File extension PAF
| File type | Personal Ancestral Format |
| Developer | Intellectual Reserve |
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What is a PAF file?
PAF file extension is used by Personal Ancestral File, a genealogy software. PAF format was developed by FamilySearch. Single PAF stores genealogical data (ancestry, dates, locations, etc.) in the form of family tree.
PAF files can be shared with other users, for example for research purposes. PAF format conforms to GEDCOM standard for genealogical data exchange.
Program(s) that can open the .PAF file
Windows
How to open PAF files
If you cannot open the PAF file on your computer - there may be several reasons. The first and most important reason (the most common) is the lack of a suitable software that supports PAF among those that are installed on your device.
A very simple way to solve this problem is to find and download the appropriate application. The first part of the task has already been done – the software supporting the PAF file can be found in the table. Now just download and install the appropriate application.
Possible problems with the PAF format files
The inability to open and operate the PAF file does not necessarily mean that you do not have an appropriate software installed on your computer. There may be other problems that also block our ability to operate the Personal Ancestral Format file. Below is a list of possible problems.
- Corruption of a PAF file which is being opened
- Incorrect links to the PAF file in registry entries.
- Accidental deletion of the description of the PAF from the Windows registry
- Incomplete installation of an application that supports the PAF format
- The PAF file which is being opened is infected with an undesirable malware.
- The computer does not have enough hardware resources to cope with the opening of the PAF file.
- Drivers of equipment used by the computer to open a PAF file are out of date.
If you are sure that all of these reasons do not exist in your case (or have already been eliminated), the PAF file should operate with your programs without any problem. If the problem with the PAF file has not been solved, it may be due to the fact that in this case there is also another rare problem with the PAF file. In this case, the only you can do is to ask for assistance of a professional staff.
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How to associate the file with an installed software?
If you want to associate a file with a new program (e.g. my-file.PAF) you have two ways to do it. The first and the easiest one is to right-click on the selected PAF file. From the drop-down menu select "Choose default program", then click "Browse" and find the desired program. The whole operation must be confirmed by clicking OK. The second and more difficult to do is associate the PAF file extension to the corresponding software in the Windows Registry.
Is there one way to open unknown files?
Many files contain only simple text data. It is possible that while opening unknown files (e.g. PAF) with a simple text editor like Windows Notepad will allow us to see some of the data encoded in the file. This method allows you to preview the contents of many files, but probably not in such a structure as a program dedicated to support them.