What you get for a .BIG file
We don't have a dedicated viewer for this format, so we identify and inspect it instead — honestly, only what can be read from the file.
Drop your .BIG file
Choose it or drag it in. It's read right here in your browser.
We identify it
We read the magic bytes to tell what the file really is, its MIME type, and whether the name matches the contents.
See the details
Any metadata we can extract (dimensions, EXIF/GPS, document author and dates), a hex view, plus readable text and strings found inside.
What is a .BIG file?
Plain text that programs, servers and people write every day.
A .BIG file is an Electronic Arts Game Data File used for storing game-related information. These data files typically contain assets and resources for titles such as Command and Conquer: Generals. Users can access or extract the contents of these archives using specialized utilities like Dragon UnPACKer, MultiEx Commander, or Game Extractor.
Programs that open .BIG files
| Full name | Electronic Arts BIG game archive |
|---|---|
| Developer | Electronic Arts (originally Westwood Studios) |
| First released | Late 1990s (Westwood / EA games; widely used by the SAGE engine from ~2002) |
| Category | Text & Code |
| MIME type | application/octet-stream |
| Signature | 42 49 47 46 "BIGF" (earlier) or "BIG4" (later) - 4-byte FourCC at offset 0 |
Related viewers
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Frequently asked questions
Is my .BIG file uploaded anywhere?
No. The file is read and highlighted for you.
Why do some characters look wrong (é, ł)?
That usually means the file was saved in one encoding and opened in another. We detect UTF-8, UTF-16 and the Windows-1250/1252 code pages automatically and show which one was used.
Can it handle huge log files?
Yes, up to 50 MB. Only the lines on screen are drawn, so scrolling stays smooth. Syntax colours are switched off for files over 1.5 MB to keep things fast.
How do the log level filters work?
We find levels like ERROR, WARN, INFO and DEBUG on each line. Lines without a level, such as stack traces, stay with the entry above them, so filtering to errors keeps the full trace.
Can I edit the file?
This is a viewer. To change code, download it or copy it into your editor. Converting encodings and line endings is planned.
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