[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"extension:v3:en:arrow":3},{"resolvedFromAlias":4,"canonicalExt":5,"ext":5,"name":6,"category":7,"categoryName":8,"updatedAt":9,"popularity":10,"summary":11,"howToOs":12,"quickAnswer":18,"answerIntro":19,"whatIs":20,"description":21,"furtherReading":22,"openInstructions":41,"commonIssues":55,"securityNotes":80,"faq":84,"aliases":97,"mimeTypes":98,"relatedExtensions":101,"breadcrumbs":149,"categoryAnchor":159,"categoryFuturePath":160,"metaDescription":161,"availableHowToOs":162,"openOnDeviceLinks":163,"cannotOpenReasons":179,"cannotOpenFixes":180,"convertOptions":181,"securityAffiliateMessaging":182,"securityAffiliates":183},false,"arrow","Apache Arrow IPC File (Feather V2)","data","Data","2026-06-12T08:35:30.517Z",35,".arrow files store data in Apache Arrow’s IPC file format for fast, cross-language columnar analytics. They are commonly read and written by Arrow libraries such as PyArrow (Python) and the Arrow R package.",[13,14,15,16,17],"windows","mac","linux","ios","android","To open .ARROW files on Windows, install a language/runtime that supports Apache Arrow (for example, Python with the PyArrow package, or R with the arrow package).","To open a .arrow file, use an Apache Arrow implementation such as PyArrow (Python) or the Arrow R package. These tools can load the Arrow IPC file into memory and convert it to tables/data frames for analysis.","A .arrow file is an Apache Arrow IPC file, a standardized on-disk representation of Arrow’s in-memory columnar data. The Arrow format specification describes an IPC file structure with a magic string \"ARROW1\" and a footer to enable efficient random access. Apache Arrow documentation explicitly recommends the “.arrow” extension for IPC files.","Apache Arrow is a cross-language development platform for in-memory analytics that standardizes a columnar memory format and related IPC (inter-process communication) formats. The IPC formats let systems exchange columnar data efficiently across languages and runtimes, which is why Arrow is widely used in analytics and data engineering pipelines.\n\nThe “.arrow” extension is recommended for Arrow IPC files (sometimes described in the R ecosystem as Feather V2). In practice, the same tooling that supports Arrow IPC can read .arrow files and expose them as tables/data frames in Python, R, Java, Go, and other ecosystems.\n\nArrow has both an IPC file format and an IPC streaming format; they are related but not identical. If a file was produced as a stream (or vice versa), some readers may error out unless you use the matching “file” vs “stream” reader.",[23,26,29,32,35,38],{"title":24,"url":25},"Media Types — IANA (Apache Arrow media types)","https://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/media-types.xhtml",{"title":27,"url":28},"Arrow Columnar Format — Apache Arrow (IPC File Format section)","https://arrow.apache.org/docs/8.0/format/Columnar.html",{"title":30,"url":31},"Specifications — Apache Arrow (format documentation entry point)","https://arrow.apache.org/docs/format/index.html",{"title":33,"url":34},"Streaming, Serialization, and IPC — Apache Arrow Python documentation","https://arrow.apache.org/docs/8.0/python/ipc.html",{"title":36,"url":37},"arrow: Integration to 'Apache' 'Arrow' (R package manual PDF)","https://community.r-multiverse.org/arrow/arrow.pdf",{"title":39,"url":40},"Apache Arrow — Wikipedia","https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_Arrow",{"windows":42,"macos":45,"linux":48,"ios":51,"android":53},[43,44],"Install a language/runtime that supports Apache Arrow (for example, Python with the PyArrow package, or R with the arrow package).","Use the library’s IPC “file” reader to load the .arrow file and then convert it to a table/data frame for viewing and analysis.",[46,47],"Install Python + PyArrow or R + the arrow package.","Open the .arrow file using the Arrow IPC file reader (not the streaming reader) and then print/inspect the resulting table/data frame.",[49,50],"Install Python + PyArrow or R + the arrow package from your distribution or environment.","Read the .arrow file using the Arrow IPC file format APIs and then query/convert it as needed.",[52],"There is no common native iOS app for Arrow IPC files; transfer the .arrow file to a desktop and open it with PyArrow (Python) or the Arrow R package.",[54],"There is no common native Android app for Arrow IPC files; transfer the .arrow file to a desktop and open it with PyArrow (Python) or the Arrow R package.",[56,62,68,74],{"title":57,"description":58,"steps":59},"Tried the streaming reader, but the file won’t open","Arrow has both an IPC file format and an IPC streaming format. If you use a streaming reader on an IPC file (or the other way around), you may get errors or truncated reads.",[60,61],"In your tool/library, choose the IPC “file” reader for .arrow files (not the “stream” reader).","If you’re unsure how it was produced, try both the file and stream readers provided by your Arrow library.",{"title":63,"description":64,"steps":65},"The file looks like “garbage” in a text editor",".arrow files are binary IPC data, not text; opening them in Notepad/TextEdit will not show meaningful content.",[66,67],"Open the file with an Arrow-capable tool (e.g., PyArrow or the Arrow R package) rather than a text editor.","Convert the loaded table to a human-readable format (for example, print a head/preview in your analysis environment).",{"title":69,"description":70,"steps":71},"“Not an Arrow file” / magic string or footer errors","The Arrow IPC file format includes a specific file signature and footer. If the download/copy is incomplete or the file is actually a different format renamed to .arrow, readers may report signature/footer problems.",[72,73],"Re-download or re-copy the file to ensure it isn’t truncated.","Confirm the producer actually wrote the Arrow IPC file format (and not the IPC streaming format or another container).",{"title":75,"description":76,"steps":77},"Schema/type mismatch when reading across languages","Arrow is cross-language, but data producers and consumers may disagree on schema details (field names, nullability, nested types), especially when a pipeline evolves.",[78,79],"Inspect the schema in your Arrow tool/library before processing the data.","Regenerate the .arrow file with an updated schema or add a compatibility step (e.g., cast/rename columns) after reading.",[81,82,83],".arrow is a binary data format and typically does not carry executable code, but parsing untrusted binary data can still expose bugs in readers; prefer up-to-date Arrow libraries when opening files from unknown sources.","If a .arrow file triggers signature/footer errors, treat it as potentially corrupted or mislabeled input (for example, a non-Arrow binary renamed to .arrow) and avoid forcing it through multiple parsers.","Arrow IPC files can be large; opening untrusted, very large files may cause high memory usage or denial-of-service conditions in data tools that eagerly load data.",[85,88,91,94],{"question":86,"answer":87},"Is .arrow the same as Apache Arrow “streaming” format?","No. Arrow defines an IPC file format and an IPC streaming format. The “.arrow” extension is recommended for IPC files; streaming data is handled by separate “stream” APIs in Arrow libraries.",{"question":89,"answer":90},"What MIME types are used for Arrow IPC data?","IANA lists official media types for Arrow, including application/vnd.apache.arrow.file (for the IPC file format) and application/vnd.apache.arrow.stream (for the streaming format).",{"question":92,"answer":93},"Can I open a .arrow file in Excel?","Not directly per the Arrow specifications and documentation. A common workflow is to read the .arrow file with an Arrow library (e.g., PyArrow or the Arrow R package) and then export to a spreadsheet-friendly format.",{"question":95,"answer":96},"Why do some tools call this Feather V2?","The Arrow R package documentation describes Arrow IPC files as Feather V2 and recommends using the “.arrow” extension for these IPC files.",[],[99,100],"application/vnd.apache.arrow.file","application/vnd.apache.arrow.stream",[102,108,114,119,125,131,137,143],{"ext":103,"name":104,"category":7,"categoryName":8,"popularity":105,"summary":106,"howToOs":107},"json","JSON data",88,".json files store structured data as plain text using the JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) format. They’re commonly used for web APIs, app configuration, and data exchange, and can be opened with any text editor or JSON-aware tools.",[13,14,15,16,17],{"ext":109,"name":110,"category":7,"categoryName":8,"popularity":111,"summary":112,"howToOs":113},"db","SQLite 3 Database",85,".db is commonly used for SQLite 3 database files—single-file relational databases used by many apps. You can open them with SQLite tools and many database browsers.",[13,14,15,16,17],{"ext":115,"name":116,"category":7,"categoryName":8,"popularity":111,"summary":117,"howToOs":118},"yaml","YAML File",".yaml is a YAML document: a human-readable data serialization format commonly used for configuration files and data exchange. You can open it with a text editor, or with editor support such as the YAML extension for Visual Studio Code.",[13,14,15,16,17],{"ext":120,"name":121,"category":7,"categoryName":8,"popularity":122,"summary":123,"howToOs":124},"sqlite3","SQLite 3 database",78,".sqlite3 is a SQLite version 3 database stored as a single cross-platform file. You can open it with SQLite’s sqlite3 command-line shell or any SQLite-capable database browser/library.",[13,14,15,16,17],{"ext":126,"name":127,"category":7,"categoryName":8,"popularity":128,"summary":129,"howToOs":130},"sqlite","SQLite 3 Database File",75,".sqlite is a SQLite 3 database stored as a single file. You open it with SQLite tools (for example, the SQLite command-line shell) or any application that supports SQLite.",[13,14,15,16,17],{"ext":132,"name":133,"category":7,"categoryName":8,"popularity":134,"summary":135,"howToOs":136},"jsonl","JSON Lines (newline-delimited JSON)",72,".jsonl is a JSON Lines file: plain text where each line is a complete JSON value, commonly used for logs and large datasets that are processed record-by-record.",[13,14,15,16,17],{"ext":138,"name":139,"category":7,"categoryName":8,"popularity":140,"summary":141,"howToOs":142},"parquet","Apache Parquet columnar data file",70,".parquet is an open, column-oriented file format for efficient storage and retrieval of tabular data. It’s commonly opened with data tools such as pandas (Python) and other analytics/ETL software that supports Apache Parquet.",[13,14,15,16,17],{"ext":144,"name":145,"category":7,"categoryName":8,"popularity":146,"summary":147,"howToOs":148},"ndjson","Newline-Delimited JSON (NDJSON)",55,"NDJSON is a text format where each line is a complete JSON object, making it convenient for streaming and log-like datasets. You can open it with any text editor, and many data tools can process it line-by-line.",[13,14,15,16,17],[150,153,156],{"label":151,"to":152},"Home","/",{"label":154,"to":155},"File Extension Index","/file-extension",{"label":157,"to":158},".ARROW","/file-extension/arrow","category-data","/category/data","Learn what .ARROW files are, how to open them on every platform, common fixes, and security best practices.",[13,14,15,16,17],[164,167,170,173,176],{"os":13,"label":165,"to":166},"Open .ARROW on Windows","/how-to/open-arrow-on-windows",{"os":14,"label":168,"to":169},"Open .ARROW on Mac","/how-to/open-arrow-on-mac",{"os":15,"label":171,"to":172},"Open .ARROW on Linux","/how-to/open-arrow-on-linux",{"os":16,"label":174,"to":175},"Open .ARROW on iOS","/how-to/open-arrow-on-ios",{"os":17,"label":177,"to":178},"Open .ARROW on Android","/how-to/open-arrow-on-android",[57,63,69,75],[60,61],[],"untrusted_source",[184,188],{"name":185,"description":186,"affiliateUrl":187},"Avast","Avast offers free and premium antivirus software that protects against viruses, malware, ransomware, and phishing. Scan files before opening them to ensure safety.","https://www.avast.com/lp-aff-consumer-store?expid=inf601",{"name":189,"description":190,"affiliateUrl":191},"Norton","Norton 360 delivers comprehensive antivirus protection, VPN, and identity theft monitoring. Scan files for threats before opening to keep your device secure.","http://buy.norton.com/aff_home?utm_campaign=en-ww_nor_n36_aff_nas_nau_nah_cj_nad_low:_sec_nat_mktc_norton_360"]