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Opening Files on a Mac

Mac users must use proper file extensions when uploading files to Blackboard courses.

File extensions are the letters that appear after the period near the end of a document name that indicate the file's format, e.g. a Microsoft Word document called "History_Lesson" will have a file name of "History_Lesson.doc", where ".doc" indicates it is a Word document. Failing to provide a file extension can cause a file to appear as gibberish when downloaded from Blackboard.

Note: Some operating systems do not show file extensions unless you select the show extensions option.

A Partial List of File Extentions

File Type Extension

Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF)

.pdf

Adobe Scalable Vector Graphics file (SVG)

.svg
Apple QuickTime movie
.mov
Graphics Interchange Format file (GIF graphic)
.gif
Joint Photographic Expert Group file (JPEG graphic)
.jpg
Macromedia Flash movie
.swf
Macromedia Streamable Shockwave Audio file
.swa
Microsoft Access database
.mdb
Microsoft Excel workbook
.xls
Microsoft Excel template
.xlt
Microsoft PowerPoint presentation
.ppt
Microsoft PowerPoint template
.pot
Microsoft Word document .doc
Microsoft Word template
.dot
Moving Pictures Expert Group (MPEG) movie
.mpg
Moving Pictures Expert Group 3 (MP3) file
.mp3
Plain text document
.txt
PostScript file
.ps
Real Audio media file
.ram
Rich Text Format (RTF) document
.rtf
Tagged Image File Format file (TIFF graphic)
.tif
Wave sound file
.wav
Web page (HTML)
.html
Windows Media file
.wma
Zip-compressed archive .zip
Last modified August 20, 2007 8:47:33 AM EDT