MIME Type Lookup

A MIME type, also called a media type or content type, is a short label that tells software what kind of file it is dealing with. Examples include text/html for web pages, image/png for PNG images, and application/json for JSON data. Browsers, web servers, and email clients rely on these labels to decide whether to render, play, download, or reject a file.

ToolHub MIME Type Lookup is a fast reference covering about 80 common file extensions. Type an extension to find its MIME type, or type a MIME type to find which extensions use it. Click any result to copy it. Everything happens in your browser.

1. 1

   Type an extension or MIME type

   Enter something like png, .json, or a partial MIME type such as image/. The table filters as you type.
2. 2

   Scan the matching rows

   Each row pairs a file extension with its standard MIME type. Search works from either direction, so a query like video/ surfaces every video format.
3. 3

   Click to copy

   Click an extension or a MIME type to copy it to your clipboard, ready to paste into a header, config file, or upload validator.

When a server sends a file, it includes a Content-Type header carrying the MIME type. The browser trusts that header to decide what to do. If a JSON API responds with text/html by mistake, the browser may try to render it as a page instead of parsing it as data. If a stylesheet is served as text/plain, the browser refuses to apply it.

Type and subtype structure

Every MIME type has a top-level type and a subtype joined by a slash, such as image/png. Common top-level types are text, image, audio, video, and application. Anything that is not plain human-readable text or media usually falls under application.

The catch-all binary type

When a file has no known type, servers fall back to application/octet-stream. This generic binary type tells the browser to download the file rather than try to display it, which is the safe default for unknown content.

• JavaScript files are now standardized as text/javascript. The older application/javascript still works but is deprecated.
• An extension is a hint, not a guarantee. Servers should detect type from content when security matters, since extensions can be faked.
• Office formats have long, exact MIME types. A .docx file is application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document, not application/msword.
• Use application/octet-stream when you want a browser to download a file instead of opening it.
• Some types carry parameters, like text/html; charset=utf-8. This table lists the base type so you can add a charset when needed.

What is the difference between a MIME type and a media type?

They are the same thing. MIME stands for Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions, the standard where these labels were first defined. The web standards now prefer the term media type, but most developers still say MIME type.

Why does my JavaScript have several possible types?

JavaScript has been served as text/javascript, application/javascript, and others over the years. The current recommendation is text/javascript, which is what this table shows.

Can one extension map to more than one MIME type?

Yes. For example .xml can be application/xml or text/xml depending on context. This reference lists the most widely recommended type for each extension.

What if my extension is not listed?

This table covers the most common roughly 80 formats. For an obscure format not shown, a safe default is application/octet-stream, which prompts a download.