How to open .SR files on Mac
To open .SR files on Mac, install a sigrok frontend (commonly PulseView) and launch it.
Step-by-step instructions
- Install a sigrok frontend (commonly PulseView) and launch it.
- Open the .sr file from within the app (File → Open) so it is detected as a sigrok session.
- If needed, use sigrok-cli to convert/export the capture to another supported output format.
Common issues
The .SR file won’t open or is not recognized
This often happens when the file is opened in an unrelated app, or when the sigrok tools are too old to properly read the current session format (srzip/v2).
- Open the file from within PulseView (File → Open) rather than double-clicking into an unknown default app.
- Update PulseView/sigrok-cli to a current version and try again.
- If the app asks for an input format, select the native sigrok session format (.sr).
The file looks like a ZIP archive (or your system tries to unzip it)
The sigrok v2 session format is a standard ZIP file, so some systems may treat .sr as an archive instead of a capture session.
- Do not rename .sr to .zip for normal use; open it directly in PulseView or sigrok-cli.
- If you must inspect contents for troubleshooting, extract it with a ZIP tool, but keep a copy of the original .sr for use in sigrok.
Capture opens but shows missing/incorrect channels or decoding
Session files store capture data and related session information; differences in tool versions or expectations can lead to mismatches in how the capture is interpreted.
- Try opening the same .sr file in the latest PulseView version available to you.
- Use sigrok-cli to export the raw samples/metadata to another supported output format and re-import as needed.
Security note
.sr files are ZIP archives; treat them like any archive from an untrusted source (they may contain unexpected large data or structures that stress parsers).