ARC File Archiver CPM/Port archive
File type: Archive and compressed file
Files with ark extension can be most often found as special archive files created by the CPM/Port of ARC File Archiver.
Found 2 different file type records with the same ark filename suffix.
File type category:
Archive and compressed file
Date updated: August 9, 2022
File extension ark is related to ARC, a lossless data compression and archival format by System Enhancement Associates (SEA). It was very popular during the early days of networked BBS.
The file format and the program were both called ARC.
The ARC program essentially made obsolete the use of combinations of the SQ program to compress files and the LU program to create .LBR archives by combining the functions of both compression and archiving into a single program.
ARC compresses multiple files into one - but unlike ZIP, not entire directory trees. The arc format was the subject of quite a bit of controversy in the 1980s - an important event in the open source debate.
MIME types:
application/x-cpmdecode
Use FreeArc to open and decompress .ark files.
There is no way how to transfrom .ark files to other formats.
Software applications that can open ark files:
Microsoft Windows
Software apps that create ark files:
Microsoft Windows
Software apps that extract ark files:
Microsoft Windows
Software applications that handle other tasks involving ark files:
Microsoft Windows
File type category:
Document file
Date updated: October 19, 2026
OpenBook is a Microsoft Windows application from Freedom Scientific that uses optical character recognition to convert printed documents into electronic text. It is designed to make printed material accessible and editable on a computer.
An .ark file contains document data used by OpenBook. It is a format associated with the OpenBook program rather than a general-purpose document format, so other applications may not be able to read it directly.
The format is intended for use within OpenBook on Microsoft Windows. OpenBook may be able to save or export document content to other formats, but the .ark format itself is mainly useful for retaining documents in OpenBook.
Open the file with OpenBook on Microsoft Windows. Use OpenBook's file-opening command and select the .ark document.
Because this is an OpenBook document format, other document applications may not open it correctly.
Open the .ark file in OpenBook, then use the program's save or export commands to create a document in one of the formats it supports.
If OpenBook cannot read the file, conversion may not be possible.
Software applications that can open ark files:
Microsoft Windows
Software applications that can edit ark files:
Microsoft Windows
Software capable of saving ark files:
Microsoft Windows
Software apps that create ark files:
Microsoft Windows
Software apps that print ark files:
Microsoft Windows
Online conversions and file conversion information are provided by 101convert.com.
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