Why are my files being saved as a .23 File?

Why are my files being saved as a .23 File instead of just the regular format of .pdf?! When I send documents to others, they have issues trying to open them, and that is how I found out that almost every time I save a pdf document, it is being saved as a .23 file automatically. It happens when I download a PDF, if I make any name changes it turns into a the .23 file which is impossible to change the format to .pdf, just if I open the file and using the "save as"option and saving the file again it changes to the regulat .pdf format but it takes a lot of time to work like that if I have a lot of files to save or d/l. or I can d/l PDFs and make no name changes and it works as a PDF document - however, this then entails going into each and every document and changing the name post d/l which takes a lot of time as well. I have researched as much as I could and have found no solution that haleped me to solve this problem , I tried reinstalling and a few solutions and guidelines I found  across the web but unfortunately nothing worked for me. I really need help because I save and send pdf documents all day long in my work day!  Please help!! Many thanks in advance

The “.23” file extension isn't a recognized file format and likely indicates an issue with how your computer is saving files. There are two main reasons why this might be happening:

1. Misinterpreted File Name: When you save a file and include a period (.) followed by numbers in the name, your computer might misinterpret that as a file extension instead of part of the actual file name. For instance, if you save a PDF as "Document.08.23.pdf", the system might read “.08.23” as the extension and assign the file the incorrect ".23" extension.

2. Software Association Problem: In some cases, your computer's software associations might be messed up. This means the program that normally opens PDFs might not be set as the default for handling them.

Here are some solutions you can try:

• Avoid Periods and Special Characters in Filenames: When saving your PDFs, try to avoid using periods (.) or other special characters near the end of the filename.

• Use "Save As" Option: Instead of relying on the automatic save function, try using the "Save As" option. This will allow you to explicitly set the filename and file extension (".pdf") before saving the file.

• Check File Associations: Make sure your computer is set to open PDFs with the appropriate program, like Adobe Acrobat Reader. You can usually manage file associations through your operating system's settings.

For more detailed instructions on checking file associations, you can refer to this guide for Windows (https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/how-to-change-the-default-app-for-pdf-files/f642466c-e4e2-487f-8153-f42b9b4abb2b) or search online for instructions specific to your operating system.

If the problem persists after trying these solutions, it might be helpful to search online for troubleshooting steps specific to your program or operating system. You can learn more about file extensions here.

Yay!  Thank you.  I was having the same issue and this fixed it.

Yes of course the files contain the ".23" as part of the date, but I have always saved files that way and I have to as part of my work , and I have never had a problem before. And since the problem started, it also saves files without this extension that way. I am looking for a solution to the problem no matter what extension the files have. Thanks for trying to help.