How to open a .arrow file
Quick, free ways to open Arrow on any system.
A .arrow file is a Apache Arrow IPC File. If double-clicking does nothing, your computer simply does not have an app that reads Arrow yet. Here is how to fix that on each operating system, using free software wherever possible.
Open a .arrow file step by step
- Confirm the file really is a .arrow. Drop it into the WhatFileType file identifier, which reads its signature without uploading anything.
- On Windows, open it with Python (pyarrow, pandas) or R (arrow).
- On Mac, use Python (pyarrow, pandas) or R (arrow).
- On Linux, try Python (pyarrow, pandas) or DuckDB.
- Still stuck? Convert the .arrow to parquet, which opens more widely.
Best apps to open .arrow files
Windows
- Python (pyarrow, pandas)
- R (arrow)
- Polars
macOS
- Python (pyarrow, pandas)
- R (arrow)
- Polars
Linux
- Python (pyarrow, pandas)
- DuckDB
- Polars
!
Before you open it: Safe. Arrow is a data container read by libraries; it stores columns of values, not code.
Frequently asked questions
Why can't I open my .arrow file?
Almost always because no installed app understands Arrow. Install one of the apps above, or convert the file to a format your existing software already reads.
What is the difference between Arrow and Parquet?
Arrow is a fast in-memory and IPC format for moving data between tools. Parquet is a compressed on-disk format for long-term columnar storage. They are complementary and interoperate.
Is Feather the same as Arrow?
Yes. Feather is the file form of the Apache Arrow format; a .feather file is an Arrow IPC file, popular for fast caching of data frames.