Opening a BED File

The BED file type is primarily associated with Integrated Genome Browser.

BED	File extension: BED
	File type:	genomic data file

What is a BED file?

BED files mostly belong to Integrated Genome Browser by The University of North Carolina at Charlotte. BED files are used in bioinformatics research and can be processed by UCSC Genome Browser.

Features: BED is an acronym for Browser Extensible Data. It is used to save genomic data and linked annotations in a text format. The BED files are tab-delimited files and possess one line of allocated spaced for every genomic region. The number of fields in each line needs to be uniform across each single data set in an annotation track. Each one of these lines contains three mandatory fields to describe a genomic region with the option of adding up to nine additional fields using tabs as delimiters. These optional fields can be used to add information such as the genomic region, score, and strand orientation (+/-) but it is always needed to populate the lower-numbered fields before moving onto the higher-numbered ones. The first of the three mandatory BED fields is used to designate the chromosome. The second and third mandatory fields are used to denote the beginning and ending positions of the genomic region.
Adoption: BED files can be read and modified using bedtools, a command-line based application that can run on UNIX, LINUX, and Apple OS X environments. IGV (Integrative Genomics Viewer) is a JAVA based application that can be used to handle BED files. UCSC Genome Browser a web-based browser onto which the data from the BED files can be loaded.

How to open a BED file

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

Online BED Text Viewer

Choose your .bed file to analyze

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Programs that open and convert BED files:

Integrated Genome Browser by The University of North Carolina at Charlotte
See the previous paragraphs to learn more about the main application. BED files are often referred to as Integrated Genome Browser data files because this type of file is primarily created or used by this software.
InfoSnorkel (internet data file) by Blue Elephant
BED is the file extension associated with InfoSnorkel, an application that makes it possible for users to customize news pages. The file contains data most probably extracted from a web page. This file format is classified as Web (source).
RegionMiner (genomic regions file) by Genomatix Software GmbH
RegionMiner is an older genome analysis software by Genomatix Software.The extension BED is associated with RegionMiner and consists of data pertaining to the genome data analysed by the program with one line for each genomic region. This file format is classified as Data. Related links: BED File Format

BED file format:

A file format defines how the data in the file is structured. The initial characters of a file are called signature, sometimes also referred to as "magic bytes". The signature can be used to infer the file format. However, different programs can use the same file extension. Furthermore, a file extension can be renamed incorrectly and double-clicking on it will then display an error when it is opened. Knowledge is power - this also applies when dealing with unknown or faulty files. Our evaluation of the BED files looks like this:

The BED file extension is quite widespread and includes different formats for the applicable programs. But the following two file formats are common:

55% of all BED files start with the bytes chr, which are crucial for this file format. The contents of these files are easily readable with a text editor. BED files are between 23 bytes and 770 KB in size. The file type is relatively new. Such files are related to hglft, genome, peaks, genes, quiz, data, regions and target.
10% of all BED files start with the bytes 6C 1B 01 crucial for this file format. These files contain neither text nor words, but only data. The average file size is 59 MB with most files being between 160 KB and 580 MB in size. These files are often associated with adni, pruned, gwas, consents, filtered, issues, plink, geno and omni.

All other BED files (35%) have no consistent format, such as UCSC BED Annotation Track, DOC, track, GFS, Chr, Loop and Scaffold. These files are often connected to input, panel, narrow, covered, gene, summits or qiaseq. Drag & drop your file here to see the file format and a preview of your BED file!

Technical Data for BED File Extension

File classification:

Data

Related files:

bedgraph, gz, bigbed, fam, bedpe, bim, zip, txt, refgene, bb, wig, list, tsv, xlsx, gff3, pdf, bad, ped, bam, gff

Mime type:

text/plain

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: BmcBed.Edit
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\Lover's Eye\bin\BolyEdit.exe

a bed genomic data file is a special file format by The University of North Carolina at Charlotte and should only be edited and saved with the appropriate software.

How to solve problems with BED files

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