Opening a POL File

The POL file type is primarily associated with Windows.

POL	File extension: POL
	File type:	policy

What is a POL file

POL files mostly belong to Windows by Microsoft. A POL file contains registry-based settings defined by the Local Group Policy Editor on Windows operating system. Two subfolders (Machine and User) in the %SystemRoot%\System32\GroupPolicy\ folder contain system (Registry.pol) and user level settings. Each POL file contains registry keys/values for each registry entry. Another type of POL file is a 3D polygonal model created by PolyWorks 3-dimensional modeling, point cloud, and reverse engineering software suite. POL is also the filename extension of the policy (settings) file used by AscToHTM text-to-HTML conversion program.

How to open a POL file

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

Online POL Text Viewer

Choose your .pol 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

Programs that open and convert POL files:

Windows by Microsoft
See the previous paragraphs to learn more about the main application. POL files are often referred to as Windows systems because this type of file is primarily created or used by this software.
AscToHTM (policy) by JaSoft
AscToHTM is an application that converts ASCII text to HTML. It uses a POL file to save its policy information. This file format is classified as Settings.
Personal Paint (Polish localization data) by Amiga
Personal Paint is a discontinued raster graphics editor for Amiga operating system. Its Polish language localization data is saved in a POL file. This file format is classified as Settings. Related links: Amiga Forever
PolyWorks (3D polygon models) by InnovMetric
PolyWorks is a 3D modeling, manufacturing, and quality control software suite. It saves a 3D polygon model in a POL file. This file format is classified as 3D Image.

POL file format:

The file format, which is the arrangement and type of data in a file, determines which program can open the file. 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. Nonetheless, different programs can utilize the same file extension to represent distinct file formats. Double-clicking on the file often results in an error when opening. So a detailed analysis of a file is vital in order to determine the format and the associated program. In the following you will find our evaluation of the POL files:

The POL extension is quite commonly used. The file itself is used by different programs with different formats. The two most common formats are as follows:

65% of all POL files are associated with Windows Policy data. These are binary files, so they do not contain words or text. The files are on average 2 KB in size and range from 340 bytes to 27 KB. The file type was developed only in the last few years. The following keywords are characteristic: PReg, Software, Microsoft, Policies and Windows. A usual file name is Registry.pol or ntuser.pol. Such files are related to machine, policies, user, local, windows, policy, disable and sysvol.
4% of all POL files have the same signature TWA. If you open these files in a text editor, you can view the contents and find segments of text. The files are 280 bytes to 3 KB in size, with a median of 1 KB. Such POL files store data about pogo and bavaria.

All other POL files (31%) have no uniform format, often, for example, InnovMetric Software Polygon Model, ZIP, UTF-16 (LE), XML, Title, LOB, FILE and regf. These files sometimes refer to itsscsd, unix, naca, assignment, concrete or firewall. Just click the "Choose your .pol file to analyze" button on this page to find out what your POL file is.

Technical Data for POL File Extension

File classification:

System

Related files:

pbu, cmtx, vpol, pola, policy, inf, 927, img, ini, sbp, regtrans-ms, zip, log1, pool, txt, rpf, opl, xml, op, po, adml, admx, log

Mime type:

application/octet-stream

a pol policy is a special file format by Microsoft and should only be edited and saved with the appropriate software.

How to solve problems with POL files

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