What is a .eot file?
Embedded OpenType Font · Font · Microsoft · 1997
An .eot file is Embedded OpenType, a compact web-font format Microsoft made for old Internet Explorer. It wraps a TrueType or OpenType font with light protection so it can be embedded on a web page.
What is a .eot file used for?
EOT was the only web-font format Internet Explorer understood for years, so sites once shipped it alongside other formats. It is a repackaged sfnt font with a header giving the allowed sites.
Modern browsers use WOFF2, and EOT is effectively obsolete. You only meet it in legacy sites; convert the underlying font to WOFF2 for anything current.
How to open a .eot file
The .eot format opens in the following apps, grouped by operating system. If one app does not work, try another from the same list. For a step-by-step walkthrough, see how to open a .eot file.
Windows
- Convert to TTF/WOFF2
- font tools
macOS
- Convert to TTF/WOFF2
Linux
- FontForge (via conversion)
Web
- Legacy Internet Explorer only
How to convert a .eot file
You can convert a .eot file to woff2, ttf, otf using a conversion tool or the export menu of an app that opens it.
.eot file signature (magic bytes)
Programs recognise a .eot file by the bytes at the start of the file, not by its name. These are the signatures for EOT.
| Hex signature | Offset | Note |
|---|---|---|
| (no fixed signature) | 0 | no reliable fixed signature |
See the full magic-numbers reference for every format.
Frequently asked questions
What is a .eot file?
An .eot file is Embedded OpenType, a compact web-font format Microsoft made for old Internet Explorer. It wraps a TrueType or OpenType font with light protection so it can be embedded on a web page.
What is an .eot file?
Embedded OpenType, an old Microsoft web-font format made for Internet Explorer. It wraps a TrueType/OpenType font for embedding on web pages.
Do I still need EOT fonts?
Almost never. Only very old Internet Explorer required them. Modern sites use WOFF2, which every current browser supports.
How do I convert an EOT font?
Use an online font converter or FontForge to turn the embedded font into WOFF2, TTF or OTF.
Related formats
Sources
Details on this page were checked against authoritative references: