MIME Type Lookup

How to use it

Type into An extension, a file name or a MIME type; the chips below the box fill in common searches. The lookup runs in your browser as you type.

• An extension, with or without the dot, or a file name or path (report.pdf, /uploads/photo.jpeg) gives the type for that extension.
• A full type (application/json) gives its extensions. Parameters after ; are ignored, so a header value copied from a response works too.
• An older name that a registration retired, such as application/x-yaml, gives the type that replaced it.
• A top-level type such as text/ lists every type under it. Anything else is searched for inside type names and extensions.

The line above the results names the type when an extension, a full type or an older name finds exactly one, and otherwise counts the matches. Each card shows the type, a description, its extensions, any older names and a Content-Type: line, with a Copy button for the value. Types missing from the IANA registry carry an Unofficial badge. Every type, 311 of them lists the whole table.

Examples

A download named archive.tar.gz:

application/gzip   Gzip compressed data
.gz .tgz
Content-Type: application/gzip

Only the last extension counts: the file is a tar archive inside gzip, and the outer layer is what gets labeled.

The extension .ts has two meanings, so it gives two cards:

video/mp2t   MPEG transport stream
.ts .m2t .mts
Content-Type: video/mp2t

text/typescript   TypeScript source code   Unofficial
.ts
Content-Type: text/typescript; charset=utf-8

Registered types come first. nginx’s default mime.types and Python’s mimetypes both map .ts to video/mp2t, which is why a TypeScript file can arrive as video.

The common mistake image/jpg isn’t a registered type, so it’s read as the extension jpg and gives image/jpeg.

The pre-2024 name application/x-yaml, which RFC 9512 lists as a deprecated alias:

application/yaml   YAML document   (“application/x-yaml” is an older name)
.yaml .yml
Older names: application/x-yaml, text/yaml, text/x-yaml
Content-Type: application/yaml

An extension the table doesn’t know, .unicorn, is rejected with No MIME type matches ".unicorn". Try an extension like .webp or a type like application/json.

Good to know

• A media type is type/subtype plus optional parameters. RFC 9110 makes the type and subtype case-insensitive, so Image/PNG reads as image/png. “MIME type” is the older name from email (RFC 2045); IANA calls them media types.
• Text types get charset=utf-8; nothing else does. Without a charset, a browser guesses the encoding of HTML and plain text, often as windows-1252, and UTF-8 text turns into mojibake. JSON defines no charset parameter: RFC 8259 says adding one “really has no effect on compliant recipients”.
• Browsers check the type of code they run. A module script, such as an .mjs file, won’t run unless it’s served with a JavaScript type, and with X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff a classic script or style sheet with the wrong type is refused too. WebAssembly.instantiateStreaming requires application/wasm.
• text/javascript is the standard JavaScript type. RFC 9239 (2022) marks application/javascript and 13 other names obsolete; searching any of them here finds text/javascript.
• Older names come from the registrations, such as video/x-matroska for video/matroska (RFC 9559); an old name with an IANA row of its own, like image/x-emf, keeps its own card. The exception is text/x-markdown, used before RFC 7763, which lists no alias.
• Unofficial means unregistered, not wrong. audio/wav, video/webm and application/x-tar are the names in everyday use, though RFC 6838 discourages new x- names. Some extensions have both kinds: .ico gives image/vnd.microsoft.icon and image/x-icon, registered name first.
• A free-text search shows at most 40 cards, and the count line says how many matched in total. A query is limited to 100 characters.
• The lookup goes by name only. It never reads a file, so a PNG renamed to .jpg still gives image/jpeg.

Questions

What is the MIME type for JSON?

application/json, with the extension .json. Send it without a charset: RFC 8259 defines none and requires UTF-8 for JSON exchanged between systems. Formats built on JSON use the +json suffix, such as application/ld+json and application/geo+json.

How do I find the MIME type of a file?

Look up its extension here, or run file --mime-type -b photo.png on Linux or macOS, which recognizes the format from the file’s bytes. In Python, mimetypes.guess_type('archive.tar.gz') returns ('application/x-tar', 'gzip'), treating .gz as a compression layer rather than the type.

What is the difference between Content-Type and MIME type?

Content-Type is the HTTP and email header, and the MIME type is the value it carries. The header can add parameters after a semicolon, as in Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8.

Is there a complete list of MIME types?

IANA’s registry at iana.org/assignments/media-types lists every registered type, more than 2,000 of them, most rarely seen on the web. Web servers ship their own extension maps, such as nginx’s mime.types. The table on this page covers the 311 types developers meet most, unregistered ones included.