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PAX File - What is a .pax file and how do I open it?

Learn about .PAX files and view a list of programs that open them.

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Overview

What is a PAX file? Portable Archive Exchange (PAX) file created by pax, a command line utility used for creating and extracting archives; may store the archive in one of pax's several supported formats, which include bcpio, cpio, sv4cpio, sv4crc, tar, and ustar.

More Information Sometimes the ".pax" extension is used as an alternative to the .TAR and .CPIO formats, since there were differences that evolved between the two formats as they were developed. In this manner, the pax utility can handle both formats transparently while the file extension remains neutral. NOTE: The ".pax" extension is not commonly used. Instead, archives used by pax usually retain their original extensions, such as ".tar" or ".cpio." By default, pax creates archives in the ustar format.

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VerifiedVerified by FileInfo.com The FileInfo.com team has independently researched the PAX Archive file format and Mac, Windows, and Linux apps listed on this page. Our goal is 100% accuracy and we only publish information about file types that we have verified. If you would like to suggest any additions or updates to this page, please let us know .

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What is a PAX file?

Portable Archive Exchange (PAX) file created by pax, a command line utility used for creating and extracting archives; may store the archive in one of pax's several supported formats, which include bcpio, cpio, sv4cpio, sv4crc, tar, and ustar.

More Information

Sometimes the ".pax" extension is used as an alternative to the .TAR and .CPIO formats, since there were differences that evolved between the two formats as they were developed. In this manner, the pax utility can handle both formats transparently while the file extension remains neutral.

NOTE: The ".pax" extension is not commonly used. Instead, archives used by pax usually retain their original extensions, such as ".tar" or ".cpio." By default, pax creates archives in the ustar format.

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Programs that open or reference PAX files

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Program Name

Platform

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X

Windows

7-Zip

Free

Mac

pax

Included with OS

Apple Archive Utility

Included with OS

The Unarchiver

Free

Incredible Bee Archiver

Paid

Linux

pax

Included with OS

Category: Compressed Files

Updated: September 9, 2015

FAQ

What is a PAX file?↓
Portable Archive Exchange (PAX) file created by pax, a command line utility used for creating and extracting archives; may store the archive in one of pax's several supported formats, which include bcpio, cpio, sv4cpio, sv4crc, tar, and ustar.

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