Apple Carbon package
File type: Archive and compressed file
A file with the carb file extension is an Apple Carbon package associated with Carbon development on Mac OS X (macOS).
The package belongs to Apple's legacy Carbon application framework and is associated with Xcode.
File type category:
Archive and compressed file
Date updated: October 28, 2026
Record marked as obsolete and not updated for a long time.
The carb file extension is associated with Apple Carbon, a procedural application programming interface for developing Mac applications. Carbon enabled developers to use Mac OS X (macOS) features, including the Quartz 2D graphics library, an efficient event-handling mechanism and multiprocessing support.
A carb file stores a package created with Apple Carbon. It is a package file used with Carbon-related development files rather than a general-purpose document format.
Carbon was a legacy Apple technology and is now obsolete. It is no longer used for modern macOS application development, although older Carbon projects and packages may still be encountered with legacy versions of Xcode on Mac OS X or macOS.
Open the carb file with Xcode on a Mac. Because Carbon and this package format are obsolete, a recent version of Xcode may not support it; an older Xcode installation and compatible Mac OS X or macOS system may be required.
There is no generally applicable conversion utility for an Apple Carbon package. If the package belongs to an older Carbon project, its contents must be handled within a compatible legacy Xcode environment.
Moving the project to modern macOS generally requires migrating or rewriting its Carbon-dependent code rather than converting the carb file to another archive format.
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