diff --git a/distribution/lib/Standard/Base/0.0.0-dev/src/Data.enso b/distribution/lib/Standard/Base/0.0.0-dev/src/Data.enso
index 2123bd0f5814..09445020675f 100644
--- a/distribution/lib/Standard/Base/0.0.0-dev/src/Data.enso
+++ b/distribution/lib/Standard/Base/0.0.0-dev/src/Data.enso
@@ -174,6 +174,7 @@ read_text path=(Missing_Argument.throw "path") (encoding : Encoding = Encoding.d
          example_list_files =
              Data.list Examples.data_dir name_filter="**.md" recursive=True
 @directory Folder_Browse
+@name_filter File_Format.name_filter_widget
 list : Text | File -> Text -> Boolean -> Vector File
 list (directory:(Text | File)=enso_project.root) (name_filter:Text="") recursive:Boolean=False =
     file_obj = File.new directory
diff --git a/distribution/lib/Standard/Base/0.0.0-dev/src/Data/Text/Extensions.enso b/distribution/lib/Standard/Base/0.0.0-dev/src/Data/Text/Extensions.enso
index e0fe19b5b3ec..7f85781c8734 100644
--- a/distribution/lib/Standard/Base/0.0.0-dev/src/Data/Text/Extensions.enso
+++ b/distribution/lib/Standard/Base/0.0.0-dev/src/Data/Text/Extensions.enso
@@ -335,7 +335,7 @@ Text.find_all self pattern:Text|Regex=".*" case_sensitivity:Case_Sensitivity=..S
              # Evaluates to true
              "CONTACT@enso.org".match regex Case_Sensitivity.Insensitive
 Text.match : Text|Regex -> Case_Sensitivity -> Boolean ! Regex_Syntax_Error | Illegal_Argument
-Text.match self pattern:Text|Regex=".*" case_sensitivity:Case_Sensitivity=..Sensitive =
+Text.match self pattern:Text|Regex=".*" case_sensitivity:Case_Sensitivity=..Sensitive -> Boolean =
     case_insensitive = case_sensitivity.is_case_insensitive_in_memory
     compiled_pattern = Regex.compile pattern case_insensitive=case_insensitive
     compiled_pattern.matches self
diff --git a/distribution/lib/Standard/Base/0.0.0-dev/src/Data/XML/XML_Format.enso b/distribution/lib/Standard/Base/0.0.0-dev/src/Data/XML/XML_Format.enso
index c583e385396c..a450a1763475 100644
--- a/distribution/lib/Standard/Base/0.0.0-dev/src/Data/XML/XML_Format.enso
+++ b/distribution/lib/Standard/Base/0.0.0-dev/src/Data/XML/XML_Format.enso
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import project.Network.URI.URI
 import project.Nothing.Nothing
 import project.System.File.File
 import project.System.File.Generic.Writable_File.Writable_File
+import project.System.File_Format.File_Name_Pattern
 import project.System.File_Format_Metadata.File_Format_Metadata
 import project.System.Input_Stream.Input_Stream
 from project.Data.Text.Extensions import all
@@ -50,6 +51,10 @@ type XML_Format
     get_dropdown_options : Vector Option
     get_dropdown_options = [Option "XML" (Meta.get_qualified_type_name XML_Format)]
 
+    ## PRIVATE
+    get_name_patterns -> Vector File_Name_Pattern =
+        [File_Name_Pattern.Value "XML" ["*.xml"]]
+
     ## PRIVATE
        Implements the `File.read` for this `File_Format`
     read : File -> Problem_Behavior -> Any
diff --git a/distribution/lib/Standard/Base/0.0.0-dev/src/System/File.enso b/distribution/lib/Standard/Base/0.0.0-dev/src/System/File.enso
index b3df00218cc7..29536ef11c11 100644
--- a/distribution/lib/Standard/Base/0.0.0-dev/src/System/File.enso
+++ b/distribution/lib/Standard/Base/0.0.0-dev/src/System/File.enso
@@ -791,6 +791,7 @@ type File
 
              example_list_md_files =
                  Examples.data_dir.list name_filter="**.{txt,md}" recursive=True
+    @name_filter File_Format.name_filter_widget
     list : Text -> Boolean -> Vector File
     list self name_filter:Text="" recursive:Boolean=False =
         if self.is_directory.not then Error.throw (Illegal_Argument.Error "Cannot `list` a non-directory.") else
@@ -799,7 +800,7 @@ type File
                 "" -> all_files
                 _ ->
                     used_filter = if recursive.not || name_filter.contains "**" then name_filter else
-                        (if name_filter.starts_with "*" then "*" else "**/") + name_filter
+                        (if name_filter.starts_with "*" then "*" else "{**/,}") + name_filter
                     matcher = File_Utils.matchPath "glob:"+used_filter
                     all_files.filter file->
                         pathStr = self.relativize file . path
diff --git a/distribution/lib/Standard/Base/0.0.0-dev/src/System/File_Format.enso b/distribution/lib/Standard/Base/0.0.0-dev/src/System/File_Format.enso
index 85a0522c7752..1c7f17e5e1e7 100644
--- a/distribution/lib/Standard/Base/0.0.0-dev/src/System/File_Format.enso
+++ b/distribution/lib/Standard/Base/0.0.0-dev/src/System/File_Format.enso
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import project.Metadata.Widget
 import project.Network.URI.URI
 import project.Nothing.Nothing
 import project.Panic.Panic
+import project.Runtime
 import project.System.File.File
 import project.System.File.Generic.Writable_File.Writable_File
 import project.System.File_Format_Metadata.File_Format_Metadata
@@ -79,6 +80,12 @@ type Auto_Detect
     get_dropdown_options : Vector Option
     get_dropdown_options = [Option "Auto Detect" (Meta.get_qualified_type_name Auto_Detect)]
 
+    ## PRIVATE
+       Returns the union of name patterns of all currently loaded formats,
+       since `Auto_Detect` should be able to read any of the loaded formats.
+    get_name_patterns -> Vector File_Name_Pattern =
+        [File_Name_Pattern.Value "All known formats" File_Format.all_known_name_patterns]
+
 ## Interface for all file formats.
 type File_Format
     ## PRIVATE
@@ -118,12 +125,50 @@ type File_Format
         _ = [stream, metadata]
         Unimplemented.throw "This is an interface only."
 
+    ## PRIVATE
+       A static method on each format that returns a vector of options that can
+       be displayed in format selectors that allow choosing this file format.
+
+       A single format instance can provide multiple options to choose, or none
+       at all.
+    get_dropdown_options : Vector Option
+    get_dropdown_options = Unimplemented.throw "This is an interface only."
+
+    ## PRIVATE
+       A static method on each format that returns a vector of name pattern
+       options that can be displayed in the `name_filter_widget`.
+    get_name_patterns -> Vector File_Name_Pattern = Unimplemented.throw "This is an interface only."
+
+    ## PRIVATE
+       Returns a list of all name patterns of all known file formats.
+    all_known_name_patterns -> Vector Text =
+        format_types.flat_map .get_name_patterns . flat_map .patterns . distinct
+
     ## PRIVATE
     default_widget : Widget
     default_widget =
         options = ([Auto_Detect]+format_types).flat_map .get_dropdown_options
         Single_Choice display=Display.Always values=options
 
+    ## PRIVATE
+       Builds a widget intended to be used for `name_filter` of `File.list` and
+       its siblings that allows to filter file names by file format.
+    name_filter_widget -> Widget =
+        known_patterns = File_Format.all.flat_map .get_name_patterns
+        options = [Option "Any file" '""'] + known_patterns.map file_name_pattern->
+            value = (_combine_patterns file_name_pattern.patterns) . pretty
+            Option file_name_pattern.display_name value
+        Single_Choice display=Display.When_Modified values=options
+
+## Combines a set of file name patterns into a single pattern that will match any of them.
+   It is compatible with the `name_filter` format of `File.list`.
+private _combine_patterns (patterns : Vector Text) -> Text =
+    Runtime.assert (patterns.length > 0)
+    Runtime.assert message="The name patterns cannot contain {a,b} patterns to be mergeable." <|
+        contains_cases_regex = ".*[{},].*"
+        patterns.all (p-> p.match contains_cases_regex . not)
+    patterns.join prefix="{" separator="," suffix="}"
+
 ## A file format for plain text files.
 type Plain_Text_Format
     ## A file format for plain text files with the specified encoding.
@@ -168,6 +213,10 @@ type Plain_Text_Format
     get_dropdown_options : Vector Option
     get_dropdown_options = [Option "Plain Text" "..Plain_Text"]
 
+    ## PRIVATE
+    get_name_patterns -> Vector File_Name_Pattern =
+        [File_Name_Pattern.Value "Plain Text" ["*.txt"], File_Name_Pattern.Value ".log files as Plain Text" ["*.log"]]
+
     ## PRIVATE
        Implements the `File.read` for this `File_Format`
     read : File -> Problem_Behavior -> Any
@@ -214,6 +263,10 @@ type Bytes
     get_dropdown_options : Vector Option
     get_dropdown_options = [Option "Bytes" (Meta.get_qualified_type_name Bytes)]
 
+    ## PRIVATE
+    get_name_patterns -> Vector File_Name_Pattern =
+        [File_Name_Pattern.Value ".dat Binary Data" ["*.dat"]]
+
     ## PRIVATE
        Implements the `File.read` for this `File_Format`
     read : File -> Problem_Behavior -> Any
@@ -260,6 +313,10 @@ type JSON_Format
     get_dropdown_options : Vector Option
     get_dropdown_options = [Option "JSON" (Meta.get_qualified_type_name JSON_Format)]
 
+    ## PRIVATE
+    get_name_patterns -> Vector File_Name_Pattern =
+        [File_Name_Pattern.Value "JSON" ["*.json", "*.geojson"]]
+
     ## PRIVATE
        Implements the `File.read` for this `File_Format`
     read : File -> Problem_Behavior -> Any
@@ -296,3 +353,16 @@ parse_boolean_with_infer (field_name : Text) (value : Boolean | Text | Nothing)
         "true" -> True
         "false" -> False
         _ -> Error.throw (Illegal_Argument.Error ("The field `"+field_name+"` must be a boolean or the string `infer`."))
+
+## PRIVATE
+type File_Name_Pattern
+    ## PRIVATE
+       Represents a single file pattern entry.
+       It may still contain multiple patterns that are related to a single type
+       of file.
+
+       Each pattern should comply with the format expected by `name_filter` in
+       `File.list`, however, the patterns should not use the `{a,b}` syntax,
+       as it will be used by the `File_Format` to merge patterns and nesting it
+       would not be allowed.
+    Value display_name:Text (patterns : Vector Text)
diff --git a/distribution/lib/Standard/Database/0.0.0-dev/src/Connection/SQLite_Format.enso b/distribution/lib/Standard/Database/0.0.0-dev/src/Connection/SQLite_Format.enso
index 4230b1a2eabc..52ec194238a5 100644
--- a/distribution/lib/Standard/Database/0.0.0-dev/src/Connection/SQLite_Format.enso
+++ b/distribution/lib/Standard/Database/0.0.0-dev/src/Connection/SQLite_Format.enso
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ from Standard.Base import all
 import Standard.Base.Errors.Common.Type_Error
 import Standard.Base.Errors.Illegal_Argument.Illegal_Argument
 import Standard.Base.System.File.Generic.Writable_File.Writable_File
+import Standard.Base.System.File_Format.File_Name_Pattern
 import Standard.Base.System.File_Format_Metadata.File_Format_Metadata
 import Standard.Base.System.Input_Stream.Input_Stream
 from Standard.Base.Metadata.Choice import Option
@@ -53,6 +54,10 @@ type SQLite_Format
     get_dropdown_options : Vector Option
     get_dropdown_options = [Option "SQLite" "..SQLite"]
 
+    ## PRIVATE
+    get_name_patterns -> Vector File_Name_Pattern =
+        [File_Name_Pattern.Value "SQLite Database" ["*.sqlite", "*.db"]]
+
     ## PRIVATE
        Implements the `File.read` for this `File_Format`
     read : File -> Problem_Behavior -> Any
diff --git a/distribution/lib/Standard/Image/0.0.0-dev/src/Image_File_Format.enso b/distribution/lib/Standard/Image/0.0.0-dev/src/Image_File_Format.enso
index 42617183301c..d401b2f9bd2a 100644
--- a/distribution/lib/Standard/Image/0.0.0-dev/src/Image_File_Format.enso
+++ b/distribution/lib/Standard/Image/0.0.0-dev/src/Image_File_Format.enso
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ from Standard.Base import all
 import Standard.Base.Errors.Common.Type_Error
 import Standard.Base.Errors.Illegal_Argument.Illegal_Argument
 import Standard.Base.System.File.Generic.Writable_File.Writable_File
+import Standard.Base.System.File_Format.File_Name_Pattern
 import Standard.Base.System.File_Format_Metadata.File_Format_Metadata
 import Standard.Base.System.Input_Stream.Input_Stream
 from Standard.Base.Metadata.Choice import Option
@@ -39,6 +40,11 @@ type Image_File_Format
     get_dropdown_options : Vector Option
     get_dropdown_options = [Option "Image" "..Image"]
 
+    ## PRIVATE
+    get_name_patterns -> Vector File_Name_Pattern =
+        patterns = supported.map ext-> "*" + ext
+        [File_Name_Pattern.Value "Image" patterns]
+
     ## PRIVATE
        Implements the `File.read` for this `File_Format`
     read : File -> Problem_Behavior -> Any
diff --git a/distribution/lib/Standard/Table/0.0.0-dev/src/Delimited/Delimited_Format.enso b/distribution/lib/Standard/Table/0.0.0-dev/src/Delimited/Delimited_Format.enso
index d230dbefba44..510f2ddf9f36 100644
--- a/distribution/lib/Standard/Table/0.0.0-dev/src/Delimited/Delimited_Format.enso
+++ b/distribution/lib/Standard/Table/0.0.0-dev/src/Delimited/Delimited_Format.enso
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import Standard.Base.Errors.Common.Type_Error
 import Standard.Base.Errors.Illegal_Argument.Illegal_Argument
 import Standard.Base.Network.HTTP.Response.Response
 import Standard.Base.System.File.Generic.Writable_File.Writable_File
+import Standard.Base.System.File_Format.File_Name_Pattern
 import Standard.Base.System.File_Format_Metadata.File_Format_Metadata
 import Standard.Base.System.Input_Stream.Input_Stream
 from Standard.Base.Metadata.Choice import Option
@@ -96,6 +97,10 @@ type Delimited_Format
     get_dropdown_options : Vector Option
     get_dropdown_options = [Option "Delimited" "..Delimited"]
 
+    ## PRIVATE
+    get_name_patterns -> Vector File_Name_Pattern =
+        [File_Name_Pattern.Value "CSV" ["*.csv"], File_Name_Pattern.Value "Tab Delimited" ["*.tsv", "*.tab"], File_Name_Pattern.Value "Delimited Flat Files" ["*.csv", "*.tsv", "*.tab"]]
+
     ## PRIVATE
        ADVANCED
        Implements the `File.read` for this `File_Format`
diff --git a/distribution/lib/Standard/Table/0.0.0-dev/src/Excel/Excel_Format.enso b/distribution/lib/Standard/Table/0.0.0-dev/src/Excel/Excel_Format.enso
index da91e089839b..7981a2e2fc29 100644
--- a/distribution/lib/Standard/Table/0.0.0-dev/src/Excel/Excel_Format.enso
+++ b/distribution/lib/Standard/Table/0.0.0-dev/src/Excel/Excel_Format.enso
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import Standard.Base.Errors.Common.Type_Error
 import Standard.Base.Errors.Illegal_Argument.Illegal_Argument
 import Standard.Base.Metadata.Display
 import Standard.Base.System.File.Generic.Writable_File.Writable_File
+import Standard.Base.System.File_Format.File_Name_Pattern
 import Standard.Base.System.File_Format_Metadata.File_Format_Metadata
 import Standard.Base.System.Input_Stream.Input_Stream
 from Standard.Base.Metadata.Choice import Option
@@ -106,6 +107,10 @@ type Excel_Format
         range = Option "Excel Range" "..Range"
         [workbook, sheet, range]
 
+    ## PRIVATE
+    get_name_patterns -> Vector File_Name_Pattern =
+        [File_Name_Pattern.Value "Excel" ["*.xls", "*.xlsx", "*.xlsm", "*.xlt"]]
+
     ## PRIVATE
        ADVANCED
        Implements the `File.read` for this `File_Format`
diff --git a/distribution/lib/Standard/Tableau/0.0.0-dev/src/Tableau_Format.enso b/distribution/lib/Standard/Tableau/0.0.0-dev/src/Tableau_Format.enso
index afd9084189c0..6db83c5f3fab 100644
--- a/distribution/lib/Standard/Tableau/0.0.0-dev/src/Tableau_Format.enso
+++ b/distribution/lib/Standard/Tableau/0.0.0-dev/src/Tableau_Format.enso
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ from Standard.Base import all
 import Standard.Base.Errors.Common.Type_Error
 import Standard.Base.Errors.Illegal_Argument.Illegal_Argument
 import Standard.Base.System.File.Generic.Writable_File.Writable_File
+import Standard.Base.System.File_Format.File_Name_Pattern
 import Standard.Base.System.File_Format_Metadata.File_Format_Metadata
 import Standard.Base.System.Input_Stream.Input_Stream
 from Standard.Base.Metadata.Choice import Option
@@ -43,6 +44,10 @@ type Tableau_Format
     get_dropdown_options : Vector Option
     get_dropdown_options = [Option "Tableau Hyper" "..Hyper_File"]
 
+    ## PRIVATE
+    get_name_patterns -> Vector File_Name_Pattern =
+        [File_Name_Pattern.Value "Tableau Hyper" ["*.hyper"]]
+
     ## PRIVATE
        Implements the `File.read` for this `File_Format`
     read : File -> Problem_Behavior -> Any
diff --git a/test/Base_Tests/src/System/File_Read_Spec.enso b/test/Base_Tests/src/System/File_Read_Spec.enso
index d9b9629cdba0..e4186e6f8ce3 100644
--- a/test/Base_Tests/src/System/File_Read_Spec.enso
+++ b/test/Base_Tests/src/System/File_Read_Spec.enso
@@ -79,8 +79,13 @@ add_specs suite_builder =
             r1.should_fail_with File_Error
             r1.catch.should_be_a File_Error.Corrupted_Format
 
+    suite_builder.group "File Format" group_builder->
+        group_builder.specify "should provide a list of all supported file format name patterns" <|
+            patterns = File_Format.all_known_name_patterns
+            patterns.should_contain "*.txt"
+            patterns.should_contain "*.json"
+
 main filter=Nothing =
     suite = Test.build suite_builder->
         add_specs suite_builder
     suite.run_with_filter filter
-
diff --git a/test/Base_Tests/src/System/File_Spec.enso b/test/Base_Tests/src/System/File_Spec.enso
index 478cae48b210..f6d6ff9d7452 100644
--- a/test/Base_Tests/src/System/File_Spec.enso
+++ b/test/Base_Tests/src/System/File_Spec.enso
@@ -933,6 +933,14 @@ add_specs suite_builder =
             filtered1b = root.list name_filter="*.txt" recursive=True . map .to_text
             filtered1b.sort.should_equal (resolve ["sample.txt", "subdirectory/a.txt", "subdirectory/nested/b.txt"])
 
+            # It should also work if more complicated pattern is used
+            filtered1c = root.list name_filter="{*.txt,foobarbaz}" recursive=True . map .to_text
+            filtered1c.sort.should_equal (resolve ["sample.txt", "subdirectory/a.txt", "subdirectory/nested/b.txt"])
+
+            # And correctly match file 'starts with' condition in recursive mode
+            filtered1d = root.list name_filter="a*.txt" recursive=True . map .to_text
+            filtered1d.sort.should_equal (resolve ["subdirectory/a.txt"])
+
             filtered2 = root.list name_filter="*/*/*" recursive=True . map .to_text
             filtered2.should_equal (resolve ["subdirectory/nested/b.txt"])
 
diff --git a/test/Visualization_Tests/src/Widgets/File_Format_Widgets_Spec.enso b/test/Visualization_Tests/src/Widgets/File_Format_Widgets_Spec.enso
index d00b98242dc5..ef043869bfc9 100644
--- a/test/Visualization_Tests/src/Widgets/File_Format_Widgets_Spec.enso
+++ b/test/Visualization_Tests/src/Widgets/File_Format_Widgets_Spec.enso
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import Standard.Base.Metadata.Display
 
 from Standard.Table import all
 from Standard.Database import all
+from Standard.Image import all
 
 import Standard.Visualization.Widgets
 
@@ -14,7 +15,7 @@ from Standard.Test import all
 
 add_specs suite_builder =
     suite_builder.group "Widgets for Data.read" group_builder->
-        group_builder.specify "should work and return basic formats" <|
+        group_builder.specify "should provide a list of loaded file formats" <|
             result = Widgets.get_widget_json Data .read ["format"]
             result.should_contain "Auto Detect"
             result.should_contain "Plain Text"
@@ -22,6 +23,15 @@ add_specs suite_builder =
             result.should_contain "Excel Sheet"
             result.should_contain "SQLite"
 
+        group_builder.specify "should provide a list of available file name patterns" <|
+            result = Widgets.get_widget_json Data .list ["name_filter"]
+            result.should_contain "*.txt"
+            result.should_contain "*.xls"
+            result.should_contain "*.csv"
+            result.should_contain "*.png"
+            result.should_contain "Any file"
+            result.should_contain "All known formats"
+
 main filter=Nothing =
     suite = Test.build suite_builder->
         add_specs suite_builder