What is a .BK file?
.BK is a file in the System / misc category. Analyser identifies it and reads the metadata in its header, right in your browser.
- Did you know
- In a Samsung phone backup the .bk file - usually named SmartSwitchBackup.bk - is the central index Smart Switch reads to restore your contacts, messages and settings.
- Smart Switch is the successor to Samsung older Kies software, and both wrap the actual backup data in encrypted files such as .SNMM and .EXML sitting beside the .bk.
- The .bk is not meant to be opened by hand - it only makes sense to Smart Switch restoring onto another Samsung Galaxy device, or to forensic tools built to parse it.
- What Analyser reads
- Inspect OS and system files: OPML subscription lists, RSS/Atom feeds, Linux .desktop launchers and systemd .service units, Apple .crash reports, Android .ab backups, Windows Task Scheduler .job, Group Policy Registry.pol, and .scr screensaver PE headers, plus identification of .DS_Store, Thumbs.db, dSYM/DWARF and shim .sdb. macOS leaves its own small files everywhere and these open too: the ._ AppleDouble files a Mac writes onto USB sticks and into zips (Finder label, tags, resource fork, and the quarantine and where-from attributes that record which app downloaded the file and from which address), text clippings, internet, file and server locations, Finder Smart Folder searches, Terminal profiles, iTerm2 colour presets as a palette, Audio Unit presets, and .strings / .stringsdict localisation tables. Any Apple property list opens by its content whatever it is named, with Cocoa NSKeyedArchiver archives rebuilt into a readable tree, and an Apple crash report saved as .ips is read as one. Scene .nfo ASCII art now opens in a CP437 viewer - see Text art above.
- Depth of analysis
- .BK is an identification-grade format: Analyser recognises it from its bytes and decodes the header metadata it carries, rather than opening it in a full viewer. Formats that do get a full viewer are marked "Full" on the formats page.
- Open a .BK file
- Drag a .BK file onto the Analyser home page (or tap to pick one). It is identified entirely in your browser - nothing is uploaded, there is no account, and it works offline once installed.