# How do I change a file extension on Android? — Adinand Auto File Sorter

Last reviewed: October 21, 2026. HTML version: https://adinandsorter.com/answers/change-a-file-extension-on-android

**Rename the file and change the letters after the last dot. That edits the label, not the file.** A photo saved as `.jpeg` and renamed to `.jpg` is the same picture under a name more apps expect; a `.heic` photo renamed to `.jpg` is still a HEIC photo, now carrying a misleading name. The rename itself is the easy part. Knowing which of those two cases you are in is what this page is for.

## The rename steps Google documents <p>In Files by Google, open the app and "Tap a category or a storage device". In grid view, "Press and hold the file" and tap **More**; in list view, tap **More** next to the file. Then tap **Rename**, "Enter a new name", and tap **OK** ([*Rename a file*, Files by Google Help](https://support.google.com/files/answer/9746888?hl=en), read 21 October 2026). That is the whole page. It does not mention the extension: whether the name box shows it, whether you may edit it, or whether the app warns you when you do. On all three it is silent (the *Rename a file* page above). Google's page on file details is no more help here: File info shows "details such as modified time and location of the file", and the page does not list the file type among them ([*View file information*, Files by Google Help](https://support.google.com/files/answer/9765018?hl=en), read 21 October 2026).</p> <p>On a Galaxy phone, Samsung's own My Files guides that we read cover moving, copying and making folders, and neither describes renaming a file at all ([*Manage files on your Galaxy phone or tablet*, Samsung US](https://www.samsung.com/us/support/answer/ANS00076845/), and [*Manage and organize files saved on your Samsung Galaxy device*, Samsung CA](https://www.samsung.com/ca/support/mobile-devices/how-to-manage-files-on-your-galaxy-phone/), both read 21 October 2026). So on either phone, what the rename box shows is something to check on screen rather than look up.</p>

## What the change actually does <p>Microsoft's help states the principle more plainly than any Android page we found: you can change an extension, "but that won't convert the file to another format or change anything else about it except the file name" ([*Common file name extensions in Windows*, Microsoft Support](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/common-file-name-extensions-in-windows-da4a4430-8e76-89c5-59f7-1cdbbc75cb01), read 21 October 2026). It is written for Windows, but the idea carries over. Android keeps its own lookup between the two: the platform reference describes `MimeTypeMap` as a "Two-way map that maps MIME-types to file extensions and vice versa" ([*MimeTypeMap*, Android Developers](https://developer.android.com/reference/android/webkit/MimeTypeMap), read 21 October 2026). Our reading of that: when an app goes by the extension, a new extension changes what the phone thinks the file is, and therefore which apps offer to open it, while the bytes inside stay exactly as they were.</p>

## When a rename is enough, and when it is not <p>Our rule of thumb, not a vendor statement:</p> <ul> <li>**Enough:** two spellings of one format. Microsoft's list puts "jpg, jpeg" on a single row (the Microsoft page above), so switching between them is cosmetic. Also enough: putting back an extension a download lost, when you are sure what the file is.</li> <li>**Not enough:** anything that needs a different format underneath. HEIC to JPG, DOCX to PDF and MKV to MP4 are conversions. Use an app that offers **Save as** or **Export** in the format you need, and keep the original until the copy opens properly.</li> <li>**If an app refuses the file afterwards,** rename it back. Nothing was changed except the name, so nothing is lost.</li> </ul>

## How Adinand Auto File Sorter reads the extension <p>This is the one thing the app goes by. It sorts each file into a category from its extension alone, lower-cased, so `IMG_01.JPG` and `img_02.jpg` land in the same Images folder, and it never reads what is inside your files to sort them. That has two consequences worth knowing. A wrong extension sends a file to the wrong category, because the app takes the label at its word. And a file with no extension at all is never sorted; it stays where it is. The app does not rename anything itself: names are kept, apart from a `(1)` added when a different file with the same name is already waiting in the destination folder.</p>

Related: [Renaming files on Android](https://adinandsorter.com/answers/rename-files-on-android) · [Common file types and extensions](https://adinandsorter.com/answers/common-file-types-and-extensions) · [What format does Android use?](https://adinandsorter.com/answers/what-format-does-android-use) · [How to use the Google Files app](https://adinandsorter.com/answers/how-to-use-the-google-files-app)