Opening a DOT File

The DOT file type is primarily associated with Graphviz.

DOT	File extension: DOT
	File type:	text file

What is a DOT file?

DOT files mostly belong to Graphviz.

DOT files serve two main roles. The primary use is as a graph description file for Graphviz. These files are plain text documents that follow the DOT language syntax. They describe nodes, edges, and attributes so that Graphviz can generate visual graphs. For more details, visit Graphviz.

The second role is as a template file used in word processing. In this case, a DOT file holds preset formatting, styles, macros, and layout information. These templates are commonly used by Microsoft Word and can also be seen in LibreOffice Writer. You can find more on this at Microsoft Word or LibreOffice.

Graph Description: Contains plain text code for constructing visual graphs.
Word Template: Stores design elements for creating documents.

FilExt.com note: This dual use means that a DOT file you have may be edited with any text editor, but proper visualization requires its intended software.

How can I open a DOT file?

You need a suitable software like Graphviz to open a DOT 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 DOT file correctly, try to right-click or long-press the file. Then click "Open with" and choose an application. You can also display a DOT file directly in the browser:. Just drag the file onto this browser window and drop it.

Online DOT File Viewer

Choose your .dot file to view

or drag and drop it here

Online File Viewer

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

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

Just click the "Choose your .dot file to view" button on this page.
After your file is opened in browser,
click "Save as..." in the menu.
Then click the file format (e.g. PDF, JPG, DOCX, TXT, ...) you want.
Download the converted file.

Programs that open and convert DOT files:

Graphviz
See the previous paragraphs to learn more about the main application. DOT files are often referred to as Graphviz developers because this type of file is primarily created or used by this software.
Bert's Dinosaurs File
Corel Lines-Definition
Graphviz (DOT Language File) by AT&T Research
Graphviz is a mature family of tools for processing graphs in the DOT language. The program used .DOT as a file extension but this has become problematic more GUI and networked graph tools emerge since the same extension as used by Microsoft's Word. The program now uses .GV. The Mime types used with this association are: text/vnd.graphviz. This file format is classified as Text. Related links: The DOT Lanugage Reference, IANA Listing for Graphviz
Ribbons
Molecular graphics software. Use ms-cyl command in Ribbons to convert .DOT to .CYL. Related links: Ribbons Auxiliary Commands
StyleWriter (Template File) by Editor Software
StyleWriter is a word processing add-on. It teaches you to write in the style of top authors and journalists by checking every document for thousands of style and English usage faults.
Word (Document Template) by Microsoft Corporation
Office Word is an authoring program that gives you the ability to create and share documents using a set of writing tools. Note: This file type can become infected and should be carefully scanned if someone sends you a file with this extension. The Mime types used with this association are: application/msword [official], application/dot, application/x-dot, application/doc, application/microsoft_word, application/mswor2c sc2, application/x-msword, zz-application/zz-winassoc-dot.

DOT file format:

If you know the file format, you can also find out how to open or edit the file. The first characters in a file identify the file format, for example, HTML files start with the bytes <html>. File extension, signature and file format must match; otherwise errors will occur when the file is opened. When there is a problem with a file, the first step to solving it is to determine the file format. Below is our analysis of the DOT files:

You will often come across the DOT file type. This includes different formats for different programs. But the following two file formats are common:

50% of all DOT files use the same file format, which have the signature digraph. The content consists of readable text data, which can be read using a text editor. DOT files are between 860 bytes and 100 KB in size. The file type is a fairly new file format. Certain words are almost always found in the files, such as digraph, label, shape, node and style. An example of a file name is music-recommender.dot or tree.dot. Such DOT files store data about recommender, music, graph, classes, depends, task, project and model.
40% of all DOT files use the Microsoft Compound File format, known also as OLE2 Compound Document format or Composite Document File format. This general-purpose file format provides a file-system-like structure within a file for the storage of arbitrary, application-specific streams of data. The Compound Document format is always starting with the bytes D0 CF 11 E0 A1 B1 1A E1. The app name of DOT files is Microsoft Office Word or Microsoft Word. There is also a unique Windows component object identifier (CLSID) which is 00020906-0000-0000-c000-000000000046. The data in this file is stored in streams whose names are WordDocument, SummaryInformation, 1Table, DocumentSummaryInformation, CompObj and Data. Most of these files are 25 KB to 360 KB in size. Such files are related to template, tmpl, normal, journ, form, svlnproc and book.

All other DOT files (10%) have no consistent format, frequently e.g. ZIP. Sometimes used for report, case, agreement, receipt, best or flow. Drag & drop your file here to see the file format and a preview of your DOT file!

Technical Data for DOT File Extension

File classification:

Developer

Related files:

gv, dotx, odt, dat, vcg, doc, dag, graph, png, pdf, dotm, zip, ole2, docx, numbers, bot, cwr, txt, html, jpg, saz, dothtml

Mime type:

application/msword [official], application/dot, application/x-dot, application/doc, application/microsoft_word, application/mswor2c sc2, application/x-msword, zz-application/zz-winassoc-dot

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: soffice6.dot, FileType: Microsoft Word Template, AppName: OpenOffice.org 1.1.0

ProgramID: Word.Template, FileType: Microsoft Word Template, AppName: Microsoft Word for Windows® 95

ProgramID: Word.Template.8, FileType: Microsoft Word Template, AppName: Microsoft Office Word

ProgramID: Word.Template.8, FileType: Microsoft Word Template, AppName: Microsoft Word
EXEFile: WINWORD.EXE

ProgramID: Word.Template.8, FileType: Microsoft Word Template, AppName: Microsoft Word for Windows
EXEFile: WINWORD.EXE

ProgramID: Word.Template.8, FileType: Microsoft Word Template, AppName: Microsoft Word for Windows® 97

ProgramID: Word.Template.8
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office 2003\OFFICE11\WINWORD.EXE /n /dde

ProgramID: Word.Template.8
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office\Office10\WINWORD.EXE

ProgramID: Word.Template.8
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office\Office10\WINWORD.EXE /n

ProgramID: Word.Template.8
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office\Office10\WINWORD.EXE /n /dde

ProgramID: Word.Template.8
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\WINWORD.EXE /n

ProgramID: Word.Template.8
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\WINWORD.EXE /n /dde

ProgramID: Word.Template.8
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office\Office\Winword.exe %1

ProgramID: Word.Template.8
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office\Office\WINWORD.EXE /n

ProgramID: Word.Template.8
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office_XP\Office10\WINWORD.EXE

ProgramID: Word.Template.8
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\OfficeXP\Office10\WINWORD.EXE /n /dde

ProgramID: Word.Template.8
EXEFile: D:\Microsoft Office\Office10\WINWORD.EXE /n /dde

ProgramID: Word.Template.8
EXEFile: D:\MS WD 2000\Office\WINWORD.EXE /n

ProgramID: Word.Template.8
EXEFile: F:\Microsoft Office\Office\winword.exe /n

ProgramID: Word.Template.8
EXEFile: F:\office97\Office\Winword.exe %1

ProgramID: Word.Template.8
EXEFile: W:\OfficeXP\FILES\PFILES\MSOFFICE\OFFICE10\WINWORD.EXE /n

ProgramID: Wordview.Template.8
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\WORDVI~1\OFFICE11\WORDVIEW.EXE /n /dde

ProgramID: soffice6.dot
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\OpenOffice.org1.0.2\program\soffice.exe -o %1

ProgramID: OpenOffice.org.dot
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\OpenOffice.org 1.9.104\program\soffice.exe -o %1

ProgramID: OpenOffice.org.dot
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\OpenOffice.org 1.9.100\program\soffice.exe -o %1

ProgramID: OpenOffice.org.dot
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\OpenOffice.org 1.9.79\program\soffice.exe -o %1

ProgramID: OpenOffice.org.dot
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\OpenOffice.org 1.9.118\program\soffice.exe -o %1

ProgramID: OpenOffice.org.dot
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\OpenOffice.org 2.0\program\soffice.exe -o

ProgramID: OpenOffice.org.dot
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\OpenOffice.org 2.1\program\soffice.exe -o

ProgramID: OpenOffice.org.dot
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\OpenOffice.org 2.2\program\soffice.exe -o

ProgramID: soffice6.dot
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\OFFICE ONE6.5\program\soffice.exe -o

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a dot text file is a special file format and should only be edited and saved with the appropriate software.

How to solve problems with DOT files

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