What software should I use to open the .dat flles

Question

I've just downloaded the Bitcoin Core for Windows.

I can see several .dat file. What can I use to open them. i.e. Is there a way to view them in plaintext?

Also, which file is the blockchain file?

Thanks!

you can use console Windows parser from ragestack. This is a small utility for converting .dat files to .txt — Denis Leonov, Nov 07 '17 at 06:05
what error? it’s work perfectly with dat files without any problem. you read readme file with instructions for how to use it? — Denis Leonov, Nov 08 '17 at 12:30

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 07 '17 at 05:57

The .dat files are opened by Bitcoin Core, they are not supposed to be opened in plaintext. The blockchain will be in the blocks/ subdirectory. You can see a list of the files bitcoin core uses here: https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/doc/files.md

score -1 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 07 '17 at 06:50

These files are in binary format, so not intended for a human reader. To have a look at the content, get a "hex reader" program, google for that.

Do you want to get the private keys to your Bitcoin adresses? If so, you will use the "debug window" in Bitcoin Core. See this answer for how to do that: https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/a/5933/63522

What software should I use to open the .dat flles

2 Answers2