How to determine MIME type of file in android?

The MimeTypeMap solution above returned null in my usage. This works, and is easier:

Uri uri = Uri.fromFile(file);
ContentResolver cR = context.getContentResolver();
String mime = cR.getType(uri);

Detect mime type of any file

public String getMimeType(Uri uri) {           
    String mimeType = null;
    if (ContentResolver.SCHEME_CONTENT.equals(uri.getScheme())) {
        ContentResolver cr = getAppContext().getContentResolver();
        mimeType = cr.getType(uri);
    } else {
        String fileExtension = MimeTypeMap.getFileExtensionFromUrl(uri
                .toString());
        mimeType = MimeTypeMap.getSingleton().getMimeTypeFromExtension(
                fileExtension.toLowerCase());
    }
    return mimeType;
}

First and foremost, you should consider calling MimeTypeMap#getMimeTypeFromExtension(), like this:

// url = file path or whatever suitable URL you want.
public static String getMimeType(String url) {
    String type = null;
    String extension = MimeTypeMap.getFileExtensionFromUrl(url);
    if (extension != null) {
        type = MimeTypeMap.getSingleton().getMimeTypeFromExtension(extension);
    }
    return type;
}

Optimized version of Jens' answere with null-safety and fallback-type.

@NonNull
static String getMimeType(@NonNull File file) {
    String type = null;
    final String url = file.toString();
    final String extension = MimeTypeMap.getFileExtensionFromUrl(url);
    if (extension != null) {
        type = MimeTypeMap.getSingleton().getMimeTypeFromExtension(extension.toLowerCase());
    }
    if (type == null) {
        type = "image/*"; // fallback type. You might set it to */*
    }
    return type;
}

Important: getFileExtensionFromUrl() only works with lowercase!

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Update (19.03.2018)

Bonus: Above methods as a less verbose Kotlin extension function:

fun File.getMimeType(fallback: String = "image/*"): String {
    return MimeTypeMap.getFileExtensionFromUrl(toString())
            ?.run { MimeTypeMap.getSingleton().getMimeTypeFromExtension(toLowerCase()) }
            ?: fallback // You might set it to */*
}