# file > Determine file type. > More information: . - Give a description of the type of the specified file. Works fine for files with no file extension: `file {{filename}}` - Look inside a zipped file and determine the file type(s) inside: `file -z {{foo.zip}}` - Allow file to work with special or device files: `file -s {{filename}}` - Don't stop at first file type match; keep going until the end of the file: `file -k {{filename}}` - Determine the mime encoding type of a file: `file -i {{filename}}`