File extension URL
| File type | Internet Shortcut - URL - Uniform Resource Locator |
| Developer | N/A |
| Ads |
What is a URL file?
File with an .URL extension contains an address of a network directory, usually a web site or it may contain a link to a favicon.ico icon file, which is supposed to be displayed as a shortcut icon. By default, there are many website’s browsers that utilise URL files, such as Google Chrome, Apple Safari or Microsoft Internet Explorer.
URL files can be opened by dragging an address tab from a web browser onto desktop or a directory. Similar action within Mac OS will create a WEBLOC file. Windows does not display the .URL extension filename, but the name of a file itself. The website’s address can be displayed by opening a file with a text editor.
Program(s) that can open the .URL file
Mac OS
How to open URL files
If you cannot open the URL file on your computer - there may be several reasons. The first and most important reason (the most common) is the lack of a suitable software that supports URL among those that are installed on your device.
A very simple way to solve this problem is to find and download the appropriate application. The first part of the task has already been done – the software supporting the URL file can be found in the table. Now just download and install the appropriate application.
Possible problems with the URL format files
The inability to open and operate the URL file does not necessarily mean that you do not have an appropriate software installed on your computer. There may be other problems that also block our ability to operate the Internet Shortcut - URL - Uniform Resource Locator file. Below is a list of possible problems.
- Corruption of a URL file which is being opened
- Incorrect links to the URL file in registry entries.
- Accidental deletion of the description of the URL from the Windows registry
- Incomplete installation of an application that supports the URL format
- The URL file which is being opened is infected with an undesirable malware.
- The computer does not have enough hardware resources to cope with the opening of the URL file.
- Drivers of equipment used by the computer to open a URL file are out of date.
If you are sure that all of these reasons do not exist in your case (or have already been eliminated), the URL file should operate with your programs without any problem. If the problem with the URL file has not been solved, it may be due to the fact that in this case there is also another rare problem with the URL file. In this case, the only you can do is to ask for assistance of a professional staff.
Similar extensions
| .a4p | Adobe Authorware Package Without Runtime |
| .a5w | Adobe Authorware Unpackaged Format |
| .adr | Opera Bookmarks Format |
| .aex | Greetings Card Format |
| .alx | BlackBerry Application Loader Format |
| .an | Adobe Edge Animate Project Format |
| .ap | Fifth Generation Systems Active Page Format |
| .aro | SteelArrow Script Format |
This extension
can be converted to:
How to associate the file with an installed software?
If you want to associate a file with a new program (e.g. my-file.URL) you have two ways to do it. The first and the easiest one is to right-click on the selected URL file. From the drop-down menu select "Choose default program", then click "Browse" and find the desired program. The whole operation must be confirmed by clicking OK. The second and more difficult to do is associate the URL file extension to the corresponding software in the Windows Registry.
Is there one way to open unknown files?
Many files contain only simple text data. It is possible that while opening unknown files (e.g. URL) with a simple text editor like Windows Notepad will allow us to see some of the data encoded in the file. This method allows you to preview the contents of many files, but probably not in such a structure as a program dedicated to support them.