.EXE

Not to be confused with .exe

MIME type: application/x-ms-dos-executable

Is binary? Yes

Is encrypted? Yes

Can execute dangerous code? Yes

Related extensions: .exe

Internet Media types: NONE

Uniform Type Identifier (UTI) public.EXE

Magic number ????????

.EXE is a very common file format on the Windows operating system. It is a program file format that installs/runs programs. While the majority of uses are legitimate, this is the most common format for malware on the Windows platform. It has been a part of Windows since MS-DOS 1.0 (pre-Windows 1.0)

This is the all caps version of the extension. Normal exe files don't work on Windows 3.1 and below (not to be confused with Windows NT 3.1)

Click/tap here to expand/collapse this section

Operating system: Windows and MS-DOS (MS-DOS, DR-DOS, Windows, Windows 9x, Windows NT, Linux, GNU/Linux (only usable on Linux with WINE, does not always work))

To view the file, you will need to have a Windows virtual machine or a Windows installation. If you want to run it on Linux or other operating systems, you will need a Windows compatibility layer, such as WINE

Other? Unknown

Click/tap here to expand/collapse the definitions for this file

Definition 1: MS-DOS Executable file

An EXE file is used to install programs on MS-DOS, DR-DOS, Windows 1.0 to Windows 3.1, and also later versions.

Definition 2: Windows Executable file

An EXE file is a program file format that installs/runs programs. While the majority of uses are legitimate, this is the most common format for malware on the Windows platform. It has been a part of Windows since MS-DOS 1.0 (pre-Windows 1.0)

Definition 3: Pseudo-extension

A pseudo-extension is a file format that is applied to a file, despite not having a purpose, other than to change the file name (such as ???.EXE) however this file extension is rarely used as a pseudo-extension