External may refer to any of the following:
In general, external refers to anything outside of a location, object, or device.
External describes a hardware device that’s installed outside of the computer. For example, a printer (shown in picture) is an external device because it connects to the back of the computer and is outside the case. However, a video card is an internal device since it is found inside of the computer case.
External hardware examples
- eGPU
- Flash drive
- Flat-panel, Monitor, and LCD
- Hard Drive
- Headphones
- Joystick
- Keyboard
- Mouse
- Printer
- Projector
- Scanner
- Speakers
- USB drive
- USB sound card
With software, external software is any third-party software that’s not included with a computer. For example, a stand-alone program or off-the-shelf program you purchase at a store is considered external software.
With running software an external file is anything outside of the file currently loaded. For example, an external CSS or JavaScript file is a file that can be loaded from the HTML page being viewed. By loading an external file, you can keep long scripts or other code outside of the current one and use with additional ones.
With an operating system, external refers to any command that is not part of the shell. See the external command definition when referring to a command.
When referring to a network, external describes data that is accessible to those inside and outside the private network. For example, the Internet is an external source of data on a network.
Expansion, External bus, External icon, External sound card, Hardware terms, Internal, Portability, Third-party
