The file extension tells the computer which app to use when opening it.

There are multiple apps which can open picture files. Windows 11 uses its built-in Photos app.

But suppose we want to open the picture using Paint instead, so we can make a few edits.

On Windows, we’d simply right-click the icon, select “Open with”, and choose Paint.

Apps to open files, like Photos or Paint, often come with different capabilities.

In this case, we can use Paint to showcase our artistic talent.

This is because the Paint app is made to edit images, whereas Photos just lets us view it.