Opening PTU Files

The PTU file type is primarily associated with PicoHarp300.

PTU	File extension: PTU
	File type:	data file

What is a PTU file?

PTU files mostly belong to PicoHarp300. The PTU file format is used in two distinct ways.
Most of these files are PicoQuant time‐tagged data files that hold photon detection timestamps from devices like the PicoHarp 300 and are processed by SymPhoTime 64. They record the time when each photon is detected in experiments such as fluorescence decay or time-correlated single photon counting.

Primary Usage: Stores high-resolution photon timing data for scientific analysis.

Secondary Usage: Appears as a compressed executable which can contain a pickled TorchScript model. In this case, tools like 7-Zip or PeaZip are used to extract or run the file.

If the file is from PicoQuant, visit the official website at PicoQuant for the proper analysis tools. For the compressed executable variant, refer to 7-Zip and related extraction software.
FilExt.com note: Use a file header viewer to check which format you have if there is any doubt, and always back up your file before opening or modifying it.

How to open a PTU file

You need a suitable software like PicoHarp300 to open a PTU 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 PTU file correctly, try to right-click or long-press the file. Then click "Open with" and choose an application. You can also display a PTU file directly in the browser:. Just drag the file onto this browser window and drop it.

Online PTU Text Viewer

Choose your .ptu file to analyze

or drag and drop it here

Online File Viewer

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PTU file format details:

To find out what program is needed to open PTU files, you need to determine the file format. The file format can be deduced from the file extension and the signature. However, different programs can use the same file extension, and file extensions can be assigned incorrectly. Exact knowledge of the format is therefore important in order to solve problems occurring in files. Our evaluation of the PTU files is as follows:

PTU is rarely used as a file extension and covers different formats for different programs. But the following two file formats are common:

• 50% of all PTU files are associated with PicoQuant Unified TTTR. The content consists of illegible binary data, which can only be read and interpreted by the associated programs. The average file size is 10 MB with most files being between 240 KB and 84 MB in size. It is a modern file type. Several words can almost always be found in the files, e.g. PQTTTR, File_GUID, 1.0.00, File_CreatingTime, CreatorSW_Conten, File_AssuredContent, HWSETG SWSETG and @Measurement_SubMode. default.ptu is a typical file name. These files can be linked to time.
• 9% of all PTU files have the same signature BuTT. These files are binary files, so they do not contain text, but only cryptic characters. PTU files can be up to 2 MB in size, but are often around 1 MB - 2 MB. Several words can almost always be found in the files, e.g. BZh91AY&SY.

The remaining 41% of all PTU files are different files with different signatures. Files like these are sometimes linked to data, pack, summary, list or real. If you want to find out what your PTU file contains, drag and drop it onto this page.