Opening a PK3 File

The PK3 file type is primarily associated with Quake III Arena.

PK3	File extension: PK3
	File type:	game data archive

What is a PK3 file?

PK3 files mostly belong to Quake III Arena by id. A PK3 file is an archive containing data used by video games that are based on id Tech 3 engine. It is a compressed ZIP archive containing background music, sound effects, textures, models, scenes, text, and other information. id Tech 3 was originally used in Quake III Arena video game so it is usually called Quake III Engine. Other games that use PK3 archives include Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K.2, and Call of Duty: United Offensive. ZDoom software package for running older games such as Sonic Robo Blast 2 can open PK3 archives used by such games.

How to open a PK3 file

You need a suitable software like Quake III Arena to open a PK3 file. Without proper software you will receive a Windows message "How do you want to open this file?" or "Windows cannot open this file" or a similar Mac/iPhone/Android alert. If you cannot open your PK3 file correctly, try to right-click or long-press the file. Then click "Open with" and choose an application. You can also display a PK3 file directly in the browser:. Just drag the file onto this browser window and drop it.

Online PK3 File Viewer

Choose your .pk3 file to view

or drag and drop it here

Online File Viewer

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How to convert a PK3 file to JPG, PDF, HTML, DOC, ...

You can convert PK3 files using our online PK3 file viewer (powered by Convert.Guru):

Just click the "Choose your .pk3 file to view" button on this page.
Your PK3 file will then be displayed in the browser.
Now click on "Save as..." at the top of the page.
Then click the file format (e.g. PDF, JPG, DOCX, TXT, ...) you want.
Your file will be converted and downloaded.

Programs that open and convert PK3 files:

Quake III Arena by id
See the previous paragraphs to learn more about the main application. PK3 files are often referred to as Quake III Arena games because this type of file is primarily created or used by this software.
American McGee's Alice (game data archive) by Electronic Arts
American McGee's Alice is a discontinued action-adventure video game based on Alice In Wonderland novel. It uses a PK3 file to store its data archive. This file format is classified as Game.
Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K.2 (game data archive) by Take-Two Interactive
Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K2 is a third-person shooter video game for Windows, Linux, and macOS. PK3 is the filename extension of a ZIP archive containing various assets used by this game. This file format is classified as Game.
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (game data archive) by Electronic Arts
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault is a first-person shooter video game that is set during the second world war. It uses a game data package stored in a PK3 file. This file format is classified as Game.
Return to Castle Wolfenstein (game data archive) by id
Return to Castle Wolfenstein is a first-person shooter video game in which the player goes on combat, assassination, sabotage and other missions. It uses a PK3 file to save various game data. This file format is classified as Game.

PK3 file extension format:

If you can determine the file format, the associated program can also be determined. The first characters in a file identify the file format, for example, HTML files start with the bytes <html>. Frequently, however, one file extension is used by different programs for different file formats, and one file format for different file extensions. So you need a detailed analysis of a file to find out the format and the associated program. Our analysis of the PK3 files produces the following result:

The PK3 file ending is primarily used by a single program. The two most common formats are as follows:

95% of all PK3 files are based on the zip format, so multiple files are compressed and stored together in one PK3 file. Most often they are 9 to 240 compressed files. Customary file names are \textures\. If you'd like to see the images and files included, just rename the file extension to .zip and double-click. PK3 files can be up to 650 MB in size, but are often around 110 KB - 160 MB. Examples of file names are m12-hdoom_techdemo9.pk3. These files are often associated with techdemo, hdoom, assets, brutal, soundpack, russian, sounds and pakuo.

All other PK3 files (5%) have different formats. Often described as localized, doom, pack or swgl. If you want to find out which format your PK3 file belongs to, just click on the button "Choose your .pk3 file to view".

Technical Data for PK3 File Extension

File classification:

Game

Related files:

wad, zip, lmp, pk, dds, dll, dta, pak, md3, fps

The following listing is compiled from the database produced by the 'Associate This!' program, selected data from the main FILExt database and file extension information submitted by users.

ProgramID: Filzip, FileType: Filzip file, AppName: Filzip
EXEFile: Filzip.exe

ProgramID: PAZIP
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\PowerArchiver\POWERARC.EXE %1

ProgramID: WinRAR
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\WinRAR\WinRAR.exe %1

ProgramID: ZipZag.pk3
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\ZipZag\zipzag.exe %1

ProgramID: IZArc
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\IZARC\IZARC.EXE %1

ProgramID: QZ4..pk3
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\QuickZip4\QuickZip.exe %1

ProgramID: Qzip.pk3
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\QuickZip\Quickzip.exe %1

ProgramID: UltimateZip
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\ULTIMA~1\uzip.exe %1

ProgramID: Filzip
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\Filzip\Filzip.exe %1

ProgramID: DUP5.Files
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\Dragon UnPACKer 5\drgunpack5.exe

ProgramID: IZArcPK3
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\IZArc\IZArc.exe

ProgramID: ICEOWSDoc
EXEFile: rundll32 %SystemRoot%\system32\ShellExt\IceGUI.dll,RouteTheCall

ProgramID: uz.pk3
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\ULTIMA~1\uzip.exe

ProgramID: CuteZip.Document
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\GLOBAL~1\CuteZIP\CuteZip.exe

ProgramID: PAZIP
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\Accessories\PowerArchiver\POWERARC.EXE

ProgramID: TzPK
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\TUGZip\TUGZip.exe

ProgramID: UltimateZip
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\UltimateZip 2.7\uzip.exe

ProgramID: Filzip
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\Filzip\Filzip.exe

ProgramID: IZArcPK3
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\IZArc\IZArc.exe

Show all 19 listings To Top

a pk3 game data archive is a special file format by id and should only be edited and saved with the appropriate software.

How to solve problems with PK3 files

Associate the PK3 file extension with the correct application.
Update your software that should actually open game data archives. Because only the current version supports the latest PK3 file format. Search, therefore, e.g. on the id manufacturer website after an available Quake III Arena update.
To make sure that your PK3 file is not corrupted or virus-infected, get the file again and scan it with Google's virustotal.com.
Click here to open your .PK3 file online - secure, fast, and no downloads needed.