# Why will my comp save images only as .bmp? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 23, 2003, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-will-my-comp-save-images-only-as-bmp/163505 "2003-03-23T04:55:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sonicsink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@sonicsink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sonicsink)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-will-my-comp-save-images-only-as-bmp/163505/1 "2003-03-23T04:55:34Z")
I never had this problem until today…My comp will only save images as a .bmp file even if i right click the file and select properties,it will tell me the image is a .gif file but it won’t save it as a .gif and the drop down box in the save window s only option is bitmap :mad: How can I change it? thanks… ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-will-my-comp-save-images-only-as-bmp/163505/2 "2003-03-23T05:08:03Z")
Open the file in a paint-type program and you can save it in any number of formats (but it may look different in some of them). Where are you getting this file? Is it already in your computer, or are you trying to save something from a web page? ---
**Author:** ![El\_Cheapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8e7dd6/32.png) [@El\_Cheapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Cheapo)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-will-my-comp-save-images-only-as-bmp/163505/3 "2003-03-23T05:59:36Z")
Try clearing your temporary internet files… I don’t have an official citation handy, but that worked for me recently when I had the same problem. (I assume you’re using IE on a Windows box.) ---
**Author:** ![CelraySoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@CelraySoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelraySoda)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-will-my-comp-save-images-only-as-bmp/163505/4 "2003-03-23T11:30:45Z")
Download Iview. It’s free and it converts any file into any other file format. It works great for images. -M ---
**Author:** ![Space\_Vampire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Space\_Vampire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Space_Vampire)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-will-my-comp-save-images-only-as-bmp/163505/5 "2003-03-23T14:25:01Z")
I second El Cheapo, every time this happens to me it generally means my cache needs a good cleaning. ---
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-will-my-comp-save-images-only-as-bmp/163505/6 "2003-03-23T15:04:44Z")
This may sound silly, but I have had the same problem. All I have to do in these instances is hit the ‘reload’ button on IE, wait a couple seconds for the page to reload, and for some reason I can now right click and save the pic file as a jpeg. ---
**Author:** ![dylan\_73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecccb3/32.png) [@dylan\_73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dylan_73)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2003, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-will-my-comp-save-images-only-as-bmp/163505/7 "2003-03-24T11:16:12Z")
This is a known bug with Internet Explorer. The details and workarounds are [here](http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;260650). If that link doesn’t work right it’s KB article 260650 (I’ve sometimes had problems with linking directly since they’ve changed their system recently). ---
**Author:** ![Supernate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecc23a/32.png) [@Supernate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Supernate)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2003, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-will-my-comp-save-images-only-as-bmp/163505/8 "2003-03-24T15:56:05Z")
I’ve had this problem too… When the “Save Picture” dialogue box appeards, just type in the full filename, including the extension. I know this works when saving to a .jpg. Alot of times I will download CD cover art and it will only let me save as a .BMP. So I just type in “folder.jpg” into the filename box and it does save it as a .jpg. I assume this works for a few other filetypes as well. Nate ---
**Author:** ![dylan\_73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecccb3/32.png) [@dylan\_73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dylan_73)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2003, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-will-my-comp-save-images-only-as-bmp/163505/9 "2003-03-24T18:46:55Z")
**Supernate** : This doesn’t always work; it depends on the cause. Of course, they could just read the Knowledge Base article I linked to and fix the problem?