How to Check Whether a File Is a PDF on Windows 11

What you need: A Windows 11 computer, the file you want to check, and the name of the folder it is in, such as Downloads or Documents.

Before you begin: These steps turn on a File Explorer setting that shows the ending of every file's name, such as .pdf. The endings keep showing after you finish.

Steps

1. Click Start (the Windows logo) on the taskbar at the bottom of the screen.
2. Type File Explorer, then click File Explorer in the search results to open it.
3. Click the folder containing your file, such as Downloads or Documents, on the left. To open a folder inside it, double-click that folder by clicking twice quickly. Continue until you see your file.
4. Look at the file names. If they already end with a dot and a few letters, such as .pdf or .docx, go to step 7.
5. Click View in the row of buttons near the top of the File Explorer window. A list opens.
6. Point to Show in that list, then click File name extensions. The list closes, and the file names now end with a dot and a few letters.
7. Find your file and read the end of its name. If it ends with .pdf, the file is a PDF document, even if a web browser's symbol, such as Microsoft Edge's or Google Chrome's, shows beside its name. If it ends with something else, such as .html or .docx, it is not a PDF.
8. Leave the ending of the name as it is. Typing a new ending, such as changing .html to .pdf, does not turn the file into a different kind of document.

Expected result: You can see the ending of your file's name. A name ending in .pdf is a PDF document.