diff --git a/backend/utils/files.py b/backend/utils/files.py
index 1dd2519..00d66b7 100644
--- a/backend/utils/files.py
+++ b/backend/utils/files.py
@@ -13,3 +13,54 @@ def get_mime_type(file_path: str) -> str:
     """
     mime_type, encoding = mimetypes.guess_type(file_path)
     return mime_type
+
+
+def categorize_mime_type(mime_type: str) -> str:
+    image_types = {
+        "image/jpeg",
+        "image/png",
+        "image/bmp",
+        "image/tiff",
+        "image/webp",
+        "image/svg+xml",
+        "image/heif",
+        "image/heic",
+    }
+    gif_types = {"image/gif"}
+    video_types = {
+        "video/mp4",
+        "video/mpeg",
+        "video/quicktime",
+        "video/x-msvideo",
+        "video/x-matroska",
+        "video/webm",
+        "video/ogg",
+    }
+    flash_types = {"application/x-shockwave-flash", "application/vnd.adobe.flash.movie"}
+    archive_types = {
+        "application/zip",
+        "application/x-rar-compressed",
+        "application/x-tar",
+        "application/gzip",
+        "application/x-7z-compressed",
+        "application/x-bzip2",
+    }
+    pdf_types = {"application/pdf"}
+    audio_types = {"audio/mpeg", "audio/wav", "audio/ogg", "audio/flac", "audio/aac"}
+
+    if mime_type in image_types:
+        return "image"
+    elif mime_type in gif_types:
+        return "gif"
+    elif mime_type in video_types:
+        return "video"
+    elif mime_type in flash_types:
+        return "flash"
+    elif mime_type in archive_types:
+        return "archive"
+    elif mime_type in pdf_types:
+        return "pdf"
+    elif mime_type in audio_types:
+        return "audio"
+    else:
+        return "other"