MIME Types

MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) type is a standardized label that tells a web server or browser what kind of data a file contains. It uses a type/subtype format like text/html or image/png. Browsers rely on MIME types to decide how to process a resource — whether to render it, download it, or pass it to a plugin. A wrong MIME type can break file downloads, cause security warnings, or prevent content from displaying correctly.

Simply type the extension (with or without the dot) into the search box — for example, type "pdf", ".json", or "webp". The tool will instantly show you the matching MIME type with a description. You can also search by the full MIME type itself, like "text/javascript" or "application/zip", to confirm it is correct or find its associated extensions.

Historically there was confusion between text/javascript (the original HTML 4.01 standard) and application/javascript (the RFC 4329 standard). Modern practice favors application/javascript because treating JS as "text" could cause issues with binary-safe charset handling. Most servers and CDNs now use application/javascript, and browsers accept both. This tool lists text/javascript as preferred for backwards compatibility but the difference is largely academic in modern web development.

For JSON data files, use application/json. This is the official MIME type defined by RFC 4627. For JSON-LD structured data, use application/ld+json. Note that some legacy systems used text/json, but application/json is the correct and universally accepted type for modern APIs and web applications.

Modern web fonts use font/ttf (TrueType), font/otf (OpenType), font/woff (Web Open Font Format), and font/woff2 (WOFF2 with better compression). Older servers sometimes used application/x-font-ttf or application/font-woff, but the font/* types are now the official standard. WOFF2 is recommended for production use as it offers the best compression.

This usually happens when the server sends a MIME type that the browser does not recognize or treats as application/octet-stream (generic binary). You can fix this by configuring your server to send the correct MIME type for the file. This tool helps you find the exact MIME type to configure in your web server (Apache, Nginx, IIS) or CDN settings.

application/octet-stream is the generic MIME type for binary data when no specific type is known. When a browser encounters it, it typically forces a file download prompt rather than trying to display the content. It is a safe fallback but should be replaced with specific types for better user experience — for example, use application/pdf instead so the browser offers its built-in PDF viewer.

Yes — completely free, no registration, and 100% private. The entire database of MIME types is built into the page and runs locally in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, stored, or logged. The tool works offline after the page loads.