What Is an HFS File?

 What to Know

• An HFS file is an HFS disk image file.
• Open one in Windows with 7-Zip or PeaZip.
• Use a file converter to convert the files inside the HFS file.

This article explains what HFS files are and why they're used, plus how to open one in Windows and macOS.

What Is an HFS File?

A file with the HFS file extension is an HFS disk image file. HFS stands for hierarchical file system and is the file system used on a Mac computer for describing how files and folders are to be structured.

This file, then, organizes data in the same way, except that all the files are contained in a single file with the .HFS file extension. They're sometimes seen stored inside DMG files.

HFS files are similar to other disk image files in that they're used to store and organize lots of data in one manageable file that can easily be transferred around and opened at will.

HFS is also the abbreviation for a free web server called HTTP File Server, but HFS files don't necessarily have anything at all to do with that server software.

How to Open an HFS File

You can open HFS files on a Windows computer with any popular compression/decompression program. Two of our favorites are 7-Zip and PeaZip, both of which are able to decompress (extract) the contents of an HFS file.

HFSExplorer is another option. This program even lets Windows users read Mac-formatted hard drives that are using the HFS file system.

Mac OS X 10.6.0 and newer can natively read HFS files, but can't write to them. One way around this limitation is to use a program like FuseHFS. If you rename the .HFS file on a Mac to .DMG, the OS should immediately mount the file as a virtual disk when you open it.

Linux users should be able to rename the .HFS file so it has the .DMG file extension and then mount it with these commands (replacing the path names with your own information):

mkdir /mnt/img_name
mount /path_to_image/img_name.dsk /mnt/img_name -t hfs -o loop

While it's unlikely with HFS files on your computer, it's possible that more than one program you have installed supports the format, but the one set as the default program isn't the one you'd like to use. If so, see how to change file associations in Windows for instructions on changing the program.

How to Convert an HFS File

Lots of file formats can be converted using a free file converter, but we don't know of any that are able to save an HFS disk image file to any other format.

One thing you could do, however, is "convert" the files manually. This just means to extract the contents of the HFS file using a file unzip tool mentioned above. Once all the files are stored in a folder, repackage them in another archive format like ISO, ZIP, or 7Z using one of the compression programs above.

If you're not trying to convert the HFS file, but instead the file system HFS, to another file system like NTFS, you may have luck with a program like Paragon NTFS-HFS Converter.

Still Can't Open It?

If the file doesn't open normally with the programs linked above, and a conversion isn't helpful, re-read the file extension. You might be misreading it, in which case you could be dealing with a completely different file format.

For example, HSF is a similar looking extension, but it stands for HOOPS Stream Format and is used as a CAD file format. None of the information above will help you open one, because it has nothing to do with HFS files.

HAS is another file extension that could be mixed up with HFS. That one is used for files written in the Haskell programming language.

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What Is an XAR File?

 What to Know

• Some XAR files are compressed files in the Extensible Archive format.
• Open one with 7-Zip or PeaZip, or the xar utility.
• Convert to other archives like 7Z or ZIP with a file converter.

This article describes the different formats that use the XAR file extension, including which programs open each type and how to convert the file to a format that will open in other programs.

What Is an XAR File?

A file with the XAR file extension is usually associated with the Extensible Archive format. macOS uses these files for software installations (replacing the need for the GZ format). Safari browser extensions also use this same file format.

Microsoft Excel uses an XAR file to save documents under its AutoRecover feature. No matter what Excel file type is actively being used, all open files are periodically and automatically saved to a default location with this file extension.

The default file format in Xara graphic design software uses this same suffix to indicate that the drawing is in the vector format.

How to Open an XAR File

Compressed XAR archives can be opened with popular compression/decompression programs. Our two favorites are 7-Zip and PeaZip. If you use 7-Zip, right-click the file and choose 7-Zip > Open archive to open it.

Unix-based systems can use the xar utility to open XAR files. This command will extract the contents of yourfile.xar to the current working directly:

 xar -xf yourfile.xar

If it's a Safari browser extension that you have, it probably has the .safariextz extension attached to it because that's what the browser uses to identify such extensions. To use an XAR file as a browser extension, you have to first rename it and then open the .safariextz to install it in Safari.

However, since a .safariextz file is really just a renamed XAR file, you can open it with one of the decompression programs mentioned above to see its contents. Know, however, that opening this type of file in a program like 7-Zip won't let you use the extension like it was intended, but you will get to see the different files that make up the browser extension software.

Xara Designer Pro X can open XAR files that are drawings. Xara Xtreme for Linux is a free way to open the file.

How to Open XAR Excel Files

By default, as part of its AutoRecover feature, Excel auto-saves open files every so often in the event of a power outage or other unexpected shutdown of the program.

However, instead of saving the document in the format you're editing it in, and in the location you've saved it in, Excel saves to XAR in the following folder:

%userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel\

One example of an XAR file Excel might create is ~ar3EE9.xar. As you can see, the file is randomly named, so searching for it can be difficult. The file is also hidden and may be considered a protected system file.

To recover an Excel file that has been auto-saved, either search your computer for all .XAR files (Everything makes this easy) or open the default location shown above to find these files manually.

Finding an auto-saved Excel document in the above location requires that you're viewing hidden files and protected operating system files. See How to Show Hidden Files and Folders in Windows if you need help doing that.

Once you've found the file, you have to rename the file extension to one that Excel will recognize, like XLSX or XLS. Once finished, you should be able to open the file in Excel like you would any other.

If renaming doesn't work, you can try to open it in Excel directly using the Open and Repair option next to the Open button when browsing your computer for it. For this, you'll need to be sure you've chosen All Files from above the Open button.

How to Convert an XAR File

If the XAR file is in an archive format, it can be converted to other similar formats like ZIP, 7Z, GZ, TAR, and BZ2 using the free FileZigZag online file converter.

As you read above, the best way to convert one that was auto-saved in Excel is to just change the file extension to one that the software recognizes. If after you've saved the final file to XLSX or some other spreadsheet format, you want to convert that file to a different format, just plug it into a document file converter.

Converting an XAR file that's used by an Xara product is probably best done through the program that uses it. This may be found in something like the File > Save as option or in an Export menu.

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What Is a BZ2 File?

What to Know

• A BZ2 file is a BZIP2 compressed file.
• Open one with PeaZip or 7-Zip.
• Convert to GZ, ZIP, TAR, and other similar formats with FileZigZag.

This article explains what a BZ2 file is and how to open one on your computer or convert one to a different format like GZ, ISO, ZIP, etc.

What Is a BZ2 File?

A file with the BZ2 file extension is a BZIP2 compressed file. They're normally used only on Unix-based systems for software distribution.

BZ2 is often the compression used for popular file containers that don't support compression (like TAR files), so they may have a name like data.tar.bz2. Others that are holding compressed PNG image files, for example, might be named something similar like image.png.bz2.

A CPU that supports multi-threading can benefit from the upgraded PBZIP2 file compressor.

How to Open a BZ2 File

BZ2 files can be opened with 7-Zip and other compression/decompression programs. Of them, PeaZip is a good choice because it fully supports the format. This means it can open the file as well as compress one using the BZIP2 compression method to make a BZ2 file.

BZ2 archives can contain only one file, so if you're wanting to put multiple files into one, you have to wrap them in another archive format like TAR.

Apple's Archive Utility can open BZ2 files on a Mac for free, as can The Unarchiver. Some others for macOS include Incredible Bee's Archiver and Corel's WinZip, though neither are free to use past the trial.

Another option that works on all operating systems is B1 Online Archiver. It can open BZ2 files online in your web browser; no software download necessary.

You can use the free RAR app from RARLAB to open BZ2 files on an Android device. iOS users can install Zip Browser on iPhone or iPad.

Linux systems can extract the contents of the archive without any external software. Use this command in a terminal, but replace file.bz2 with your own file:

bzip2 -dk file.bz2

This command will keep the original file on your computer. Use bzip2 -d file.bz2 to have the original deleted after the extraction.

Files that are stored in a TAR file, but compressed with BZIP2, can be extracted with this command (again, replacing file.tar.bz2 according to the name of your own file):

tar xvjf file.tar.bz2

How to Convert a BZ2 File

The easiest way to convert this file to another archive format is to use one of the options from this list of Free File Converters for Occasionally Used Formats.

FileZigZag is one example that runs in your browser to convert BZ2 to GZ, ZIP, TAR, GZIP, TBZ, TGZ, 7Z, and other similar formats. Just upload the file to that website and choose which format to convert it to. You then have to download the converted file back to your computer before you can use it.

AnyToISO can be used to convert TAR.BZ2 files to ISO.

Since BZ2 files are archives, it means they're not in a "regular" format like PDF, MP4, TXT, CSV, etc. This means that you can't convert to one of those formats (i.e., BZ2 to TXT).

However, if you have a BZ2 file that contains one of those files, you can easily that file to a new format by just extracting it out of the archive with a file extractor like PeaZip. Finally, you can use a file converter on the TXT file (or whatever file you're working with) to save it to a new format.

If you're looking to do the reverse, and compress something like a BSP (Quake Engine Game Map) file to a BZ2 file, you can use the same file compression tool (like PeaZip). If you need help, TF2Maps.net has a great tutorial on compressing BSP to BZ2.

Still Can't Open It?

If the file doesn't open after trying the suggestions above, the most likely reason is that you're not actually dealing with a BZ2 file. It's easy to do this if you've misread the file extension.

For example, BZZ and B2A are similar extensions, but they have nothing to do with an archive. The former extension is used for projects created by a program called BuzzBundle, and the latter for a text-based format. Attempting to open either with the archive openers above will probably result in an error.

BZA is another, but it, confusingly, is an archive and so it might be usable with the same programs described above. Files using that extension are created by IZArc.

FAQ

• Can 7-ZIP open BZ2 files?

  Yes. Most programs that can open ZIP files, including 7-ZIP and WinRAR, can extract BZ2 files.

• How do I create a BZ2 file?

  You can only create BZ2 files in Linux. After installing BZ2 with the sudo command, use the syntax $ bzip2 filename.
  

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