file Alternatives

file is described as 'Standard Unix program for recognizing the type of data contained in a computer file using magic numbers' and is an app. There are eight alternatives to file for Windows, Linux, Web-based and Mac. The best file alternative is TrID. It's not free, so if you're looking for a free alternative, you could try TrIDNet or xdg-utils. Other great apps like file are Toolsley File Identifier, FileCHK, HexBrowser and DROID.

file iconfile
  9
  • FreeOpen Source
  • ...

file is a standard Unix program for recognizing the type of data contained in a computer file using magic numbers.

More about file
file alternatives page was last updated Oct 28, 2022
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  1. TrID icon
     17 likes
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    Allows to detect file type by recognition of binary signatures. Database with signatures can be downloaded from author site or trained by user with program named TrIDScan(see at author site).

    8 TrID alternatives

    License model

    • Free PersonalProprietary

    Country of Origin

    • IT flagItaly
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online

    TrID VS file

     
    • TrID is the most popular Web-based, Windows & Linux alternative to file.

    • TrID is the most popular free alternative to file.

    • TrID is Free Personal and Proprietaryfile is Free and Open Source
  2. TrIDNet icon
     11 likes
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    TRIDNet is the GUI version of TrID, probably more practical to use than the CLI version, especially for those not very familiar with the command line prompt.

    License model

    • FreeProprietary

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Discontinued

    TrIDNet v1.95 - 26/01/16. As from 2021 Feb it does work fine on Windows 10

    TrIDNet Features

    1.  Portable

    TrIDNet VS file

     
  3. xdg-utils icon
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    xdg-utils is a set of tools that allows applications to easily integrate with the desktop environment of the user, regardless of the specific desktop environment that the user runs.

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Linux

    xdg-utils VS file

     
    • xdg-utils is the most popular Open Source alternative to file.

    • xdg-utils is Free and Open Sourcefile is also Free and Open Source
  4. Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Identify files based on the libmagic database in your browser. HTML5/JS port of the "file" tool. No downloads, no installation and no uploads!.

    License model

    • FreeProprietary

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Online

    Toolsley File Identifier VS file

     
  5. FileCHK icon
     1 like
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    Identify and recover (as much as possible) data lost in CHK files.

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Windows

    FileCHK VS file

     
  6. Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    HexBrowser is a tool that identifies file types. It does not care about the file extension, but opens each file to look for signatures so it can determine the exact type of a file. It now recognizes more than 800 different file formats.

    License model

    • FreeProprietary

    Platforms

    • Windows

    HexBrowser VS file

     
  7. DROID icon
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    DROID (Digital Record and Object Identification) is a software tool developed by The National Archives to perform automated batch identification of file formats. Developed by its Digital Preservation Department as part of its broader digital preservation activities, DROID is...

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux

    DROID Features

    1.  Batch processing

    DROID VS file

     
    • DROID is the most popular Mac alternative to file.

    • DROID is Free and Open Sourcefile is also Free and Open Source
  8. JHOVE icon
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    JHOVE is a file format identification, validation and characterisation tool. It is implemented as a Java application and is usable on any Unix, Windows, or OS X platform with appropriate Java installation.

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux

    JHOVE Features

    1.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions

    JHOVE VS file

     
8 of 8 file alternatives