MIME Type Lookup
Look up the MIME type for a file extension, or every extension that maps to a MIME type. Type an extension (.pdf, mp4) or a MIME type (image/png) and get matching extension, MIME type and category rows.
Input
Type a file extension (.pdf, mp4) or a MIME type (image/png, application/json). Case-insensitive; the leading dot is optional.
Output
| Extension | MIME Type | Category |
|---|---|---|
| No data yet | ||
Guides
Find the right MIME type (also called a media type or content type) for any file extension, or work backwards and list every extension that maps to a given MIME type. Type a query into the single search box and the matching extension, MIME type, and category appear instantly as a table you can copy or download as CSV.
MIME types are the labels that tell browsers, email clients, and web servers what kind of data a file contains — application/pdf for a PDF, image/png for a PNG, text/html for a web page. Getting them right matters whenever you set a Content-Type header, configure an upload allow-list, write an .htaccess or Nginx rule, or debug why a browser downloads a file instead of displaying it.
How to use it
- Look up a MIME type from an extension. Type an extension with or without the leading dot —
.pdf,pdf,MP4,webp. The lookup is case-insensitive and returns the canonical MIME type for that extension. - Look up extensions from a MIME type. Type a full MIME type such as
image/pngorapplication/json. If the exact type exists you get its extensions; a MIME type shared by several formats (for exampleimage/jpeg) lists all of them —.jfif,.jpeg,.jpg. - Partial MIME searches work too. Entering just
image/oraudiosurfaces every matching type, so you can browse a whole family of formats at once. - Copy or download. Use the table's copy button, or download the results as a CSV to drop straight into documentation or a config file.
The reference covers the formats developers actually reach for: documents (pdf, doc, docx, xls, xlsx, ppt, pptx), images (png, jpg, gif, svg, webp, ico, bmp), audio (mp3, wav, ogg, flac), video (mp4, webm, avi, mov), archives (zip, tar, gz, rar, 7z), web assets (html, css, js, json, xml), fonts (woff, woff2, ttf, otf), plus hundreds more.
Why does one extension only return one MIME type but one MIME type can return several?
Each extension has a single canonical MIME type, but a MIME type is often shared across formats — image/jpeg is served for .jpg, .jpeg, and .jfif alike. Searching by extension therefore narrows to one row, while searching by MIME type can list every extension registered to it.
What's the difference between a MIME type and a content type?
None — they're the same thing. "MIME type" comes from the email standard where the concept originated; "content type" and "media type" are the names used in HTTP headers and web specs today. The Content-Type header simply carries a MIME type value.
Privacy
The entire MIME database is bundled with the tool and every lookup runs in your browser. Nothing you type is uploaded or logged.
Use it from code
From 3 credits per callREST API
curl -X POST https://api.iotools.cloud/v1/tool/mime-type-lookup \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"mimeQuery": ".pdf"
}'Swap in your own key from your account. The tool's fields are the body — no wrapper.
Ask an AI agent
Use the IOTools `mime-type-lookup` tool (MIME Type Lookup) on this input:
YOUR_INPUT_HEREPaste this at any agent connected to the IOTools MCP server, then add your input.