Open KiCad PCB files in your browser
The circuit boards KiCad saves, shared on GitHub and maker sites by the thousand. Open one right here, both sides as it's made, with no CAD app. Nothing leaves your device.
Or drop it anywhere on this page
What you'll see
Your board opens as it's made, from the top and from below, its zones as KiCad last filled them, and a schematic sheet by sheet in KiCad's colors.
- Every layer • Hide one or show one alone
- A board's top and, mirrored beside it, its bottom
- Search its text • References, values and labels
- Export • PNG and SVG
About KiCad PCB
Jean-Pierre Charras started KiCad in 1992, and with CERN's help it grew into the free app much of open hardware is designed in. Its boards have been .kicad_pcb files since 2013, and every KiCad since opens them.
A board is text in parentheses: its layers, the footprints of its parts with their pads, the tracks and vias that join them net by net, the zones of copper poured around them as KiCad last filled them, and the board's edge. Its schematic lives beside it, in a .kicad_sch of the same name, with a .kicad_pro for the project's settings.
Filepeek reads it in your browser and draws the board as it's made, from the top and, mirrored beside it, from below: green mask, gold copper where the mask is open, white silkscreen and the holes. Each layer can be hidden or shown alone, inner copper, courtyards and fabrication notes too, Measure gives distances in millimeters, and Export saves PNG or SVG.
KiCad board
.kicad_pcb
Format
- MIME type
- application/x-kicad-pcb
- Made by
- Jean-Pierre Charras, now the KiCad project
- Released
- 2013
Inside the file
- Holds
- Footprints, pads, tracks, vias and zones
- Layers
- Copper, mask, silkscreen, paste and more
- Zones
- Saved filled, as KiCad last poured them
- Text
- S-expressions, lists in parentheses
Opens in every browser
Browsers download KiCad boards, and KiCad needs installing. Filepeek opens them in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari, from KiCad 4 on.
- YouChromeOpens through Filepeek
- YouEdgeOpens through Filepeek
- YouFirefoxOpens through Filepeek
- YouSafariOpens through Filepeek
Apps that open KiCad PCB
- WindowsKiCad, free
- MacKiCad, free
- iPhone and iPadNo app built in opens it
- AndroidNo app built in opens it
Questions
How do I open a .kicad_pcb file without KiCad?
Drop it on this page or press Peek a KiCad PCB. The board opens from both sides as it's made, with nothing to install. KiCad itself is free for Windows, Mac and Linux, to change it.
Why is a copper zone empty, or out of date?
KiCad saves a zone with the copper it last filled it with, and that is what shows. A zone never filled shows none, and one filled before its tracks moved shows them as they were. Press B in KiCad to fill every zone again, then save.
Why does my old KiCad board open as text?
Before .kicad_pcb, KiCad saved boards as .brd text in a format of its own, which opens here as text. Opening one in a newer KiCad and saving it gives a .kicad_pcb that opens as a board.
Can I see the schematic too?
Yes. Open the .kicad_sch of the same name, or drop the project's folder: the board opens first, with its schematic a click away in the file list.
Can I check my board before ordering it?
The maker builds it from the Gerbers KiCad plots, so check those too. Here you can see both sides, show each layer alone and Measure between two points in millimeters, and Show details gives the board's size, its copper layers and its holes.