What is a .swf file?

This extension has been used by more than one format

30 different formats have claimed .swf over the years, so two files with the same extension aren't necessarily the same kind of thing.

• Macromedia FlashVersion 1 · fmt/104
• Macromedia FlashVersion 2 · fmt/105
• Macromedia FlashVersion 3 · fmt/106
• Macromedia FlashVersion 4 · fmt/107
• Macromedia FlashVersion 5 · fmt/108
• Macromedia FlashVersion 6 · fmt/109
• Macromedia FlashVersion 7 · fmt/110
• Adobe FlashVersion 8 · fmt/505
• Adobe FlashVersion 9 · fmt/506
• Adobe FlashVersion 10 · fmt/507
• Adobe FlashVersion 11 · fmt/757
• Adobe FlashVersion 12 · fmt/758
• Adobe FlashVersion 13 · fmt/759
• Adobe FlashVersion 14 · fmt/760
• Adobe FlashVersion 15 · fmt/761
• Adobe FlashVersion 16 · fmt/762
• Adobe FlashVersion 17 · fmt/763
• Adobe FlashVersion 18 · fmt/764
• Adobe FlashVersion 19 · fmt/765
• Adobe FlashVersion 20 · fmt/766
• Adobe FlashVersion 21 · fmt/767
• Adobe FlashVersion 22 · fmt/768
• Adobe FlashVersion 23 · fmt/769
• Adobe FlashVersion 24 · fmt/770
• Adobe FlashVersion 25 · fmt/771
• Adobe FlashVersion 26 · fmt/772
• Adobe FlashVersion 27 · fmt/773
• Adobe FlashVersion 28 · fmt/774
• Adobe FlashVersion 29 · fmt/775
• Adobe FlashVersion 30 · fmt/776

How to open a .swf file

• VS Code opens and highlights nearly every text-based code format.
• Never run a script you didn't write or trust.

The registry records this extension against Macromedia Flash, Macromedia Flash, Macromedia Flash and others, so software from that family is the most likely match.

How to convert a .swf file

• Text-based code needs no conversion — just save with a different extension if a tool insists.

MIME type

When a .swf file travels over the web, servers label it with this MIME type:

What's a MIME type?

The technical record

For archivists, developers and the merely curious: these are the PRONOM registry entries for .swf.

Got another one?