What is a .CRASH file?
A .crash file records details of a program that crashed, for debugging.
- Did you know
- Crash reports capture what a program was doing the moment it failed.
- On Ubuntu these reports come from the Apport tool and use the same control-file syntax as Debian package metadata.
- A background daemon called whoopsie watches the crash folder and uploads each report to Canonical’s error tracker.
- 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
- .CRASH 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 .CRASH file
- Drag a .CRASH 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.