What is an XXE file? Learn about XXE files here

An XXE file is an encoded file, not a compressed file. By XXEncoding a file, it is converted from binary to text.

XXE file details

An XXE file is a text file that actually contains binary data inside, which is normally not viewable in a text editor. XXE is the successor of the UUE (UUEncoding) format.

XXEncoding is done to be able to transfer data across networks using protocols or methods that do not support binary data, e.g. by email. The XXEncoding was invented to prevent problems sending UUEncoded data through systems using the EBCDIC character set, which caused the encoded data to become corrupted because of the character translation taking place.

Today XXEncoding is obsolete and replaced by encodings like Mime and yEnc.

Opening XXE files

If you have an XXE file on your computer and want to open it, then you will need a tool like BitZipper.

Technical details

If you are looking for technical details and the complete history of the .XXE file format, please refer to this Wikipedia article.