MIME Types Explained: What image/png and application/json Mean
MIME types are the labels that tell software what a file is. This guide explains the type and subtype structure and the most common values.
What is the MIME Type Lookup?
A MIME type tells a browser or server what kind of data a file holds, such as text, an image or a video, so it can handle it correctly. This tool takes an extension or a full filename, strips the name down to the extension, and returns the matching type from a built-in table of common types. Unknown extensions are reported honestly rather than given a made-up type.
How to use it
- Type an extension such as png, or a filename such as photo.png.
- Click Look up MIME type.
- Read the MIME type shown.
Worked example
Looking up the sample filename photo.png returns image/png.
What MIME type is a PNG image?
image/png: the image family with the png subtype, which is how browsers know to display it as a picture.
Frequently asked questions
What happens with an unknown extension?
The tool says the extension is not in its table, because guessing a type for an unfamiliar extension could cause a file to be handled wrongly.
Does the filename itself affect the result?
No. Only the part after the last dot is used, so photo.png and report.png give the same answer.