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File format guide

What each format is, how to open it, and how to convert it — grouped by category.

3D models

FBX is a proprietary 3D file format developed by Autodesk for seamless 3D content exchange across various software applications.

Learn about the GLB 3D format, its pros and cons, supported software, and how to convert files using ConvertX.

GLTF (GL Transmission Format) is an open standard file format designed for the efficient transmission and loading of 3D scenes and models.

The OBJ format is a standard 3D image file format used to store geometric data and surface properties.

PLY is a polygon file format primarily used to store three-dimensional data from 3D scanners.

STL is a file format widely used for 3D printing and computer-aided design, representing surface geometry using a mesh of triangles.

Archives

7Z Compressed Archive

7Z is a compressed archive file format that provides high compression ratios using LZMA and LZMA2 compression algorithms.

GZ is a single-file compression format based on the DEFLATE algorithm, widely used in Unix-like operating systems for compressing individual files.

RAR is a proprietary archive file format supporting data compression, error recovery, and file spanning.

TAR is a standard Unix archive format used to bundle multiple files and directories into a single file without compression.

ZIP is a widely used archive file format that supports lossless data compression. It allows multiple files and folders to be bundled together and reduced in size for easier storage and transfer.

Audio

AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) is a lossy digital audio compression format known for offering better sound quality and efficiency than MP3 at similar bitrates. It's widely adopted for streaming and mobile devices.

FLAC Audio File

FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) is a popular audio format that compresses digital audio without any loss of quality. It's ideal for audiophiles and archiving high-fidelity sound.

M4A is an audio-only format developed by Apple, widely used for high-quality music storage and distribution. It serves as the standard container for uncompressed or compressed audio data within the MPEG-4 multimedia standard.

A widely used digital audio format known for its efficient compression and broad compatibility. It allows for smaller file sizes with good sound quality.

OGG is a free, open-source container format primarily used for streaming and storing digital audio. It often uses the Vorbis audio compression codec, offering good quality at efficient file sizes.

Opus Audio File

Opus is a versatile, open-source audio codec optimized for interactive speech and music over the internet, offering high quality at low bitrates and latency.

A WAV file is an uncompressed audio format developed by Microsoft and IBM, known for its high fidelity. It is widely used for professional audio editing and high-quality sound storage.

WMA (Windows Media Audio) is a proprietary audio format developed by Microsoft, known for its good compression and quality.

Disk images

An IMG file is a raw sector-by-sector disk image used to store exact copies of floppy disks, hard drives, or optical media.

QCOW2 Disk Image

QCOW2 (QEMU Copy On Write v2) is a disk image file format for hypervisors that supports dynamic allocation, compression, and snapshots.

VirtualBox Disk Image

VDI is a virtual disk image file format used primarily by Oracle VM VirtualBox to store guest operating system data.

VHD (Virtual Hard Disk) is a disk image file format that represents a virtual hard disk drive, commonly used by virtualization software.

VHDX Virtual Hard Disk

VHDX is a virtual hard disk format developed by Microsoft, designed to support much larger storage capacities and advanced features compared to its predecessor, VHD.

VMDK Virtual Disk

VMDK (Virtual Machine Disk) is a file format that describes containers for virtual machine hard disk drives, originally developed by VMware.

Documents

A DOC file is a legacy word processing document format primarily used by Microsoft Word before 2007. It stores text, images, tables, and formatting in a proprietary binary structure.

DOCX is a standard file format for text documents created by Microsoft Word. It is based on the Open XML standard and uses XML to store document content, styles, and formatting.

EPUB is a widely adopted open standard for digital books, offering reflowable content that adapts to various screen sizes. It's the most common format for e-readers, excluding Amazon Kindle.

HyperText Markup Language file

HTML is the standard markup language used to structure and display content on the World Wide Web. It defines the layout and elements of a webpage, such as headings, paragraphs, images, and links.

Markdown is a lightweight markup language used for creating formatted text using a plain-text editor. It is widely favored for its simplicity and readability.

MOBI is an e-book file format primarily used for reading digital books on mobile devices. It offers reflowable text and support for images, suitable for various screen sizes.

ODT is an open standard text document format used primarily by word processors like LibreOffice Writer and Apache OpenOffice.

The Portable Document Format (PDF) is a universal file format designed for presenting documents independently of application software, hardware, and operating systems, ensuring consistent display across platforms.

PowerPoint Presentation (PPTX)

A PPTX file is a Microsoft PowerPoint Open XML (PPTX) presentation file used for slideshows. It contains slides with text, images, audio, video, charts, and other elements.

Rich Text Format

Rich Text Format (RTF) is a universal document file format developed by Microsoft for cross-platform document interchange. It allows for text styling and formatting that remains consistent across various word processors.

TXT Plain Text File

The TXT format is a universal plain text file, containing unformatted text characters. It is highly compatible across all operating systems and devices.

XLSX Spreadsheet

XLSX is the primary file format for Microsoft Excel since version 2007, used for storing and organizing tabular data. It's an Open XML-based spreadsheet format.

Fonts

The OpenType Font (.otf) is a scalable vector font format developed jointly by Microsoft and Adobe, widely used for professional typography across operating systems.

TTF is a digital font format created by Apple and Microsoft in the late 1980s, widely used for desktop publishing and web design.

WOFF (Web Open Font Format) is a font format specifically designed and optimized for use on the web.

WOFF2 (Web Open Font Format 2) is a compressed font format designed specifically for the web by W3C, offering significantly better compression than its predecessor WOFF.

GIS

GeoJSON is a geospatial data interchange format based on JSON, designed to represent geographic features along with their non-spatial attributes.

GPX GPS Exchange Format

GPX is an XML-based lightweight file format designed for storing and transferring GPS data such as waypoints, tracks, and routes between applications and devices.

KML Geographic Data File

KML is an XML-based file format used to display geographic data in mapping applications like Google Earth.

KMZ is a compressed version of KML (Keyhole Markup Language) files used to display geographic data in mapping software like Google Earth.

SHP Geospatial Vector Format

The Shapefile (.shp) is a popular geospatial vector data format used in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to store geometric location and attribute information.

Images

Adobe Illustrator Artwork

AI is a proprietary vector graphics file format developed by Adobe Inc. for storing single-page vector designs.

Sony RAW Image (ARW)

ARW is a proprietary raw image file format used by Sony digital cameras, storing uncompressed or lossless compressed sensor data.

AVIF is a modern, open-source image file format offering superior compression and quality compared to older formats. It supports HDR, wide color gamut, and transparency.

BMP (Bitmap) is an uncompressed raster image format developed by Microsoft, known for its high quality and large file sizes. It's widely supported across various operating systems and image editing software.

CorelDRAW Image File (.cdr)

CDR is a proprietary vector graphics file format developed by Corel Corporation, primarily used for vector illustrations, logos, and layout designs.

Computer Graphics Metafile (.cgm) is an international standard file format for 2D vector graphics, raster graphics, and text.

Canon Raw 2 Image

CR2 is a proprietary raw image file format created by Canon, containing minimally processed data from the camera sensor.

Canon Raw Image File

CRW is a proprietary raw image format used by older Canon digital cameras to store uncompressed sensor data. It preserves maximum image detail for professional post-processing.

Kodak RAW Image File

The .dcr file format is a proprietary RAW image format used by select digital cameras manufactured by Eastman Kodak.

DNG Digital Negative Image

DNG is a publicly available archival format for camera raw image files, created by Adobe to ensure long-term compatibility.

DXF (Drawing Exchange Format) is a CAD data file format developed by Autodesk to enable data interoperability between AutoCAD and other programs.

EMF (Enhanced Metafile) is a 32-bit vector graphics file format developed by Microsoft, commonly used for storing scalable illustrations in Windows applications.

Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) is a vector graphics file format used primarily in professional printing and publishing.

Epson RAW Image (.erf)

The ERF file is a proprietary RAW image format generated by Epson digital cameras. It stores uncompressed or losslessly compressed sensor data.

OpenEXR is a high dynamic range image file format developed by Industrial Light & Magic for use in computer graphics animation and visual effects.

A bitmap image format supporting animation and lossless compression, widely used for web graphics. Ideal for short, looping clips and animated icons.

HDR (High Dynamic Range) image files store high dynamic range imagery, capturing a far greater range of luminance than standard image formats.

HEIC is an image format primarily used by Apple devices, offering superior compression and advanced features compared to JPEG. It stores high-quality photos in smaller file sizes.

An ICO file is an image format used to store icons for Microsoft Windows. It can contain multiple images of different sizes and color depths, including transparency.

A widely used image format for digital photography and web graphics. It uses lossy compression to reduce file size.

JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) is a widely used image format known for its efficient lossy compression, making it ideal for photographs and complex images. It offers a good balance between file size and image quality.

JPEG XL (.jxl) is a modern raster image format designed to provide superior compression, wide color gamuts, and high-resolution support for web and professional use.

The .kdc file extension is primarily used for raw digital camera image formats generated by specific older Kodak digital cameras. It contains uncompressed or minimally processed sensor data.

Mamiya RAW Image

Learn about the Mamiya RAW (.mef) image format, its key features, and which software programs can open it.

PNG (Portable Network Graphics) is a widely used raster image format known for its lossless compression and support for transparency. It's ideal for web graphics, logos, and images where quality and transparency are crucial.

PPM (Portable Pixmap Format) is a simple, uncompressed raster image format designed for easy exchange of image data between platforms.

PostScript Document

PostScript (.ps) is a page description language developed by Adobe, primarily used for desktop publishing and printing.

SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) is an XML-based vector image format for two-dimensional graphics with support for interactivity and animation. It's ideal for web graphics that need to scale without losing quality.

TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) is a high-quality, lossless image format widely used for professional photography, desktop publishing, and archival storage. It preserves image integrity without data loss.

WebP is a modern image format developed by Google, designed to provide superior lossless and lossy compression for images on the web. It aims to create smaller, richer images that make the web faster.

Windows Metafile

WMF is a vector and raster image format developed by Microsoft, primarily used for storing clip art and vector graphics in Windows applications.

Subtitles

Advanced Sub Station Alpha Subtitles

ASS is a powerful subtitle file format that supports advanced styling, positioning, and typesetting for video content.

SRT Subtitle File

SRT is a plain-text subtitle file format used worldwide for displaying time-synchronized captions in videos and movies.

WebVTT Subtitle File

VTT is a standard text-based file format used for displaying timed text tracks, such as subtitles and captions, in HTML5 video elements.

Video

AVI (Audio Video Interleave) is a multimedia container format developed by Microsoft, widely used for storing video and audio data. It's known for its broad compatibility with various video players and operating systems.

Flash Video file

FLV is a container file format used to deliver video over the internet using Adobe Flash Player. It was widely adopted for streaming video content on platforms like YouTube in its early days.

Matroska Video (MKV)

MKV is a versatile container format designed to hold an unlimited number of video, audio, picture, or subtitle tracks in a single file. It is the gold standard for high-quality media storage.

MOV is a multimedia container file format developed by Apple, primarily used for storing video, audio, and text. It's often associated with Apple's QuickTime framework.

An MP4 file is a widely used digital multimedia container format primarily for storing video and audio. It's known for its efficient compression and broad compatibility across devices and platforms.

WebM is an open-source media file format designed for the web, providing high-quality video compression with efficient playback.

WMV (Windows Media Video) is a video compression format developed by Microsoft. It is commonly used for streaming and storing video on Windows-based systems.