From being a giant equipment that took up a large space in the room and raised the temperature of the place to be small that could fit in the palm of your hand. Even with technologies like ventilation and cooling system liquid, the change that PCs had in our lives and in their evolution is shocking. This is both at the hardware and software level. This procedure has led to the creation of 'data types', among them we find the file with the extension .dat.
In an operating system there are hundreds of functions that can be performed. In the case of Windows, we have functions such as deleting temporary files or folders, up to advanced functions such as viewing the log or history of errors that have occurred in the system. Every system is essential because it contains basic functions like these.
An operating system is the main software of a computer. This works thanks to PC components like RAM, that you can take full advantage of for RAM, processor, HDD, among others. These unify the PC, thus becoming the interface on which other software, both main and third parties, can perform actions that please the user, giving a record of files of different extensions.
System files and their extensions
An operating system houses an innumerable number of files, both system and applications. Based on these files that are produced, our programs can “run” or run on the computer. In that way, whether they are data files that when run it generates a procedure To put a program to use, as well as after performing a task, from this comes a file with the remaining data.
A file consists of its name plus an abbreviation at the end, this is the extension o type of file. The list of file extensions is quite extensive, from the famous .txt, .jpg, .zip, .pdf, .mp3 e inclusive .exe. These are cataloged in their respective section, the files can also be encrypted or encrypted. Among all these types of files that exist is the file with a .dat extension that we will talk about.
What is a file with a .dat extension? – Meaning extension .Dat
These are somewhat peculiar, so much so that there are doubts about what this file specifically is, since its purposes are not well defined. These exist for multiple functions, a .dat file contains generic information related to its provenance. In other words, brings data from the software with which it was generated, an example can be CCleaner or Minecraft.
They are also known as ‘Information files’ for not having a fixed content, but for having the necessary information of its base program. This type of data is not intended to be manipulated by users, but by different programs. Despite this, since it can save generic data, it is feasible that when you open it, can see complete data, as pictures, videos and more.
This information contained in the .dat is difficult to say if it may be important or not, but in general it is binary or flat data. In the same way, it is recommended do not delete these files, Since by not knowing specifically what information they provide, this could trigger mayhem in the source software.
On the other hand, these are present in most operating systems. From Windows operating system to MacOS, including Linux, a file with a .dat extension may be required to run any program.
How to open a file with a .Dat extension on my PC – Full tutorial
There are many alternatives to open a .dat file, despite this, not all methods usually work with the file. This is because, despite being the same extension, not all .dat files are the same. Despite this, if we have a .dat file that we want to visualize to see what it contains, the main thing in the first place is scan this file with the antivirus that we have installed. In this way we rule out that it is a malicious file, as it is known that these are used for these purposes.
After verifying that it is not a virus file, Next we will show you how to open a file with a .dat extension from your PC.
- One of the alternatives to open the file can be with the Notepad or Notepad. In general, these programs are already installed in our system. We will have to verify the latter.
- To open the file we simply right click on it, and in the menu that appears we will select ‘To open with’.
- Then, a list of applications will appear with which we can 'try’ open the file.
- We select either of these two. If the file works, will show us your information absolutely and where it comes from.
In a given case it doesn't work, we will see a lot of characters distributed in a strange and nonsensical way. Despite this, there is the opportunity that in the first line you have, on separate characters exactly like in an alphabet soup, the name of the program it came from. These can be Excel, CCleaner, Minecraft, VLC Media Player, among many other programs.
We can also use applications like Microsoft Word. This can be used as a viewer and allows us to see the file information. The procedure to open it is the same with Notepad, also with the VLC Media Player. Any of these programs will help us to see the content of the .dat file, especially if the program is able to reproduce the same.
Edit file with extension .Dat from my PC
As we previously mentioned, files with a .dat extension are generally flat or binary data. Despite this, when opening them with a text editor it is possible to edit them. The easiest way to do it is through the editor itself so that when we finish making the changes we want, let's save the file as if it were a normal text document.
Notably we will not always be able to recognize what the content of a file with a .dat extension does, so editing it should be something we will certainly do.
Can I open a file with a .Dat extension on my mobile??
Yes, it is possible to open a file with a .dat extension on mobile using a specific application or using text editing applications. The procedure is the same as in the PC if we opt for this last route. In addition, it usually happens that when we receive an email (regularly from Microsoft Outlook) and it comes in this format. Despite this, as we said, it is feasible to open the file using a specialized application.
Applications to open files with .Dat extensions – Android e iOS
There is a range of applications that allow us to open these types of files. One of them is Abridor de Winmail.dat, which will allow you to view the content of these files. This application is absolutely free and you can read the .dat files directly from the mail or whatever you have downloaded to your Android mobile.
On the other hand, for iOS users there is also the Winmaildat Opener application with which they can open files with the .dat extension without problems. In the same way, you will find other applications that you can use to both open and edit these files.
Among them we can mention 'Edit more’ which has tools for programmers, even though it only allows us to read the file but not edit it. In addition, if the file with the .dat extension was originally an audio or video file, we can also use ‘VLC media player’ to see or hear it.
And last but not least, ‘Notepad ++’ is another application that will allow us to open these types of files as well as to be able to edit them. As if we were doing it directly from the PC.
Steps to change the .dat extension in a file: change the extension to .doc
To change the extension of a .dat file, all you have to do is rename yourself. This procedure is very easy and you can do it from any device.
- Find the file with a .dat extension whose format you want to change.
- If you do it through PC you will have to right click and choose from the menu 'Rename’.
- In this point, you will see that the file name is shaded but not its format, what is the ‘.dat’. To change to a .doc extension you will only have to change the '.dat’ a ‘.doc’ and then save the changes.
On the other hand, you can also open the file with the .dat extension directly with Microsoft Word as explained previously and later save said document. That way, the information contained in the file can be viewed in a .doc document for whatever you need.
