Summary: DAT files are used by many different applications. To know what to do with a DAT file, you need to know what application created it.
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I have a ".dat" file on my computer, and I'd like to open it up and see what's inside. What is a .dat file, and what application do I use to look at it? |
In short: there's no way to tell.
The problem is that many applications use the file extension ".dat" to indicate a file that contains data.
But that's exactly all it tells us, and that's not enough.
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The problem is that so many different programs use ".dat" that it really doesn't tell you anything about the file, what it contains, or what program it belongs to. There is no standard format, and there is no standard way to interpret the contents. ".dat" is only a name and nothing more.
So I'll be clear: there is no way to know how to open a .dat file unless you know what program created it. Period.
A good example is that Yahoo Instant Messenger (YIM) apparently keeps it's message history in a file that ends in ".dat". The way Yahoo works, you can only open that .dat file using Yahoo Instant Messenger, and only of you are logged in to the account that created the file in the first place.
But if you don't know what application created the file, there's no way to know how to open it.
If you do know what application created the file, then it's likely only that application can be used to open it.
Related:
How do I know which program is used to open a particular type of file? It's not always obvious what program should be used to open certain types of files. There are clues if you know where to look and what to look for.
Is it safe to delete this file? Looking for large files when running out of disk space makes sense. We look at the steps to determine whether a file, such as a .dat file, is important.
Article C2140 - July 28, 2004
If that's all it's telling you, I'd try using notepad.
Posted by: Leo at August 9, 2005 8:19 PM
Posted by: palin at September 1, 2005 10:48 PMHow can i read the contents of ".dat" file and make modifications to it?
There's no way to answer that without knowing the application that created it.
Posted by: Leo at September 1, 2005 10:49 PMPlease tell me the meanings of this extension when it comes after several types of files.
Thank you.
Posted by: Abebe at September 30, 2005 12:23 AMPlease read the article you just commented on, it answers your question.
Posted by: Leo at September 30, 2005 7:31 AMHey Leo, I received a .dat file through e-mail from a Immo-office, they told me it should be opened with Acrobat Reader, but it doesn't seem to work. I replied them with telling them that I couldn't open it and then they just sent it again.
Posted by: Raf at October 11, 2005 2:16 AMCould you please help me?
Thank you very much
An acrobat reader file is a ".pdf" file ... I've not heard of them using ".dat". Either the sender is doing something wrong, or their mail program is. Ask them to either send their mail as "plain text" with the attachment, or if they have some other way to get you the file.
Posted by: Leo at October 11, 2005 9:41 AMCan u please tell me how to open an yahoo archived message that says dat file. and the symbol is in media player type....i have tried everything and they all say it does not support that kind of file. Need help fast. Please do the needful action in this regard reply me sooon
Thanks
Posted by: Kid at October 12, 2005 5:09 AMYou need to open a Yahoo Messenger .dat file using Yahoo Messenger logged into the same account that created the .dat file.
Posted by: Leo at October 12, 2005 9:55 AMI'm closing comments on this article because the comments are all the same, and are all answered in the article. I've reworked the article to be more clear, please be sure to read it.
Posted by: Leo at October 13, 2005 10:41 AM