You have probably come across files with the BAK extension on your PC and wondered how to open such a file. A file with this extension represents data saved during a backup. In other words, BAK files are generic backup files, so opening them involves the use of numerous programs. So, you’ve found your BAK file. How to open it? First, you can use the program in which it was created. Such software can be either specially designed for backup or simply an application that creates a backup copy of another essential file. For example, Outlook uses the BAK format to back up files. Other programs also work with this format, but today we will mostly focus on Microsoft Outlook. Let’s start!
How to open your BAK file?
The fastest and easiest way to open your BAK file is to double-click with the mouse. In this case, the Windows system itself will select the necessary program to open it. If your BAK file won’t open, likely, your PC doesn’t have the necessary application program installed to view or edit files with this extension. You can also use third-party applications, such as email transfer software for Outlook, to view your doc.
General recommendations in solving the problem of opening a BAK file will be to use Notepad or another text editor. Many files have textual content that is readable regardless of the file extension, and a text editor may be able to display their content correctly. Of course, this method may not work, but it is always worth a try.
However, there is still a crucial question of how to convert your Outlook BAK file into PST. There are two main ways you can do it:
- The first way is to open such a file in any program configured by default and choose to save the open file in another format (Outlook);
- The second way is to use file conversion services or software to convert files to another format.
Also, when deciding how to open BAK, you shouldn’t try to change the file extension. This will not result in a format conversion, and the computer will not recognize such a file. If none of the programs installed on your computer help, you can only resort to conversion tools. You have to decide which one to use.
In other words, when talking about how to open BAK, you should use the standard methods for such cases. First, try to open it using the default settings. If this does not help, seek help from third-party online services or the appropriate software. Applications that work with this type of data are not rare today, and most of them can be found freely available on the web or purchased for a small fee.
What difficulties may you encounter?
It is essential to understand that no program can open all BAK files, just as one program can open all JPG image files or all TXT files. BAK files do not work in the same way. To delve deep into this topic, read the article about the Unicode PST conversion.
For example, if you find a BAK file in your Music folder, then, most likely, this is some sort of media file. The quickest way to confirm this is to open the BAK file in a popular media player like VLC and see if it works. Instead, you can rename the file to a format you suspect is in the file, such as MP3, WAV, etc., and then try to open the file with that new extension. Some BAK files are simply renamed docs used to save the original doc. This is usually done not only to keep a backup copy of the file but also for other reasons.
To sum up, we recommend you use special software to convert or open BAK files. If you are sure that this particular doc was created in Outlook, you can use the Outlook converters to display it. Just follow the instructions in your program and get access to all the necessary data in a matter of minutes.
