File formats: M
Every format whose extension starts with M.
Formats
| Format | Name | About | Main software | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
.M2V | MPEG-2 video elementary stream | Raw MPEG-2 video, as used for DVD authoring: headers marked by start codes. | VLC media player | DocumentedViewerEditorOpen |
.M3U | M3U playlist | A plain text list of tracks, one path or URL per line, with optional #EXTINF details. | VLC media player | DocumentedViewerEditorOpen |
.M3U8 | HTTP Live Streaming playlist | The HLS playlist: text tags listing stream versions and the segments to fetch. | VLC media player | DocumentedViewerEditorOpen |
.M4A | Apple Lossless Audio Codec | Apple’s lossless codec, stored in an MPEG-4 .m4a file like AAC. | Apple Music | DocumentedViewerEditorOpen |
.MAC | MacPaint image | The first Mac’s paint documents: 576 by 720 black and white, PackBits rows. | GraphicConverter | DocumentedViewerEditorOpen |
.MAP | Linker map file | A linker’s text report of sections, addresses and symbols in a program. | DocumentedViewerEditorOpen | |
.MAP | JavaScript source map | JSON that maps minified or compiled web code back to its source. | Chrome DevTools | DocumentedViewerEditorOpen |
.MAT | MATLAB data file | Variables saved from MATLAB, in tagged data elements or in HDF5. | MATLAB | DocumentedViewerEditorOpen |
.MAX | 3ds Max scene | Autodesk 3ds Max’s native scene, an undocumented compound file. | Autodesk 3ds Max | DocumentedViewerEditorOpen |
.MB | Maya scene | Autodesk Maya’s scene, as Maya Binary or as a Maya ASCII script of MEL commands. | Autodesk Maya | DocumentedViewerEditorOpen |
.MBOX | Mailbox | A mail folder in one text file, each message after a From line. | Mozilla Thunderbird | DocumentedViewerEditorOpen |
.MBTILES | MBTiles | A set of map tiles, images or vector tiles, in one SQLite database. | QGIS | DocumentedViewerEditorOpen |
.MD | Sega Mega Drive ROM image | Mega Drive and Genesis cartridge ROMs: 68000 vectors, then a text header. | RetroArch | DocumentedViewerEditorOpen |
.MD | Markdown | Readable plain text with light marks for headings, emphasis, lists and links. | Visual Studio Code | DocumentedViewerEditorOpen |
.MD2 | Quake II model | id Software’s Quake II model: whole-frame animation with byte-packed vertices. | Yamagi Quake II | DocumentedViewerEditorOpen |
.MD3 | Quake III Arena model | id Software’s model format, animated frame by frame and joined at named tags. | ioquake3 | DocumentedViewerEditorOpen |
.MD5MESH | Doom 3 model | id Software’s skeletal text model for Doom 3, with separate animation files. | dhewm3 | DocumentedViewerEditorOpen |
.MDB | Microsoft Access database | Microsoft Access tables, queries and forms in one file, on Jet or ACE. | Microsoft Access | DocumentedViewerEditorOpen |
.MDL | Quake model (IDPO) | Quake’s animated model: palette skins inside the file and whole-frame animation. | QuakeSpasm | DocumentedViewerEditorOpen |
.MDL | Studio model (IDST) | Valve’s skeletal model for Half-Life and Source: bones, sequences and hit boxes. | Half-Life Model Viewer | DocumentedViewerEditorOpen |
.MDL | Quake and Half-Life models | Two game model formats on one extension: Quake’s IDPO and Valve’s IDST. | DocumentedViewerEditorOpen | |
.METAL | Metal Shading Language source | Apple’s C++-based shader source for Metal on macOS and iOS. | Xcode | DocumentedViewerEditorOpen |
.MID | Standard MIDI File | Notes and timing for a synthesiser, in header and track chunks. | MuseScore | DocumentedViewerEditorOpen |
.MK | Makefile | Rules for make: targets, the files they depend on and the commands to run. | GNU Make | DocumentedViewerEditorOpen |
.MKV | Matroska video | An open container for any number of tracks, built on EBML elements. | VLC media player | DocumentedViewerEditorOpen |
.MLMODEL | Core ML model | A model for apps on Apple devices, as a Protocol Buffers message. | Xcode | DocumentedViewerEditorOpen |
.MOBI | Mobipocket ebook | Mobipocket and early Kindle ebooks: compressed text records in a Palm database. | calibre | DocumentedViewerEditorOpen |
.MOD | Amiga ProTracker module | Amiga tracker song: 31 samples, an order table and 4-channel patterns. | OpenMPT | DocumentedViewerEditorOpen |
.MOV | QuickTime movie | Apple’s QuickTime container: tracks and sample tables in nested atoms. | QuickTime Player | DocumentedViewerEditorOpen |
.MP2 | MPEG-1 Audio Layer II | Broadcast MPEG audio for DAB, DVB and Video CD: frames like MP3’s. | VLC media player | DocumentedViewerEditorOpen |
.MP3 | MPEG-1 Audio Layer III | The classic compressed music format: a run of frames, often with ID3 tags. | VLC media player | DocumentedViewerEditorOpen |
.MP4 | MPEG-4 Part 14 | The most common video file: tracks and sample tables in nested boxes. | VLC media player | DocumentedViewerEditorOpen |
.MPD | MPEG-DASH Media Presentation Description | The MPEG-DASH manifest: XML periods, adaptation sets and representations. | VLC media player | DocumentedViewerEditorOpen |
.MPG | MPEG program stream | MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 video and audio in packs, as on Video CDs and DVDs. | VLC media player | DocumentedViewerEditorOpen |
.MSG | Outlook message | One Outlook item, its properties stored as streams in a compound file. | Microsoft Outlook | DocumentedViewerEditorOpen |
.MSGPACK | MessagePack | JSON-like values in compact binary, each led by a type byte. | DocumentedViewerEditorOpen | |
.MSI | Windows Installer package | Windows install packages: a database of tables inside a compound file. | Windows Installer | DocumentedViewerEditorOpen |
.MSIX | Windows app package | Signed Windows app packages: a ZIP with a manifest and a block map. | App Installer | DocumentedViewerEditorOpen |