Microsoft Windows Help general index
File type: System file
A gid file extension is associated with the Microsoft Windows Help a part of Microsoft Windows used to view Windows help files. A gid file contains general index.
Found 2 different file type records with the same gid filename suffix.
File type category:
System file
Date updated: December 30, 2024
The gid file extension is related to Microsoft WinHelp, a help system used in Windows 95/98.
GID is a proprietary format for online help files that can be displayed by the Microsoft Help browser winhelp.exe or winhlp32.exe. The file format is based on Rich Text Format (RTF).
It remained a popular Help platform from Windows 3.0 platform through Windows XP.
WinHelp was removed in Windows Vista to discourage software developers from using the obsolete format and encourage use of newer help formats.
Windows creates a gid file in the following circumstances:
The process of searching for and creating .gid files occurs when you see the "Setting Up Help" message. A .gid file has the same name as its corresponding Help file (but with a .gid extension) and is stored as a hidden file in the same folder as the corresponding Help file.
If the Help file is in a folder to which you do not have write privileges (such as on a CD-ROM or network drive), the .gid file is created in the Windows\Help folder.
Windows stores pointers to all the topics and entry points in a Help file in the corresponding .gid file for the following reasons:
Note that Windows and Windows for Workgroups version 3.1 and later can use .gid files if the following conditions are met:
The gid files are used for internal purposes of *.gid files.
Probably cannot be converted to anything else.
Software apps that create gid files:
Microsoft Windows
Software applications that handle other tasks involving gid files:
Microsoft Windows
File type category:
Various data file
Date updated: September 24, 2026
GiD is a pre- and post-processing program developed by CIMNE for preparing computational models, generating meshes and examining analysis results. A GiD project directory stores the model, mesh and related project information used by the program.
The .gid directory is a container for the other files in the project, not a standalone interchange format. GiD uses those files together when opening and managing the project.
This project-directory convention is used by GiD on Microsoft Windows and remains part of the software's project workflow.
Open the .gid directory with GiD on Microsoft Windows. Start GiD and use its Open command to select the project directory; do not look for a separate document inside the directory unless GiD specifically requests one.
Keep the files inside the directory together. Moving or removing individual project files can prevent GiD from loading the project correctly.
A .gid project directory is not normally converted as a single file. Open the project in GiD and use the program's import or export commands to transfer its model, mesh or result data to a format supported by another application.
Exported data does not necessarily preserve every GiD project setting, so keep the original project directory as the working copy.
Software applications that handle other tasks involving gid files:
Microsoft Windows
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