[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"howto:arrow:mac:en":3},{"resolvedFromAlias":4,"canonicalExt":5,"ext":5,"name":6,"category":7,"categoryName":8,"updatedAt":9,"os":10,"osLabel":11,"quickSolution":12,"stepByStep":13,"recommendedSoftware":16,"alternativeMethods":17,"commonIssues":18,"securityNote":43,"extensionPath":44,"extensionLabel":45,"breadcrumbs":46,"metaDescription":56},false,"arrow","Apache Arrow IPC File (Feather V2)","data","Data","2026-06-12T08:35:30.517Z","mac","Mac","To open .ARROW files on Mac, install Python + PyArrow or R + the arrow package.",[14,15],"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.",[],[],[19,25,31,37],{"title":20,"description":21,"steps":22},"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.",[23,24],"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":26,"description":27,"steps":28},"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.",[29,30],"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":32,"description":33,"steps":34},"“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.",[35,36],"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":38,"description":39,"steps":40},"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.",[41,42],"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.",".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.","/file-extension/arrow",".ARROW",[47,50,53],{"label":48,"to":49},"Home","/",{"label":51,"to":52},"How To","/file-extension",{"label":54,"to":55},"Open .ARROW on Mac","/how-to/open-arrow-on-mac","Learn how to open .ARROW files on Mac with step-by-step instructions, recommended software, and troubleshooting tips."]