Opening a PFX File

The PFX file type is primarily associated with OpenSSL.

PFX	File extension: PFX
	File type:	digital key/certificate

What is a PFX file?

PFX files mostly belong to OpenSSL by OpenSSL Developers. A PFX file contains an archive of private and public keys saved alongside their accompanying X.509 digital certificates. The PFX archive is password protected and signed/encrypted using the Personal Information Exchange Syntax Standard 12 (PKCS #12). Each public/private key and certificate in a PFX file is called a "SafeBag". They are used to identify and authenticate persons and devices transmitting data over the Internet. PKCS #12 was developed as a successor to the Personal Information Exchange format developed by Microsoft. The pkcs12 command in OpenSSL can generate and use a PFX digital key/certificate file.

How do you open PFX files?

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

Online PFX Text Viewer

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Online File Viewer

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Programs that open and convert PFX files:

OpenSSL by OpenSSL Developers
See the previous paragraphs to learn more about the main application. PFX files are often referred to as OpenSSL encodeds because this type of file is primarily created or used by this software.
Amiga Forever (animation) by Cloanto
Amiga Forever is a hardware emulation software which allows Windows users to virtualize and use the operating system of older AmigaOS. The Pageflipper Plus tool in AmigaOS saves an animated image in a PFX file. This file format is classified as Raster Image. Related links: Amiga Forever
Certificate Manager (digital key/certificate) by Microsoft
Certificate Manager (Certmgr.exe) is a program that installs and manages certificates and certificate trust lists on Windows operating system. PFX is one of its supported certificate formats. This file format is classified as Encoded. Related links: Personal Information Exchange (.pfx) Files
PFXplus (application source code) by PowerFlex
PFXplus is a cross-platform application development toolkit. It saves source code in a PFX file. This program is available for Windows and Linux environments. This file format is classified as Developer.

PFX file format:

If you can determine the file format, the associated program can also be determined. Often, the file format can be deduced from the file extension or the initial bytes (called the signature). File extension, signature and file format must match; otherwise errors will occur when the file is opened. Exact knowledge of the format is therefore important in order to solve problems occurring in files. In the following you will find our evaluation of the PFX files:

The file type with the extension 'PFX' is mainly used by one program with a specific format. The two most popular formats are as follows:

95% of all PFX files use the popular certificate file format. A digital certificate is a unique, digitally signed document which authoritatively identifies the identity of an individual or organization. Using public key cryptography, its authenticity can be verified to ensure that the software or website you are using is legitimate. If you open these files in a text editor, you will see only illegible characters. The average file size is 3 KB with most files being between 2 KB and 7 KB in size. This file type is based on cutting-edge technology. Files like these have the following tags: certificado, cert, certificate, temporary, real, digital, private, elster and prod, and often consist of personal data.

All other PFX files (5%) have different formats. The category is sign, mycert, public, sample or auth. If you want to find out what your PFX file contains, drag and drop it onto this page.

Technical Data for PFX File Extension

File classification:

Encoded

Related files:

p12, pxf, cer, crt, pem, pdx, jks, der, key, wizard, pie, pfk, check, p7b, phx, pft, zip, p7s, rsrc, cfx

Related links:

PKCS 12, PKCS

Mime type:

application/x-pkcs12

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: Mixman.Pfx

ProgramID: PFXFile, FileType: Personal Information Exchange, AppName: Crypto Shell Extensions
EXEFile: cryptext.dll

a pfx digital key/certificate is a special file format by OpenSSL Developers and should only be edited and saved with the appropriate software.

How to solve problems with PFX files

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