Opening a GADGET File

The GADGET file type is primarily associated with Windows Sidebar.

GADGET	File extension: GADGET
	File type:	widget

What is a GADGET file?

GADGET files mostly belong to Windows Sidebar by Microsoft. A GADGET is a widget (mini application) for the Windows Sidebar component of Windows operating system. This file is actually a renamed ZIP archive comprising HTML, XML, CSS, and JS files which make up a widget. Windows Sidebar is a discontinued engine rendered as a vertical panel similar to Windows Taskbar. It uses GADGET files to display information such as newsfeeds, system statistics, the time in different countries etc. GADGET files were originally saved in CAB format.

How to open GADGET files

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

Online GADGET Text Viewer

Choose your .gadget file to analyze

or drag and drop it here

Online File Viewer

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GADGET file format:

The file format determines how the data is stored in the file. Often, the file format can be deduced from the file extension or the initial bytes (called the signature). If the file extension does not match the file format, double-clicking on the file will cause an error upon opening. So you need a detailed analysis of a file to find out the format and the associated program. Our evaluation of the GADGET files is as follows:

GADGET is seldom used as a file extension and predominantly uses a uniform format. However, the following two file formats are common:

• 85% of all GADGET files use ZIP compression, so several files are compressed and saved in one GADGET file. Such a ZIP file contains 8 to 140 files with names like gadget.xml, icon.png, logo.png and settings.html. If you'd like to see the images and files included, just rename the file extension to .zip and double-click. The files are 25 KB to 730 KB in size, with a median of 170 KB. A common filename is hud-time-win7gadgets-com.gadget. These files can be linked to clock, gadgets, digital, computer, status, time, monitorii, network and meter.
• 15% of all GADGET files are associated with Microsoft Vista Sidebar Gadget files, which internally utilize the well-known CAP format. CAP files are compressed archives. The first bytes (the signature) are 'MSCF' (short for MicroSoft Cabinet File). They consist of illegible, cryptic characters. GADGET files are between 19 KB and 1 MB in size. The files contain the following words: MSCF, Icon, alarm1.mp3 and alarm2.mp3. Some examples of file names are Sidebar7.gadget or All_CPU_Meter_V4.7.3.gadget.

If you want to find out what your GADGET file contains, drag and drop it onto this page.