Identify
What is this file?
Wrong extension, no extension, a name like DOC0001 from a floppy disk – it does not matter. We look at the actual bytes and match them against 130 legacy formats, then show you what it can become.
Drop any old file here
or click to browse. One file at a time, up to 500 MB.
Your file is processed in a private workspace and deleted after 3 hours.
How the detector works
- 1. Signatures. Most formats begin with a fixed byte pattern – WordPerfect files start with FF 57 50 43, Access databases carry "Standard Jet DB" at offset 4, RealMedia starts with .RMF.
- 2. Containers. Word 97, Works, Publisher, Visio and Outlook messages all share the same OLE container. We open it and read the stream names inside to tell them apart. ZIP-based bundles (StarOffice, iWork) are handled the same way.
- 3. Structural probes. dBASE tables, Targa images, Palm databases, floppy images and mailboxes have no magic number, so we check header arithmetic and layout instead.
- 4. Extension as last resort. If nothing matches, the extension decides – and we label the result as a guess.