In addition to folders that contain them, what we store in the Files app on our iPhone or iPad are files. A file, at least its name, is composed of the actual name and the extension. An extension vital for the proper functioning of the file.
Holidays.pdf indicates that we are talking about a file named holidays and that its format is that of a PDF document. Different from what can be a .png image or a .mov video, for example. Being able to view, and if necessary change, the file extensions on our iPhone or iPad is, therefore, most important.
How to View or Change the Extension in the Files App
Before being able to change any extension in the Files app on our iPad or iPhone, the first thing we have to do is to see it. It's just another display option. One that we activate on the iPhone by following these steps:
- Open the Files app on our iPhone.
- Tap the button shaped like three dots.
- Enter View Options.
- Check Show all extensions.
While on the iPad the system is practically the same, the larger screen size entails another button configuration and the steps to follow change slightly. Specifically, they are these:
- Open the Files app on our iPad.
- Tap the button shaped like four squares immediately to the left of Select.
- Enter View Options.
- Check Show all extensions.
In general, we can stop here, because many times what we want is to quickly see the file extension to easily distinguish them. If we want to change the extension of some, it's as easy as touching the file name, selecting the extension, and replacing the old one with the new one.
After tapping outside the file, in some blank space, to complete the process, we will see that the system asks us if we really want to change the extension of the file in question. A simple tap on the corresponding button and the extension will be changed.
The change, as we can see, is very simple. A change that many of us coming from the Mac already have integrated, but it is now with the new updates of the iPhone and iPad that we can perform these actions in the Files app instead of only in Finder. A flexibility that, without a doubt, is more than welcome.
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