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What is a .xml file?
An .xml file is structured text — data wrapped in tags so both people and programs can read it. It's a container format, so the meaning depends on what produced it.
This extension has been used by more than one format
30 different formats have claimed .xml over the years, so two files with the same extension aren't necessarily the same kind of thing.
- Extensible Markup LanguageVersion 1.0 · fmt/101
- DROID Signature File FormatVersion 1.0 · fmt/121
- DROID File Collection File FormatVersion 1.0 · fmt/120
- MusicXMLNo version recorded · fmt/896
- INTERLIS Transfer FileVersion 2.2 · fmt/1011
- Ogre Mesh XMLNo version recorded · fmt/1189
- xdomeaVersion 1.0 · fmt/1374
- xdomeaVersion 2.0.1 · fmt/1376
- xdomeaVersion 2.0.0 · fmt/1375
- xdomeaVersion 2.1.0 · fmt/1377
- xdomeaVersion 2.2.0 · fmt/1378
- xdomeaVersion 2.3.0 · fmt/1379
- TEI P4 XML - Single Text FileVersion P4 · fmt/1474
- TEI P4 XML - Corpus FileVersion P4 · fmt/1475
- TEI P5 - Single Text FileVersion P5 · fmt/1476
- TEI P5 XML - Corpus FileVersion P5 · fmt/1477
- Microsoft Office File ListNo version recorded · fmt/1677
- LegalDocML DocumentNo version recorded · fmt/1724
- Esri Shapefile Geospatial Metadata FileNo version recorded · fmt/1729
- ESRI Persistent Auxiliary Metadata FileNo version recorded · fmt/1771
- Extensible Markup LanguageVersion 1.1 · fmt/1776
- xdomeaVersion 3.0.0 · fmt/1813
- Draw.io Diagram (XML) FileNo version recorded · fmt/1946
- IMF Package Asset MapNo version recorded · fmt/1997
- IMF Package Packing ListNo version recorded · fmt/1998
- IMF Package Composition PlaylistNo version recorded · fmt/1999
- CityGML FileVersion 1.0 · fmt/2040
- xdomeaVersion 3.1.0 · fmt/2080
- xdomeaVersion 4.0.0 · fmt/2081
- Final Cut Pro XML Interchange FormatNo version recorded · fmt/2088
How to open a .xml file
- WindowsAny web browser
- WindowsNotepad++
- WindowsVS Code
- MacSafari
- MacVS Code
- LinuxAny browser or editor
How to convert a .xml file
- Excel can import XML into a table; online tools convert XML to JSON or CSV.
MIME type
When a .xml file travels over the web, servers label it with one of these MIME types:
application/xmltext/xmlapplication/vnd.recordare.musicxml+xmlapplication/tei+xmlThe technical record
For archivists, developers and the merely curious: these are the PRONOM registry entries for .xml.