Anytime you download a file via a browser, instant messenger, or other apps… it is first saved to a temporary file…
These temporary files are saved with some particular extensions:
For Browsers:
- Chrome – .crdownload
- Firefox – .download
- Opera – .opdownload
- Safari – .part
- Microsoft Edge – .temp
- Brave – .brave-download
For email clients:
- Microsoft Outlook – .tmp
- Mozilla Thunderbird – .part
- Apple Mail – .download
- Gmail Web – .tmp
- Yahoo Mail – .tmp
- ProtonMail – .tmp
- Tutanota – .tmp
For Instant Messengers:
- WhatsApp – .temp
- Telegram – .temp
- Discord – .dat
- Signal – .tmp
- Skype – .part
- Facebook Messenger – .download
- Google Chat – .temp
Are there any others?
Now, in the interest of full disclosure… I have not written much of this post. In the past I would manually download these programs, and then would spend hours testing their file-saving capabilities. For this post, I simply asked Google Bard. It’s terrifying and amazing at the same time.