If you want to know what are dat files, how you can open it and what happens if you delete them, you have come to the right article. In this article we are going to solve all the doubts you may have about this format, a format that is not associated with any specific application.
What are DAT files
DAT files, they are data files (hence its extension). These types of files are usually created automatically when we open a file of any type and remain hidden until we close the file.
But, in addition, they are also found inside the Windows folder to store configuration data mainly, like the .ini. You may also have come across a winmail.dat type file, a file that is automatically generated by the Outlook application when forwarding files.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, DAT files are not associated with any specific application, since they contain data that really is useless to us at all, except if it is winmail.dat.
Can I delete the DAT files?
Readable .dat files with a text editor
Although the content stored inside the DAT files absolutely useless to us, it is essential for the operation of the system or a specific application.
When you open a certain type of document, the application can generate a file from the document information which is used to set certain parameters necessary to correctly open the document.
This type of files is automatically deleted once we have closed the document or the application.
It is likely that on some occasion you have come across this type of file when accessing the folder where it is stored while you edited it if you have set your computer to show hidden files.
Unreadable files with a text editor
Files in this format are also found inside the Windows folder. These files include configuration options of the different system applications and are not hidden.
These files, like many others, are in the system for a reason, not on a whim, so it doesn't even occur to you to delete them. If you delete them, being configuration files, you are not going to free up hardly any space, since they are generally plain text files.
If we talk about the Outlook winmail.dat files, things change. It changes because these are not system files, but forwarded attachments that Microsoft's mail application has packaged in that format.
How to open DAT files in Windows
In the previous section, I have commented that the DAT files are not associated with a specific application. It is not always about configuration files (although it is mostly).
Sometimes it's just extra data an app generates when it opens. The fastest method to quickly identify if it is a file that we can easily open or not is looking at its size.
yes file occupies less than 100 KB, we will be able to open the file without problems with any text editor. However, if the file is larger, it is not a file that stores text inside. Although we will be able to open it with a text editor, the information will not be readable.
To open a .dat file on Windows, we must perform the steps that I show you below:
- We place the mouse above the file we want to open and we select it.
- Next, we press the Right mouse button and select the Open option.
- Next, in the window that opens, click on More apps so that all the applications installed on our computer and with which we can open the file are displayed.
- Finally, we select the application Memo pad.
If the text shown is plain, we will be able to access the information that is stored inside it, even if it doesn't help us at all.
When the text shows characters we don't understand, it's not a plain text file, but another file format. What format? It is impossible to find out.
If it is of the utmost importance to know what type of application allows that file to be opened, the only thing we can do is access file properties and check if it is a system file or related to a third-party application.
- When it comes to system files, in the section Properties the value in SYSTEM. This means that it is a Windows system file, so we will not be able to open it with any application.
- If, on the contrary, in the section Properties, the value is the name of our PC, it means that it is a file that has been created by one of the applications that we have installed. In this case, if we delete it, it will not affect the operation of Windows, but it will affect the application.
How to open DAT files on macOS
While on Windows we have the Notepad app to open .dat files, on macOS, we must use the TextEdit application.
The process for open a .dat file on macOS it is the same as in Windows.
- We place the mouse over the file and we press the right button of the mouse.
- Next, we select To open with and select the TextEdit application.
How to open winmail.dat files
The easiest and fastest solution to open files that we have received via Outlook is to use the web winmaildat.com. With this app, we can access the inside of these guys.
However, we are faced with a limitation, since the maximum file that is capable of processing this website is 50 MB. If your file exceeds that amount, you will have to use Outlook or the mail client with which you received this file.
The problem is that not all email clients allow us to open this type of file and, sometimes, there is no way to do it.
The easiest solution is to ask the sender to resend the file again, but without the message being converted to a file, which is why these types of files are created.