Did you know that on Chromium browsers, forms tend to download as ASPX files? After you’ve downloaded it, you may be perplexed with how to open an ASPX file. If you want to know more, keep reading to learn the step by step process of how to open it as a PDF.
What Is an ASPX File?
Many websites are developed and coded using Microsoft’s ASP.net framework. Active Server Page Extended (ASPX) files with the ASPX file extension are generally related to the sites designed for ASP, and hey can also be dubbed as .NET web forms.
It is more common to see the ASPX extension as part of a URL, but your browser will sometimes download a file with this extension instead of what you anticipated.
How to Open an ASPX File
How to open these files depends on what file type you were expecting. If you were expecting a document or form that should have been a PDF, simply renaming the file with PDF extension should let you open it in your default PDF application.
If you were expecting an image file like a jpg or png, you could try renaming the file with one of those extensions.
If you’re unable to see the file extensions (and this is the default in many operating systems), you’ll need to first.
- Open the Run dialog box (Win+R)
- Enter control folders.
- Use the View menu
- Find and uncheck Hide extensions for known file types
- Apply the changes
- Open Finder
- Go to Finder -> Preferences
- On the Advanced tab, Check the box next to Show all filename extensions
Then return to your file browser to find the file and rename it.
If the issue happens repeatedly with the same browser, try switching to another browser like Firefox or Internet Explorer.
How to Convert an ASPX File
If you need to use a file that is an ASPX and the above options don’t work for you, you can try one other way. With the file open in a chromium browser, hit Ctrl+P (Command + P on macOS) to print it. Instead of sending it to your printer to convert it from aspx to pdf, select Save As PDF. This process will let you download the file as a PDF to your computer.
Beyond this, it is essential to remember that ASPX files have specific purposes. If they are converted using other methods, they will stop doing these things.
For example, converting these files from ASPX to HTML may result in a visually similar page, but many of the page elements requiring the back-end server to work just won’t. Still, if you open the converted file in an ASPX editor like Visual Studio, you can save it to other web formats like HTM, HTML, ASP, WSF, VBS, or others.
What’s Next
Encountering unknown file types can be challenging, and we hope we’ve helped you with how to open an ASPX file and other tips here. Come back often to check out other articles on this site for excellent tips on additional topics.