What is a .pdb file?
Palm Database / eBook · eBook · Palm, Inc. · 1996
A .pdb file is a Palm Database, the container used by old Palm handhelds and by several eBook formats (Palm Doc, eReader, Mobipocket). What a .pdb actually is depends on the type code stored inside it.
What is a .pdb file used for?
PDB is a wrapper, not one format: an 8-byte type and creator code at offset 60 says whether it is a Palm Doc book, an eReader book, a database or a Mobipocket file. There is no single magic number at the start.
For eBooks, Calibre reads most PDB variants and converts them to EPUB. Non-book PDBs may need the original Palm application.
What opens a .pdb file?
The .pdb format opens in the following apps, grouped by operating system. If one app does not work, try another from the same list.
Windows
- Calibre
- Palm Desktop (legacy)
macOS
- Calibre
Linux
- Calibre
Open a .pdb file step by step
- Confirm the file really is a .pdb. Drop it into the WhatFileType identifier, which reads its signature in your browser without uploading anything.
- On Windows, open it with Calibre or Palm Desktop (legacy).
- On Mac, use Calibre.
- On Linux, try Calibre.
- Still stuck? Convert the .pdb to epub, which opens more widely.
Why can't I open my .pdb file?
Almost always because no installed app understands PDB. Install one of the apps above, or convert the file to a format your existing software already reads. If double-clicking opens the wrong program instead of nothing at all, the file association is set to the wrong app rather than the file being broken.
The other possibility is that the file is not really a .pdb at all. Drop it into the file identifier to check it by its bytes instead of its name. Nothing is uploaded.
How to convert a .pdb file
You can convert a .pdb file to epub, mobi, txt using a conversion tool or the export menu of an app that opens it.
PDB has no fixed magic number, so there is no signature table on this page. Its bytes alone do not prove the format: identification relies on the extension, the structure of the content and the program that created it. The magic-numbers reference lists the formats that do carry one.
Frequently asked questions
What is a .pdb file?
A .pdb file is a Palm Database, the container used by old Palm handhelds and by several eBook formats (Palm Doc, eReader, Mobipocket). What a .pdb actually is depends on the type code stored inside it.
How do I open a .pdb eBook file?
Use Calibre, which reads the common Palm Doc, eReader and Mobipocket PDB variants and converts them to EPUB.
Why are there different kinds of .pdb files?
PDB is a generic Palm container. A type code inside it decides whether it is a book, a database or app data, so two .pdb files can be unrelated.
Is a .pdb file the same as a database?
It can be. PDB means Palm Database; some hold eBooks, others hold app data. It is also, confusingly, an unrelated Microsoft debug format and a protein data format.
Related formats
Sources
Details on this page were checked against authoritative references. How sources are ranked and what is deliberately left out is set out in the methodology.