You're here because you have a file that has a file extension ending in .exe. Files with the file extension .exe can only be launched by certain applications. It's possible that .exe files are data files rather than documents or media, which means they're not meant to be viewed at all.

Applications and software scripts developed for Microsoft Windows-based systems consist of a file used to start the initialization process of the other developer files required to run these programs, and these files are stored in the EXE format. The content of an EXE file may include code and reference details that can be used to locate and load associated developer files included in the corresponding application. These EXE files and other program files of a software script can also be created for Microsoft DOS environments. These EXE files are affixed with the .exe extension, and many Microsoft Windows applications also use DLL (Dynamic Link Library) modules associated to an EXE file. Some EXE files are encoded and compressed as self-extracting archives of files and folders, which means initializing these EXE files will decompress the archive and store the files and folders in a preconfigured location, usually in the same directory where the self-extracting EXE archive file is stored, though in some cases, the user is prompted for a location to decompress and store the files and folders included in the self-extracting EXE file. There are applications developed as emulators for Mac platforms, and these programs can implement support for initializing and running these EXE files, while users of Linux-based systems can use the Oracle VM VirtualBox software version for Linux.

Launch a .exe file, or any other file on your PC, by double-clicking it. If your file associations are set up correctly, the application that's meant to open your .exe file will open it. It's possible you may need to download or purchase the correct application. It's also possible that you have the correct application on your PC, but .exe files aren't yet associated with it. In this case, when you try to open a .exe file, you can tell Windows which application is the correct one for that file. From then on, opening a  .exe file will open the correct application. Click here to fix .exe file association errors

Be careful not to rename the extension on .exe files, or any other files. This will not change the file type. Only special conversion software can change a file from one file type to another.

A file extension is the set of three or four characters at the end of a filename; in this case, .exe. File extensions tell you what type of file it is, and tell Windows what programs can open it. Windows often associates a default program to each file extension, so that when you double-click the file, the program launches automatically. When that program is no longer on your PC, you can sometimes get an error when you try to open the associated file.