Opening a PQ File

The PQ file type is primarily associated with Apache Arrow.

PQ	File extension: PQ
	File type:	data file

What is a PQ file?

PQ files mostly belong to Apache Arrow. PQ files are not a single type of file but a label used for several distinct formats.
For many users, the most common usage is for the Parquet data format. In this case the file holds columnar data used by tools like Apache Arrow and Pandas DataFrame storage. You can learn more about this format at Apache Arrow.
Other uses include:

Power Query Data Files: These contain query definitions and data connectors for Microsoft Power BI. They are used by both Power BI and Power BI Desktop. See details at Power BI and Power BI Desktop.

Compressed Audio or Image Files: Some PQ files use zlib compression and may relate to audio content or specialized drive images.

SQLite Database Files: A few PQ files store data as an SQL/SQLite database. Information on SQLite is available at SQLite.

Data Connector Definitions: In other cases the file holds connector or source definitions encoded in UTF-8 for use in Power Query environments.

This file extension is ambiguous and the correct method to open or view a PQ file depends on its internal structure. Inspect the file’s header or properties to decide whether to use data processing tools (like Apache Arrow/Pandas), a Power BI environment, a SQLite manager, or an audio utility.
FilExt.com note: The same PQ extension can hide very different contexts, so checking metadata is key.

How to open a PQ file

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

Online PQ Text Viewer

Choose your .pq file to analyze

or drag and drop it here

Online File Viewer

✈

Read our privacy guarantee in Filext’s terms and privacy policy

Please allow ads on our site

This helps us keep our servers running. Then re-upload your file to view it.

Click here to see how to disable the ad blocker for filext.com

PQ file format:

Every file has a defined file format, i.e. how the data is arranged in the file. Each file format has a unique extension and almost always a unique signature. For example, Microsoft Word documents have the extension .docx and the signature (usually the first 3 characters in this file) PK. If the file extension or signature does not match the file format, errors will occur when opening or editing the file. Exact knowledge of the format is therefore important in order to solve problems occurring in files. Our examination of the PQ files comes to the following conclusion:

The PQ file extension is not common and includes various formats for various programs. The following file formats are most commonly found in PQ files:

• 45% of all PQ files use the same file format, which have the signature PAR1. They consist of illegible, cryptic characters. Most of these files are 6 KB to 32 MB in size. The file type is very recent. Certain words are almost always found in the files, such as PAR1.
• 15% of all PQ files start with the magic bytes let, which are always the first bytes of this file format. These files are text files, so they contain words and text. The files are often between 150 bytes and 3 KB in size. Certain words are almost always found in the files, such as Source and Table.

All other PQ files (40%) have no consistent format, such as zlib, SQL and Source. Often described as pemptus, icon, table or data. Drag & drop your file here to see the file format and a preview of your PQ file!