutting and pasting into my HTML code. I’m currently looking for a way to toggle this behavior.

    Reply
  18. AnonymousFebruary 15, 2009 at 10:48 am

    haha Microsoft didn’t think this one up, different Linux distros have been doing it for a long time. Good, ole’ Microsoft playing catch-up……again :)

    Reply