How to open a .afdesign file
Quick, free ways to open Affinity Designer on any system.
A .afdesign file is a Affinity Designer Document. If double-clicking does nothing, your computer simply does not have an app that reads Affinity Designer yet. Here is how to fix that on each operating system, using free software wherever possible.
Open a .afdesign file step by step
- Confirm the file really is a .afdesign. Drop it into the WhatFileType file identifier, which reads its signature without uploading anything.
- On Windows, open it with Affinity Designer or Affinity Photo / Publisher.
- On Mac, use Affinity Designer or Affinity Photo / Publisher.
- On Linux, try No native option; use exported SVG/PDF.
- Still stuck? Convert the .afdesign to svg, which opens more widely.
Best apps to open .afdesign files
Windows
- Affinity Designer
- Affinity Photo / Publisher
macOS
- Affinity Designer
- Affinity Photo / Publisher
Linux
- No native option; use exported SVG/PDF
!
Before you open it: Safe. An .afdesign file is a design document; it does not execute.
Frequently asked questions
Why can't I open my .afdesign file?
Almost always because no installed app understands Affinity Designer. Install one of the apps above, or convert the file to a format your existing software already reads.
How do I open an .afdesign file without Affinity Designer?
Any Affinity app (Photo, Publisher) opens it. Without the suite, ask for an SVG or PDF export; there is no third-party reader for the native format.
Can Illustrator open .afdesign files?
Not directly. Export from Affinity Designer as PDF (best) or SVG and open that in Illustrator; most vector structure survives.