What is a .PART file?
A .PART file is a file that you might see on your computer if you've started downloading something from the Internet but haven't finished downloading it yet. This could happen because you're still downloading the file, you decided to pause the download, or something went wrong like your Internet connection got cut off, or the program downloading the file crashed. These .PART files are like placeholders or markers to show that the download isn't complete.
Programs like Mozilla Firefox, a popular web browser, use these .PART files. When you download a file with Firefox, it puts this .PART file in your "Downloads" folder. The file's name will look a bit strange because Firefox changes it and adds ".part" at the end while it's still downloading. For example, if you were downloading a movie file named "example.mov", while it's downloading, you'd see it as something like "ZT5KR1EL.mov.part" in your Downloads folder. Once the download is fully done, Firefox gets rid of the ".part" part, and the file goes back to its normal name, ready for you to use.
Other than Firefox, there are several programs that can handle these .PART files, including Jdownloader, Softdeluxe Download Manager, zsync, Microsoft Skype, and even on Android devices. Some of these, like Jdownloader, are specifically designed to manage downloads and can even resume a .PART file download if it was paused or interrupted.
If you're using Skype on a Mac and keep seeing a .PART file, it might be from an interrupted file transfer. You can try to delete this file by moving it to the trash, then securely emptying the trash while holding the "Command" key to make sure it's completely gone. This should stop the .PART file from popping up again.
In summary, .PART files are not complete files but are indicators of downloads that are still happening or got stopped midway. You can often resume these downloads with the right program, and once the download finishes, the .PART extension disappears, leaving you with your complete file.
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