FILE FORMAT GUIDE
PNG File (.PNG): What It Is & How to Open It
A PNG file is a raster image stored in Portable Network Graphics format. It uses lossless compression and can carry transparency. PNG is useful when preserving pixel data matters, such as for screenshots and graphics. A compatible image viewer displays the picture; an image editor can modify it.
Check supported header evidence locally. Identification is not file validation or a malware scan.
Analyze a file locallyQuick facts
- Extension
- .png
- Format
- Portable Network Graphics
- Category
- image
- MIME type
- image/png
- Standard / developer
- W3C
- Open with
- Preview
What is PNG?
PNG organizes image information into chunks, beginning with a fixed eight-byte signature. The format supports grayscale, truecolor and indexed-color images, with transparency options. Lossless compression preserves the encoded image data; it does not guarantee that every PNG is smaller than an image in another format.
- Screenshots
- Raster graphics with transparency
How to open PNG
PreviewmacOS
Open the image in Preview. A damaged file may not display even if its name ends in .png.
Technical details
- Signature
- 89 50 4E 47 0D 0A 1A 0A (offset 0)
- Encoding
- Binary chunks
- Container
- Not reviewed
- Compression
- Lossless
Things to check
- File size depends on image content and encoding.
Sources & review
Fact review: 2026-09-18. Unknown fields are not inferred from the file extension.