Open BAK files in your browser
A .bak is a copy an app kept before it saved over your file. See which app’s file yours is, and open it, right here. Nothing leaves your device.
Or drop it anywhere on this page
What you'll see
Your file opens as what its bytes say it is, a drawing, a document, a database or a text, or on its About card when only its own app reads it.
- Told by its bytes • Whatever its name
- Word, Excel and PowerPoint inside • In their own viewers
- Drawings and databases • Opened as what they are
- Every byte in the hex editor • Search, Go to and Inspect
About BAK
Apps write .bak files as a safety copy: AutoCAD keeps the drawing as it was before your last save, editors like Notepad++ keep the text, and SQL Server and accounting apps put a whole database in one. The name only says it’s a backup, never whose.
Filepeek reads its bytes, so an AutoCAD .bak opens as the drawing, a Word, Excel or PowerPoint file kept as .bak opens in its viewer, a SQLite database lists its tables, a text opens as text and a ZIP as a folder. AutoCAD’s autosaves, .sv$ files, open as drawings the same way.
A SQL Server backup, which only SQL Server restores, opens on its About card with what it is and the app that restores it, and so does any other .bak whose app keeps its layout to itself. Every byte is in the hex editor.
Backup file
.bak
Format
- MIME type
- application/octet-stream
- Made by
- AutoCAD, SQL Server, editors and many other apps
Inside the file
- Holds
- A copy of a file, as it was
- Often
- Drawings, documents and databases
- Told by
- Its bytes, not its name
- Made by
- AutoCAD, SQL Server and editors
Opens in every browser
Filepeek opens what a .bak holds in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari. On their own, browsers only download it.
- YouChromeOpens through Filepeek
- YouEdgeOpens through Filepeek
- YouFirefoxOpens through Filepeek
- YouSafariOpens through Filepeek
Apps that open BAK
- WindowsThe app that made it • SQL Server Management Studio for a database backup
- MacThe app that made it
- iPhone and iPadNo app opens it
- AndroidNo app opens it
Questions
How do I open a .bak file?
Drop it here. Filepeek tells which app made it by its bytes and opens it as that app’s file, or says what it is and which app restores it.
How do I open an AutoCAD .bak?
Drop it here and it opens as the drawing it is. To use it in AutoCAD, rename a copy from .bak to .dwg.
What is a .sv$ file?
AutoCAD’s autosave, a whole drawing it saves every few minutes. Drop it here, or rename a copy to .dwg for AutoCAD.
How do I restore a SQL Server .bak?
In SQL Server Management Studio, right-click Databases and choose Restore Database. Filepeek says it’s a SQL Server backup and which database server made it, without reading its tables.
Why does my .bak open as text?
Editors such as Notepad++ and Vim keep a text’s last version as .bak, so it is text. Rename a copy back to the file’s own extension to use it again.
Is it safe to open a .bak here?
Yes. Filepeek only reads it, nothing in it runs and the file never leaves your device.