MIME Types

MIME types tell browsers how to handle different file extensions. For example, text/html covers .htm, .html, and .shtml, telling browsers to treat them as HTML. You can add or modify MIME types for your site (system defaults can't be changed). This is especially useful for supporting new tech, like when WAP first launched, and servers weren’t ready, custom MIME types let early adopters serve WAP pages right away.

MIME Types
• MIME stands for Multi-purpose Internet Mail Extensions
• MIME types form a standard way of classifying file types on the Internet
• MIME types relay information to the browser about how to view different file extensions and new file types as they become available
• Internet programs such as Web servers and browsers all have a list of MIME types, so that they can transfer files of the same type in the same way

Create a MIME Type

To add new MIME types to your web server, define the name, directory, and file extension that correspond to the MIME type:

1) Enter the name of the file type’s handler in the MIME Type text box.

    o For example, application/cgi represents the handler for the .cgi file extension.

2) Enter the file extension in the Extension(s) text box.

    o A file extension represents the letters after the dot (.) in a file name. For example, filename.file-extension.

3) Click Add.

Delete a user-defined MIME type

To delete a MIME type, click the corresponding Delete link under the Remove heading, and then click Delete MIME Type to confirm that you wish to remove the MIME type.

Note: You cannot delete MIME types from the System MIME Types table

MIME Type Examples

IANA is the official registry of MIME media types and maintains a list of official MIME types.
This table lists more common MIME types used on the:

More about MIME types

Mozilla's list of Most common MIME types

And Webmaster Toolkit list of MIME types