A file viewer is a utility application software on operating systems, such as Linux, macOS, or Windows. The file viewer is responsible for user access of files located on a data storage device. File viewers allow the user to open and view content on a device, such as a Personal Computer (PC) or a mobile phone.
Overview File viewer applications can be categorized based on their functionality:
File Viewer Only applications do not allow the user to edit files. File Viewer and Converter applications allow viewing data, exporting data in a different file format, and copying information to the clipboard. File Viewer and Editor applications allow the user to view existing files, modify an existing file's content, or create a new file of a specific type. Differences in functionality are often due to software licensing and proprietary file formats. Some formats can be freely viewed but require specific software for creation or modification. For example, .DBF files created in dBASE could be viewed in Norton Commander, while .PDF files require software like Adobe Photoshop, LibreOffice, or Microsoft Word for editing, whereas Acrobat Reader supports only viewing.
To function correctly, a file viewer must interpret the structural information of a file format, such as byte order, character encoding, and newline styles. Media file viewers, such as video players, often rely on codecs rather than built-in format support. This approach allows users to extend a media viewer’s compatibility with additional file types.
Some editors, such as Audacity, allow users to open files as raw data, a feature sometimes used in glitch art. Additionally, some file viewers act as filters that convert binary files into text (e.g., antiword), though this may result in data loss.
Image viewers display graphic files on screen. Some viewers, such as IrfanView,"IrfanView - Kunnskapsbasen". NTNU. Retrieved 2025-03-05. can read multiple graphic file formats, while others, such as JPEGview only support a single format. Common image viewer features include thumbnail preview and creation, image zooming and rotation, color balance and gamma correction, resizing, etc.
Popular system-wide file viewers directly integrated into the shell of an operating system have been Quick View (included in Windows 9x) and Quick Look (included in MacOS starting since Mac OS X Leopard).
A web browser functions as a file viewer for HTML and various other file types. While HTML files are stored as plain text, web browsers render them into a structured, human-readable format. Additionally, web browsers can display multimedia files, including , videos, preformatted documents, and interactive content such as 3D models, augmented reality and virtual reality elements.
Examples of File Viewers Plain text files Less (Unix) gedit (Unix) Most (Unix) pg (Unix) More (command) vi notepad
Microsoft Office documents Microsoft Word Viewer Microsoft Excel Viewer PowerPoint Viewer
PDF files Adobe Acrobat Atril Evince PDF.js see :Category:PDF readers
Image files Directory Opus IrfanView ACDSee XnView
Video and audio files
Media Player Classic Windows Media Player VLC
Binary files Hiew UltraEdit Midnight Commander ExifTool
Programming languages source code files
Notepad++ VS Code
VRML and 3D models files
VRML Viewer FreeWRL view3dscene Microsoft 3D viewer
Microsoft Project plan files Microsoft Project Seavus Project Viewer (software)
See also Binary file#Viewing binary files Electronic document Image viewer Media player Text editor Web browser Terminal pager
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