FILE extension changing while copying from Ubuntu to windows

I downloaded data in Ubuntu which has an extension .text/plain bit when I copied it to my Windows 10 through USB the file extension is changed to '.file'. What should I do now to open it?

edited 12 hours ago

Arronical

13.2k84790

asked 18 hours ago

ammu

191

New contributor

1

Welcome to Ask Ubuntu. Ubuntu doesn't use extensions so it wouldn't be Ubuntu that is changing the name of the file. Whatever program you are using to copy/transfer the file to windows (most likely on the windows end) is changing the filename as a means of 'security' (as windows uses extension to control action; Ubuntu uses file contents). If you file filename (where filename is the name of your file) you can view the type of file according to Ubuntu or any *nix)

– guiverc
18 hours ago

@guiverc Ubuntu certainly does use file extensions to the same extent Windows does. File extensions are standardised by IANA along with media types and shells such as Gnome and KDE use them for identifying icons and appropriate actions, which is exactly what Windows Explorer does.

– Ben
14 hours ago

2

@Ben NO. Linux does not. Extensions are there to make it easier for humans to see what the file is. There is software for the desktop (!= Linux) that expect files to be named with an extension but Linux in itself does not care about that. And even then: the extensions are matched with a mime-type list.

– Rinzwind
13 hours ago

@Rinzwind Ubuntu = linux distribution(s), and Ubuntu certainly does use extensions. Linux kernel also uses extensions for some limited purposes, e.g. loader locating so files. Overall Linux distributions use extensions for the same purposes as Windows, and used by the equivalent components, Windows Explorer being the equivalent of the Linux graphical shells like Gnome and KDE. It's possible to install Windows without the graphical shell, in which case most uses of file extensions will not occur.

– Ben
9 hours ago

The desktop does but only to make things speed up a little bit. If those desktop coders would follow the correct method they too would scan for the 1st few bytes like linux does. And no: linux and ubuntu is not the same. Ubuntu is the desktop built on top of Linux.Those few tweaks made to the kernel don't matter

– Rinzwind
9 hours ago

|
show 2 more comments

I downloaded data in Ubuntu which has an extension .text/plain bit when I copied it to my Windows 10 through USB the file extension is changed to '.file'. What should I do now to open it?

edited 12 hours ago

Arronical

13.2k84790

asked 18 hours ago

ammu

191

New contributor

1

Welcome to Ask Ubuntu. Ubuntu doesn't use extensions so it wouldn't be Ubuntu that is changing the name of the file. Whatever program you are using to copy/transfer the file to windows (most likely on the windows end) is changing the filename as a means of 'security' (as windows uses extension to control action; Ubuntu uses file contents). If you file filename (where filename is the name of your file) you can view the type of file according to Ubuntu or any *nix)

– guiverc
18 hours ago

@guiverc Ubuntu certainly does use file extensions to the same extent Windows does. File extensions are standardised by IANA along with media types and shells such as Gnome and KDE use them for identifying icons and appropriate actions, which is exactly what Windows Explorer does.

– Ben
14 hours ago

2

@Ben NO. Linux does not. Extensions are there to make it easier for humans to see what the file is. There is software for the desktop (!= Linux) that expect files to be named with an extension but Linux in itself does not care about that. And even then: the extensions are matched with a mime-type list.

– Rinzwind
13 hours ago

@Rinzwind Ubuntu = linux distribution(s), and Ubuntu certainly does use extensions. Linux kernel also uses extensions for some limited purposes, e.g. loader locating so files. Overall Linux distributions use extensions for the same purposes as Windows, and used by the equivalent components, Windows Explorer being the equivalent of the Linux graphical shells like Gnome and KDE. It's possible to install Windows without the graphical shell, in which case most uses of file extensions will not occur.

– Ben
9 hours ago

The desktop does but only to make things speed up a little bit. If those desktop coders would follow the correct method they too would scan for the 1st few bytes like linux does. And no: linux and ubuntu is not the same. Ubuntu is the desktop built on top of Linux.Those few tweaks made to the kernel don't matter

– Rinzwind
9 hours ago

|
show 2 more comments

I downloaded data in Ubuntu which has an extension .text/plain bit when I copied it to my Windows 10 through USB the file extension is changed to '.file'. What should I do now to open it?

edited 12 hours ago

Arronical

13.2k84790

asked 18 hours ago

ammu

191

New contributor

I downloaded data in Ubuntu which has an extension .text/plain bit when I copied it to my Windows 10 through USB the file extension is changed to '.file'. What should I do now to open it?

windows files file-format file-type

edited 12 hours ago

Arronical

13.2k84790

asked 18 hours ago

ammu

191

New contributor

edited 12 hours ago

Arronical

13.2k84790

asked 18 hours ago

ammu

191

New contributor

edited 12 hours ago

Arronical

13.2k84790

edited 12 hours ago

Arronical

13.2k84790

edited 12 hours ago

Arronical

13.2k84790

asked 18 hours ago

ammu

191

New contributor

asked 18 hours ago

ammu

191

asked 18 hours ago

ammu

191

New contributor

ammu is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

1

Welcome to Ask Ubuntu. Ubuntu doesn't use extensions so it wouldn't be Ubuntu that is changing the name of the file. Whatever program you are using to copy/transfer the file to windows (most likely on the windows end) is changing the filename as a means of 'security' (as windows uses extension to control action; Ubuntu uses file contents). If you file filename (where filename is the name of your file) you can view the type of file according to Ubuntu or any *nix)

– guiverc
18 hours ago

@guiverc Ubuntu certainly does use file extensions to the same extent Windows does. File extensions are standardised by IANA along with media types and shells such as Gnome and KDE use them for identifying icons and appropriate actions, which is exactly what Windows Explorer does.

– Ben
14 hours ago

2

@Ben NO. Linux does not. Extensions are there to make it easier for humans to see what the file is. There is software for the desktop (!= Linux) that expect files to be named with an extension but Linux in itself does not care about that. And even then: the extensions are matched with a mime-type list.

– Rinzwind
13 hours ago

@Rinzwind Ubuntu = linux distribution(s), and Ubuntu certainly does use extensions. Linux kernel also uses extensions for some limited purposes, e.g. loader locating so files. Overall Linux distributions use extensions for the same purposes as Windows, and used by the equivalent components, Windows Explorer being the equivalent of the Linux graphical shells like Gnome and KDE. It's possible to install Windows without the graphical shell, in which case most uses of file extensions will not occur.

– Ben
9 hours ago

The desktop does but only to make things speed up a little bit. If those desktop coders would follow the correct method they too would scan for the 1st few bytes like linux does. And no: linux and ubuntu is not the same. Ubuntu is the desktop built on top of Linux.Those few tweaks made to the kernel don't matter

– Rinzwind
9 hours ago

|
show 2 more comments

1

Welcome to Ask Ubuntu. Ubuntu doesn't use extensions so it wouldn't be Ubuntu that is changing the name of the file. Whatever program you are using to copy/transfer the file to windows (most likely on the windows end) is changing the filename as a means of 'security' (as windows uses extension to control action; Ubuntu uses file contents). If you file filename (where filename is the name of your file) you can view the type of file according to Ubuntu or any *nix)

– guiverc
18 hours ago

@guiverc Ubuntu certainly does use file extensions to the same extent Windows does. File extensions are standardised by IANA along with media types and shells such as Gnome and KDE use them for identifying icons and appropriate actions, which is exactly what Windows Explorer does.

– Ben
14 hours ago

2

@Ben NO. Linux does not. Extensions are there to make it easier for humans to see what the file is. There is software for the desktop (!= Linux) that expect files to be named with an extension but Linux in itself does not care about that. And even then: the extensions are matched with a mime-type list.

– Rinzwind
13 hours ago

@Rinzwind Ubuntu = linux distribution(s), and Ubuntu certainly does use extensions. Linux kernel also uses extensions for some limited purposes, e.g. loader locating so files. Overall Linux distributions use extensions for the same purposes as Windows, and used by the equivalent components, Windows Explorer being the equivalent of the Linux graphical shells like Gnome and KDE. It's possible to install Windows without the graphical shell, in which case most uses of file extensions will not occur.

– Ben
9 hours ago

The desktop does but only to make things speed up a little bit. If those desktop coders would follow the correct method they too would scan for the 1st few bytes like linux does. And no: linux and ubuntu is not the same. Ubuntu is the desktop built on top of Linux.Those few tweaks made to the kernel don't matter

– Rinzwind
9 hours ago

Welcome to Ask Ubuntu. Ubuntu doesn't use extensions so it wouldn't be Ubuntu that is changing the name of the file. Whatever program you are using to copy/transfer the file to windows (most likely on the windows end) is changing the filename as a means of 'security' (as windows uses extension to control action; Ubuntu uses file contents). If you file filename (where filename is the name of your file) you can view the type of file according to Ubuntu or any *nix)

– guiverc
18 hours ago

@guiverc Ubuntu certainly does use file extensions to the same extent Windows does. File extensions are standardised by IANA along with media types and shells such as Gnome and KDE use them for identifying icons and appropriate actions, which is exactly what Windows Explorer does.

– Ben
14 hours ago

@Ben NO. Linux does not. Extensions are there to make it easier for humans to see what the file is. There is software for the desktop (!= Linux) that expect files to be named with an extension but Linux in itself does not care about that. And even then: the extensions are matched with a mime-type list.

– Rinzwind
13 hours ago

@Rinzwind Ubuntu = linux distribution(s), and Ubuntu certainly does use extensions. Linux kernel also uses extensions for some limited purposes, e.g. loader locating so files. Overall Linux distributions use extensions for the same purposes as Windows, and used by the equivalent components, Windows Explorer being the equivalent of the Linux graphical shells like Gnome and KDE. It's possible to install Windows without the graphical shell, in which case most uses of file extensions will not occur.

– Ben
9 hours ago

The desktop does but only to make things speed up a little bit. If those desktop coders would follow the correct method they too would scan for the 1st few bytes like linux does. And no: linux and ubuntu is not the same. Ubuntu is the desktop built on top of Linux.Those few tweaks made to the kernel don't matter

– Rinzwind
9 hours ago

|
show 2 more comments

1 Answer
1

active

oldest

votes

It appears that Windows adds the .file extension to any file with an extension it doesn't know/recognise. Understandable, because text/plain is not a file extension but rather a 'content type'.

It seems that opening the file has worked on Ubuntu, because GNOME can "associate a media type with a file by examining both the filename suffix and the contents of the file" (Wikipedia).

To open the file in Windows, you can simply change the extension from .file to .txt, which is the most likely filetype. However, depending on where and for what purpose you downloaded the file, it could also be a .dat (data) or other file. If you don't know how to change the file type, I'd advice to Google for it as that seems out of scope for this Ubuntu-oriented site :)

answered 17 hours ago

Koen

342324

2

Nice one. Just a pointer you can always expand/modify your answer (by clicking 'edit' below it) instead of deleting it and posting a new one :) Similarly you can 'undelete' an answer you deleted.

– pomsky
16 hours ago

3

More to the point, in Windows the character / in filename.text/plain is not a valid character for a filename. In Windows, filenames are not arbitrary sequences of bytes but a user-interface element with restrictions placed upon them to serve that purpose. Therefore control characters, and special shell metacharacters are not allowed. Whatever utility the poster used to copy the file has taken care of this issue.

– Ben
14 hours ago

1

@Ben This restriction (no / in filenames) also holds for Linux. AFAIR, there are only two forbidden characters in a Linux filename: / and . This means the file the OP downloaded CANNOT have an extension of .plain/text.

– PerlDuck
12 hours ago

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1 Answer
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It appears that Windows adds the .file extension to any file with an extension it doesn't know/recognise. Understandable, because text/plain is not a file extension but rather a 'content type'.

It seems that opening the file has worked on Ubuntu, because GNOME can "associate a media type with a file by examining both the filename suffix and the contents of the file" (Wikipedia).

answered 17 hours ago

Koen

342324

2

Nice one. Just a pointer you can always expand/modify your answer (by clicking 'edit' below it) instead of deleting it and posting a new one :) Similarly you can 'undelete' an answer you deleted.

– pomsky
16 hours ago

3

More to the point, in Windows the character / in filename.text/plain is not a valid character for a filename. In Windows, filenames are not arbitrary sequences of bytes but a user-interface element with restrictions placed upon them to serve that purpose. Therefore control characters, and special shell metacharacters are not allowed. Whatever utility the poster used to copy the file has taken care of this issue.

– Ben
14 hours ago

1

@Ben This restriction (no / in filenames) also holds for Linux. AFAIR, there are only two forbidden characters in a Linux filename: / and . This means the file the OP downloaded CANNOT have an extension of .plain/text.

– PerlDuck
12 hours ago

add a comment |

It appears that Windows adds the .file extension to any file with an extension it doesn't know/recognise. Understandable, because text/plain is not a file extension but rather a 'content type'.

It seems that opening the file has worked on Ubuntu, because GNOME can "associate a media type with a file by examining both the filename suffix and the contents of the file" (Wikipedia).

answered 17 hours ago

Koen

342324

2

Nice one. Just a pointer you can always expand/modify your answer (by clicking 'edit' below it) instead of deleting it and posting a new one :) Similarly you can 'undelete' an answer you deleted.

– pomsky
16 hours ago

3

More to the point, in Windows the character / in filename.text/plain is not a valid character for a filename. In Windows, filenames are not arbitrary sequences of bytes but a user-interface element with restrictions placed upon them to serve that purpose. Therefore control characters, and special shell metacharacters are not allowed. Whatever utility the poster used to copy the file has taken care of this issue.

– Ben
14 hours ago

1

@Ben This restriction (no / in filenames) also holds for Linux. AFAIR, there are only two forbidden characters in a Linux filename: / and . This means the file the OP downloaded CANNOT have an extension of .plain/text.

– PerlDuck
12 hours ago

add a comment |

It appears that Windows adds the .file extension to any file with an extension it doesn't know/recognise. Understandable, because text/plain is not a file extension but rather a 'content type'.

It seems that opening the file has worked on Ubuntu, because GNOME can "associate a media type with a file by examining both the filename suffix and the contents of the file" (Wikipedia).

answered 17 hours ago

Koen

342324

It appears that Windows adds the .file extension to any file with an extension it doesn't know/recognise. Understandable, because text/plain is not a file extension but rather a 'content type'.

It seems that opening the file has worked on Ubuntu, because GNOME can "associate a media type with a file by examining both the filename suffix and the contents of the file" (Wikipedia).

answered 17 hours ago

Koen

342324

answered 17 hours ago

Koen

342324

answered 17 hours ago

Koen

342324

answered 17 hours ago

Koen

342324

2

Nice one. Just a pointer you can always expand/modify your answer (by clicking 'edit' below it) instead of deleting it and posting a new one :) Similarly you can 'undelete' an answer you deleted.

– pomsky
16 hours ago

3

More to the point, in Windows the character / in filename.text/plain is not a valid character for a filename. In Windows, filenames are not arbitrary sequences of bytes but a user-interface element with restrictions placed upon them to serve that purpose. Therefore control characters, and special shell metacharacters are not allowed. Whatever utility the poster used to copy the file has taken care of this issue.

– Ben
14 hours ago

1

@Ben This restriction (no / in filenames) also holds for Linux. AFAIR, there are only two forbidden characters in a Linux filename: / and . This means the file the OP downloaded CANNOT have an extension of .plain/text.

– PerlDuck
12 hours ago

add a comment |

2

Nice one. Just a pointer you can always expand/modify your answer (by clicking 'edit' below it) instead of deleting it and posting a new one :) Similarly you can 'undelete' an answer you deleted.

– pomsky
16 hours ago

3

More to the point, in Windows the character / in filename.text/plain is not a valid character for a filename. In Windows, filenames are not arbitrary sequences of bytes but a user-interface element with restrictions placed upon them to serve that purpose. Therefore control characters, and special shell metacharacters are not allowed. Whatever utility the poster used to copy the file has taken care of this issue.

– Ben
14 hours ago

1

@Ben This restriction (no / in filenames) also holds for Linux. AFAIR, there are only two forbidden characters in a Linux filename: / and . This means the file the OP downloaded CANNOT have an extension of .plain/text.

– PerlDuck
12 hours ago

Nice one. Just a pointer you can always expand/modify your answer (by clicking 'edit' below it) instead of deleting it and posting a new one :) Similarly you can 'undelete' an answer you deleted.

– pomsky
16 hours ago

More to the point, in Windows the character / in filename.text/plain is not a valid character for a filename. In Windows, filenames are not arbitrary sequences of bytes but a user-interface element with restrictions placed upon them to serve that purpose. Therefore control characters, and special shell metacharacters are not allowed. Whatever utility the poster used to copy the file has taken care of this issue.

– Ben
14 hours ago

@Ben This restriction (no / in filenames) also holds for Linux. AFAIR, there are only two forbidden characters in a Linux filename: / and . This means the file the OP downloaded CANNOT have an extension of .plain/text.

– PerlDuck
12 hours ago

add a comment |

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