MIME Types in IIS

By John Meade, MCSE, Web Technologies Writer, Internet Information Services Documentation Team, Microsoft Corporation

On This Page

Introduction
Using the MIME Tables
Adding MIME Types to IIS 4.0
Adding MIME Types to IIS 5.0
Declaring a MIME Type in an ASP Page
MIME Formats in IIS, in Extension Order
MIME Formats in IIS, in Type/Subtype Order
References

Introduction

Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) is a specification for creating file formats to be used in the exchange of e-mail, in Web documents, and in other applications on intranets and on the Internet. Each MIME format includes a MIME content type ("MIME type") and subtype which denote the kind of data stored in the file. MIME types and subtypes are typically listed as type/subtype. For example, an MPEG video file would be listed as "video/mpeg." MIME type/subtype listings include acceptable file name extensions. For example, a table listing MIME information for an MPEG file might have an MPEG entry that appears as follows:

Type/Subtype

Extensions

video/mpeg

.mpe, .mpeg, .mpg

MIME-formatted content is widely used in Web documents. For example, you could link an MPEG file to a Web page. When a user viewing the page clicks on the MPEG-file link, Internet Information Services (IIS) and the Microsoft® Internet Explorer browser perform the following sequence of events when downloading the MPEG file to the browser for display:

  1. Along with the file, IIS sends the MIME type and subtype (video/mpeg, video/mpe, or video/mpg) to the browser.

  2. If support for the MPEG MIME format is built-in, the browser displays the file.

  3. If the browser does not contain built-in support for the MIME format, the browser looks up the file name extension in its table of helper applications. Then it either selects the appropriate helper application to display the file or returns an error message.

IIS includes a table of the most common Web-related mime types/subtypes and associated file name extensions. If IIS does not have MIME information for a MIME-formatted file that you download, then IIS will attach a default MIME identity to that file. As a result, the client receiving the file may misinterpret its contents. You can manually add MIME types, subtypes, and file name extensions to IIS for files whose MIME identity is not in the table. See the section on adding MIME types which applies to your version of IIS.

Note that when planning to use a MIME format, you must configure the browser for a helper application to process any MIME type not supported directly by the browser.

Using the MIME Tables

This reference contains two versions of the same MIME table:

  • The first table lists MIME formats for IIS 4.0 and IIS 5.0 in order of file name extension.

  • The second table lists the same information sorted by MIME type/subtype.

If you have a MIME extension and want to find the MIME type/subtype used by IIS 4.0 or IIS 5.0, look it up in the first table, "MIME Formats in IIS, in Extension Order."

If you have a MIME type/subtype, and want to find out if it's registered in IIS 4.0 or IIS 5.0, look in the second table, "MIME Formats in IIS, in Type/Subtype Order." This table is also good for finding a file extension used for a given MIME type/subtype.

Adding MIME Types to IIS 4.0

MIME types can be registered in IIS 4.0 using the Internet Service Manager console.

For example, to add the XML MIME type using Internet Service Manager:

  1. Select Default Web Site and bring up the Properties dialog box.

  2. Select the HTTP Headers tab.

  3. Under MIME Map, click the File Types tab and select New Type.

  4. Type .xml in the Extension field and text/xml in the Content Type field, and then click OK.

Any other extensions, such as .xsl (eXtensible Style Sheets), may be added using the same procedures.

Adding MIME Types to IIS 5.0

MIME types can be registered in IIS 5.0 using the IIS snap-in.

For example, to add the XML MIME type to the default Web site using the IIS snap-in:

  1. Select Default Web Site and bring up the Properties dialog box.

  2. Select the HTTP Headers tab.

  3. Under MIME Map, click the File Types tab and select New Type.

  4. Type .xml in the Extension field and text/xml in the Content Type field, and then click OK.

To add the XML MIME type to all sites running on a given machine:

  1. Select Internet Information Services and bring up the Properties dialog box.

  2. Under Computer MIME Map, click the Edit button and select New Type.

  3. Type .xml in the Extension field and text/xml in the Content Type field, and then click OK.

Any other extensions, such as .xsl (eXtensible Style Sheets), may be added using the same procedures.

Declaring a MIME Type in an ASP Page

When a Web server returns a file to a browser, it sends information identifying the type of content being returned. When an ASP application is generating content other than HTML, it must declare a MIME type/subtype using the ContentType property of the Response object.

For example, when generating XML dynamically using ASP, the XML MIME type/subtype must be declared in the ASP file itself. Using the ContentType property of the Response object, indicate that the output is XML, as follows:

<% Response.ContentType = "text/xml" %>

MIME Formats in IIS, in Extension Order

The following table lists the MIME content-types, listed in order of file name extensions, registered in IIS 4.0 and IIS 5.0.

Extension

Type/sub-type

IIS 4.0

IIS 5.0

*

application/octet-stream

Yes

Yes

323

text/h323

No

Yes

acx

application/internet-property-stream

No

Yes

ai

application/postscript

Yes

Yes

aif

audio/x-aiff

Yes

Yes

aifc

audio/x-aiff

Yes

Yes

aiff

audio/x-aiff

Yes

Yes

asf

video/x-ms-asf

No

Yes

asr

video/x-ms-asf

No

Yes

asx

video/x-ms-asf

No

Yes

au

audio/basic

Yes

Yes

avi

video/x-msvideo

Yes

Yes

axs

application/olescript

No

Yes

bas

text/plain

Yes

Yes

bcpio

application/x-bcpio

Yes

Yes

bin

application/octet-stream

Yes

Yes

bmp

image/bmp

Yes

Yes

c

text/plain

Yes

Yes

cat

application/vnd.ms-pkiseccat

No

Yes

cdf

application/x-cdf

No

Yes

cer

application/x-x509-ca-cert

No

Yes

class

application/octet-stream

Yes

Yes

clp

application/x-msclip

Yes

Yes

cmx

image/x-cmx

Yes

Yes

cod

image/cis-cod

Yes

Yes

cpio

application/x-cpio

Yes

Yes

crd

application/x-mscardfile

Yes

Yes

crl

application/pkix-crl

No

Yes

crt

application/x-x509-ca-cert

No

Yes

csh

application/x-csh

Yes

Yes

css

text/css

No

Yes

dcr

application/x-director

Yes

Yes

der

application/x-x509-ca-cert

No

Yes

dir

application/x-director

Yes

Yes

dll

application/x-msdownload

No

Yes

dms

application/octet-stream

Yes

Yes

doc

application/msword

Yes

Yes

dot

application/msword

Yes

Yes

dvi

application/x-dvi

Yes

Yes

dxr

application/x-director

Yes

Yes

eps

application/postscript

Yes

Yes

etx

text/x-setext

Yes

Yes

evy

application/envoy

Yes

Yes

exe

application/octet-stream

Yes

Yes

fif

application/fractals

No

Yes

flr

x-world/x-vrml

Yes

Yes

gif

image/gif

Yes

Yes

gtar

application/x-gtar

Yes

Yes

gz

application/x-gzip

No

Yes

h

text/plain

Yes

Yes

hdf

application/x-hdf

Yes

Yes

hlp

application/winhlp

Yes

Yes

hqx

application/mac-binhex40

Yes

Yes

hta

application/hta

No

Yes

htc

text/x-component

No

Yes

htm

text/html

Yes

Yes

html

text/html

Yes

Yes

htt

text/webviewhtml

No

Yes

ico

image/x-icon

No

Yes

ief

image/ief

Yes

Yes

iii

application/x-iphone

No

Yes

ins

application/x-internet-signup

No

Yes

isp

application/x-internet-signup

No

Yes

jfif

image/pipeg

No

Yes

jpe

image/jpeg

Yes

Yes

jpeg

image/jpeg

Yes

Yes

jpg

image/jpeg

Yes

Yes

js

application/x-javascript

Yes

Yes

latex

application/x-latex

Yes

Yes

lha

application/octet-stream

Yes

Yes

lsf

video/x-la-asf

No

Yes

lsx

video/x-la-asf

No

Yes

lzh

application/octet-stream

Yes

Yes

m13

application/x-msmediaview

Yes

Yes

m14

application/x-msmediaview

Yes

Yes

m3u

audio/x-mpegurl

No

Yes

man

application/x-troff-man

Yes

Yes

mdb

application/x-msaccess

Yes

Yes

me

application/x-troff-me

Yes

Yes

mht

message/rfc822

No

Yes

mhtml

message/rfc822

No

Yes

mid

audio/mid

No

Yes

mny

application/x-msmoney

Yes

Yes

mov

video/quicktime

Yes

Yes

movie

video/x-sgi-movie

Yes

Yes

mp2

video/mpeg

Yes

Yes

mp3

audio/mpeg

No

Yes

mpa

video/mpeg

Yes

Yes

mpe

video/mpeg

Yes

Yes

mpeg

video/mpeg

Yes

Yes

mpg

video/mpeg

Yes

Yes

mpp

application/vnd.ms-project

Yes

Yes

mpv2

video/mpeg

Yes

Yes

ms

application/x-troff-ms

Yes

Yes

mvb

application/x-msmediaview

Yes

Yes

nws

message/rfc822

No

Yes

oda

application/oda

Yes

Yes

p10

application/pkcs10

No

Yes

p12

application/x-pkcs12

No

Yes

p7b

application/x-pkcs7-certificates

No

Yes

p7c

application/x-pkcs7-mime

No

Yes

p7m

application/x-pkcs7-mime

No

Yes

p7r

application/x-pkcs7-certreqresp

No

Yes

p7s

application/x-pkcs7-signature

No

Yes

pbm

image/x-portable-bitmap

Yes

Yes

pdf

application/pdf

Yes

Yes

pfx

application/x-pkcs12

No

Yes

pgm

image/x-portable-graymap

Yes

Yes

pko

application/ynd.ms-pkipko

No

Yes

pma

application/x-perfmon

Yes

Yes

pmc

application/x-perfmon

Yes

Yes

pml

application/x-perfmon

Yes

Yes

pmr

application/x-perfmon

Yes

Yes

pmw

application/x-perfmon

Yes

Yes

pnm

image/x-portable-anymap

Yes

Yes

pot,

application/vnd.ms-powerpoint

Yes

Yes

ppm

image/x-portable-pixmap

Yes

Yes

pps

application/vnd.ms-powerpoint

Yes

Yes

ppt

application/vnd.ms-powerpoint

Yes

Yes

prf

application/pics-rules

No

Yes

ps

application/postscript

Yes

Yes

pub

application/x-mspublisher

Yes

Yes

qt

video/quicktime

Yes

Yes

ra

audio/x-pn-realaudio

Yes

Yes

ram

audio/x-pn-realaudio

Yes

Yes

ras

image/x-cmu-raster

Yes

Yes

rgb

image/x-rgb

Yes

Yes

rmi

audio/mid

No

Yes

roff

application/x-troff

Yes

Yes

rtf

application/rtf

Yes

Yes

rtx

text/richtext

Yes

Yes

scd

application/x-msschedule

Yes

Yes

sct

text/scriptlet

No

Yes

setpay

application/set-payment-initiation

No

Yes

setreg

application/set-registration-initiation

No

Yes

sh

application/x-sh

Yes

Yes

shar

application/x-shar

Yes

Yes

sit

application/x-stuffit

No

Yes

snd

audio/basic

Yes

Yes

spc

application/x-pkcs7-certificates

No

Yes

spl

application/futuresplash

No

Yes

src

application/x-wais-source

Yes

Yes

sst

application/vnd.ms-pkicertstore

No

Yes

stl

application/vnd.ms-pkistl

No

Yes

stm

text/html

Yes

Yes

sv4cpio

application/x-sv4cpio

Yes

Yes

sv4crc

application/x-sv4crc

Yes

Yes

t

application/x-troff

Yes

Yes

tar

application/x-tar

Yes

Yes

tcl

application/x-tcl

Yes

Yes

tex

application/x-tex

Yes

Yes

texi

application/x-texinfo

Yes

Yes

texinfo

application/x-texinfo

Yes

Yes

tgz

application/x-compressed

No

Yes

tif

image/tiff

Yes

Yes

tiff

image/tiff

Yes

Yes

tr

application/x-troff

Yes

Yes

trm

application/x-msterminal

Yes

Yes

tsv

text/tab-separated-values

Yes

Yes

txt

text/plain

Yes

Yes

uls

text/iuls

No

Yes

ustar

application/x-ustar

Yes

Yes

vcf

text/x-vcard

No

Yes

vrml

x-world/x-vrml

Yes

Yes

wav

audio/x-wav

Yes

Yes

wcm

application/vnd.ms-works

Yes

Yes

wdb

application/vnd.ms-works

Yes

Yes

wks

application/vnd.ms-works

Yes

Yes

wmf

application/x-msmetafile

Yes

Yes

wps

application/vnd.ms-works

Yes

Yes

wri

application/x-mswrite

Yes

Yes

wrl

x-world/x-vrml

Yes

Yes

wrz

x-world/x-vrml

Yes

Yes

xaf

x-world/x-vrml

Yes

Yes

xbm

image/x-xbitmap

Yes

Yes

xla

application/vnd.ms-excel

Yes

Yes

xlc

application/vnd.ms-excel

Yes

Yes

xlm

application/vnd.ms-excel

Yes

Yes

xls

application/vnd.ms-excel

Yes

Yes

xlt

application/vnd.ms-excel

Yes

Yes

xlw

application/vnd.ms-excel

Yes

Yes

xof

x-world/x-vrml

Yes

Yes

xpm

image/x-xpixmap

Yes

Yes

xwd

image/x-xwindowdump

Yes

Yes

z

application/x-compress

No

Yes

zip

application/zip

Yes

Yes

MIME Formats in IIS, in Type/Subtype Order

The following table lists the MIME content-types, listed in order of MIME content type/subtype, registered in IIS 4.0 and IIS 5.0.

Type/sub-type

Extension

IIS 4.0

IIS 5.0

application/envoy

evy

Yes

Yes

application/fractals

fif

No

Yes

application/futuresplash

spl

No

Yes

application/hta

hta

No

Yes

application/internet-property-stream

acx

No

Yes

application/mac-binhex40

hqx

Yes

Yes

application/msword

doc

Yes

Yes

application/msword

dot

Yes

Yes

application/octet-stream

*

Yes

Yes

application/octet-stream

bin

Yes

Yes

application/octet-stream

class

Yes

Yes

application/octet-stream

dms

Yes

Yes

application/octet-stream

exe

Yes

Yes

application/octet-stream

lha

Yes

Yes

application/octet-stream

lzh

Yes

Yes

application/oda

oda

Yes

Yes

application/olescript

axs

No

Yes

application/pdf

pdf

Yes

Yes

application/pics-rules

prf

No

Yes

application/pkcs10

p10

No

Yes

application/pkix-crl

crl

No

Yes

application/postscript

ai

Yes

Yes

application/postscript

eps

Yes

Yes

application/postscript

ps

Yes

Yes

application/rtf

rtf

Yes

Yes

application/set-payment-initiation

setpay

No

Yes

application/set-registration-initiation

setreg

No

Yes

application/vnd.ms-excel

xla

Yes

Yes

application/vnd.ms-excel

xlc

Yes

Yes

application/vnd.ms-excel

xlm

Yes

Yes

application/vnd.ms-excel

xls

Yes

Yes

application/vnd.ms-excel

xlt

Yes

Yes

application/vnd.ms-excel

xlw

Yes

Yes

application/vnd.ms-pkicertstore

sst

No

Yes

application/vnd.ms-pkiseccat

cat

No

Yes

application/vnd.ms-pkistl

stl

No

Yes

application/vnd.ms-powerpoint

pot,

Yes

Yes

application/vnd.ms-powerpoint

pps

Yes

Yes

application/vnd.ms-powerpoint

ppt

Yes

Yes

application/vnd.ms-project

mpp

Yes

Yes

application/vnd.ms-works

wcm

Yes

Yes

application/vnd.ms-works

wdb

Yes

Yes

application/vnd.ms-works

wks

Yes

Yes

application/vnd.ms-works

wps

Yes

Yes

application/winhlp

hlp

Yes

Yes

application/x-bcpio

bcpio

Yes

Yes

application/x-cdf

cdf

No

Yes

application/x-compress

z

No

Yes

application/x-compressed

tgz

No

Yes

application/x-cpio

cpio

Yes

Yes

application/x-csh

csh

Yes

Yes

application/x-director

dcr

Yes

Yes

application/x-director

dir

Yes

Yes

application/x-director

dxr

Yes

Yes

application/x-dvi

dvi

Yes

Yes

application/x-gtar

gtar

Yes

Yes

application/x-gzip

gz

No

Yes

application/x-hdf

hdf

Yes

Yes

application/x-internet-signup

ins

No

Yes

application/x-internet-signup

isp

No

Yes

application/x-iphone

iii

No

Yes

application/x-javascript

js

Yes

Yes

application/x-latex

latex

Yes

Yes

application/x-msaccess

mdb

Yes

Yes

application/x-mscardfile

crd

Yes

Yes

application/x-msclip

clp

Yes

Yes

application/x-msdownload

dll

No

Yes

application/x-msmediaview

m13

Yes

Yes

application/x-msmediaview

m14

Yes

Yes

application/x-msmediaview

mvb

Yes

Yes

application/x-msmetafile

wmf

Yes

Yes

application/x-msmoney

mny

Yes

Yes

application/x-mspublisher

pub

Yes

Yes

application/x-msschedule

scd

Yes

Yes

application/x-msterminal

trm

Yes

Yes

application/x-mswrite

wri

Yes

Yes

application/x-netcdf

cdf

Yes

Yes

application/x-netcdf

nc

Yes

Yes

application/x-perfmon

pma

Yes

Yes

application/x-perfmon

pmc

Yes

Yes

application/x-perfmon

pml

Yes

Yes

application/x-perfmon

pmr

Yes

Yes

application/x-perfmon

pmw

Yes

Yes

application/x-pkcs12

p12

No

Yes

application/x-pkcs12

pfx

No

Yes

application/x-pkcs7-certificates

p7b

No

Yes

application/x-pkcs7-certificates

spc

No

Yes

application/x-pkcs7-certreqresp

p7r

No

Yes

application/x-pkcs7-mime

p7c

No

Yes

application/x-pkcs7-mime

p7m

No

Yes

application/x-pkcs7-signature

p7s

No

Yes

application/x-sh

sh

Yes

Yes

application/x-shar

shar

Yes

Yes

application/x-stuffit

sit

No

Yes

application/x-sv4cpio

sv4cpio

Yes

Yes

application/x-sv4crc

sv4crc

Yes

Yes

application/x-tar

tar

Yes

Yes

application/x-tcl

tcl

Yes

Yes

application/x-tex

tex

Yes

Yes

application/x-texinfo

texi

Yes

Yes

application/x-texinfo

texinfo

Yes

Yes

application/x-troff

roff

Yes

Yes

application/x-troff

t

Yes

Yes

application/x-troff

tr

Yes

Yes

application/x-troff-man

man

Yes

Yes

application/x-troff-me

me

Yes

Yes

application/x-troff-ms

ms

Yes

Yes

application/x-ustar

ustar

Yes

Yes

application/x-wais-source

src

Yes

Yes

application/x-x509-ca-cert

cer

No

Yes

application/x-x509-ca-cert

crt

No

Yes

application/x-x509-ca-cert

der

No

Yes

application/ynd.ms-pkipko

pko

No

Yes

application/zip

zip

Yes

Yes

audio/basic

au

Yes

Yes

audio/basic

snd

Yes

Yes

audio/mid

mid

No

Yes

audio/mid

rmi

No

Yes

audio/mpeg

mp3

No

Yes

audio/x-aiff

aif

Yes

Yes

audio/x-aiff

aifc

Yes

Yes

audio/x-aiff

aiff

Yes

Yes

audio/x-mpegurl

m3u

No

Yes

audio/x-pn-realaudio

ra

Yes

Yes

audio/x-pn-realaudio

ram

Yes

Yes

audio/x-wav

wav

Yes

Yes

image/bmp

bmp

Yes

Yes

image/cis-cod

cod

Yes

Yes

image/gif

gif

Yes

Yes

image/ief

ief

Yes

Yes

image/jpeg

jpe

Yes

Yes

image/jpeg

jpeg

Yes

Yes

image/jpeg

jpg

Yes

Yes

image/pipeg

jfif

No

Yes

image/tiff

tif

Yes

Yes

image/tiff

tiff

Yes

Yes

image/x-cmu-raster

ras

Yes

Yes

image/x-cmx

cmx

Yes

Yes

image/x-icon

ico

No

Yes

image/x-portable-anymap

pnm

Yes

Yes

image/x-portable-bitmap

pbm

Yes

Yes

image/x-portable-graymap

pgm

Yes

Yes

image/x-portable-pixmap

ppm

Yes

Yes

image/x-rgb

rgb

Yes

Yes

image/x-xbitmap

xbm

Yes

Yes

image/x-xpixmap

xpm

Yes

Yes

image/x-xwindowdump

xwd

Yes

Yes

message/rfc822

mht

No

Yes

message/rfc822

mhtml

No

Yes

message/rfc822

nws

No

Yes

text/css

css

No

Yes

text/h323

323

No

Yes

text/html

htm

Yes

Yes

text/html

html

Yes

Yes

text/html

stm

Yes

Yes

text/iuls

uls

No

Yes

text/plain

bas

Yes

Yes

text/plain

c

Yes

Yes

text/plain

h

Yes

Yes

text/plain

txt

Yes

Yes

text/richtext

rtx

Yes

Yes

text/scriptlet

sct

No

Yes

text/tab-separated-values

tsv

Yes

Yes

text/webviewhtml

htt

No

Yes

text/x-component

htc

No

Yes

text/x-setext

etx

Yes

Yes

text/x-vcard

vcf

No

Yes

video/mpeg

mp2

Yes

Yes

video/mpeg

mpa

Yes

Yes

video/mpeg

mpe

Yes

Yes

video/mpeg

mpeg

Yes

Yes

video/mpeg

mpg

Yes

Yes

video/mpeg

mpv2

Yes

Yes

video/quicktime

mov

Yes

Yes

video/quicktime

qt

Yes

Yes

video/x-la-asf

lsf

No

Yes

video/x-la-asf

lsx

No

Yes

video/x-ms-asf

asf

No

Yes

video/x-ms-asf

asr

No

Yes

video/x-ms-asf

asx

No

Yes

video/x-msvideo

avi

Yes

Yes

video/x-sgi-movie

movie

Yes

Yes

x-world/x-vrml

flr

Yes

Yes

x-world/x-vrml

vrml

Yes

Yes

x-world/x-vrml

wrl

Yes

Yes

x-world/x-vrml

wrz

Yes

Yes

x-world/x-vrml

xaf

Yes

Yes

x-world/x-vrml

xof

Yes

Yes

References

MIME is discussed in the newsgroup comp.mail.mime. A FAQ about MIME is posted regularly to the newsgroups comp.mail.mime, comp.answers and news.answers, and is also accessible at the following URLs: