.dat files
.dat file
Generic Data File
A meaningless extension — .dat says only that some program stored data here.
What opens a .dat file
- Windows
- The application that created it, Notepad (built in — to check if it is text), Winmail Opener (for winmail.dat)
- macOS
- The application that created it, TextEdit (built in — to check if it is text), TNEF's Enough (for winmail.dat)
- Linux
- The application that created it, file (to identify it), tnef (for winmail.dat)
What a .dat file is
There is no such thing as "the DAT format". Programs use .dat for whatever internal data they like, so the right opener is always whichever application created it. The exception worth knowing is winmail.dat, which is an Outlook TNEF attachment produced when a sender's mail client uses Microsoft-only formatting — the tool winmail.dat readers or the site winmaildat.com extracts the real attachments from it.
Details
- Extension
- .dat
- Full name
- Generic Data File
- Category
- Data
- Created by
- Various
- Format
- Binary
Common questions
- How do I open a .dat file?
- On Windows use The application that created it; on macOS use The application that created it; on Linux use The application that created it. A meaningless extension — .dat says only that some program stored data here.
- What is a .dat file?
- Generic Data File. There is no such thing as "the DAT format". Programs use .dat for whatever internal data they like, so the right opener is always whichever application created it.
Related pages
- .csv — Comma-Separated Values A spreadsheet as plain text, one row per line — the universal data exchange form
- .json — JavaScript Object Notation The standard text format for structured data on the web and in config files.
- .xml — Extensible Markup Language A tag-based text format for structured data, still everywhere in enterprise syst
- .yaml — YAML Data File An indentation-based configuration format, readable but unforgiving about whites
- .log — Log File A plain-text record of what a program did, newest events usually at the bottom.
- .torrent — BitTorrent Metainfo File A few kilobytes of metadata describing what to download and from whom — not the
- .vcf — vCard Contact File One or more contacts as plain text — the standard way to move an address book.
- .sql — SQL Script A text file of database commands — often a full database dump.
- .ics — iCalendar Event A calendar invitation or event feed in a plain-text standard format.
- .sqlite — SQLite Database A complete relational database in a single file — the most deployed database in
- .db — Generic Database File An extension many programs use for their data — it does not identify one format.
- .bin — Binary File Raw binary data — most often a disc image paired with a .cue, or device firmware
Sources
- Media Types Registry — IANA
- Official vendor product documentation — At One Place