Acceptable File Types

Blackboard 7.x will allow you to attach any file — no matter its format — to a Blackboard content item.  If a file format is recognized, the Blackboard 7.x server can communicate to your computer the appropriate application to use to open and display the file's contents when the user clicks on the link.

If you are using an Apple Macintosh computer, the MacOS uses its own file recognition scheme. The standard three-letter extensions will not be automatically added to the filename. Macintosh users will need to add these three-letter extensions to filenames in order for Blackboard to recognize the file's format.

Blackboard 7.x does recognize several hundred file formats, including all the standard Web formats, media formats, and office suites, but you may still occasionally encounter a file format it does not recognize.  If a file format is not recognized or the appropriate application for displaying the file is not installed on the computer, you can still attach a file of that format. When the user clicks on the link, instead of the application being automatically launched, the user will be prompted to download the file. 

Important Note

Once an item or area is deleted from the Blackboard Course Shell it CANNOT be recovered.

It is important to understand that Blackboard 7.x is designed as a course management system, not as a primary authoring tool. You can deliver any kind of content through Blackboard 7.x, taking advantage of the security, authentication, integration with communication and collaboration tools, and integration with the My Institution portal and other services in the Blackboard 7.x environment.

Do not build all of your content in Blackboard 7.x itself. Use tools designed specifically for the authoring of content in various formats and upload that content into Blackboard 7.x for delivery. Common tools for authoring content include:
Blackboard Accepts the Following File Types:

Extension

File Type

Files Associated With The File Type

.aam

Multimedia

Macromedia Authorware plug-in
Note that the .aam file is the starting point for a series of files that must be enclosed in a .ZIP files.

.aiff

Audio

Audio Program

.asf

Multimedia

Microsoft .NET Show

.au

Audio

Real Audio Player

.avi

Video

Video Player (not Macintosh Compatible)

.doc

Text

Microsoft Word Or Other Word Processor

.exe

Executable

Executable File

.gif

Image

Graphics Program or Web Browser

.html, .htm

Web Page

HTML editor or Web Browser

.jpg, .jpeg

Image

Graphics program or Web Browser

.jif

Image

Graphics program or Web Browser

.mp3

Audio

Audio Program

.mpe

Audio/Video

Audio Program

.mpg, .mpeg

Image

Graphics program or Web Browser

.moov, movie

Movie

QuickTime movie

.mov

Video

Movie or media player

.pdf

Text

Adobe Acrobat Reader

.png

Image

Portable Network Graphics

.ppt, .pps

Slide show

Microsoft PowerPoint and PowerPoint Player

.qt

Movie

QuickTime

.ra

Audio

Real Audio Player

.ram

Video

Real Audio Movie

.rm

Audio

Audio Program

.rtf

Text

Rich Text Format

.swf

Multimedia

Macromedia Shockwave plug-in

.tiff, .tif

Image

Graphics program of Web Browser

.txt

Text

Text or HTML editor, word processor

.wav

Audio

Audio program

.wma

Audio

Audio program

.wmf

Graphic

Microsoft Windows

.wmv

Media/Audio

Microsoft Windows

.wpd

Text

WordPerfect or other word processor

.xls

Spreadsheet

Microsoft Excel

.zip

Text

WinZip