ALF File

What are ALF files and how to open them

Are you having problems opening an ALF file or are you simply curious about its contents? We're here to explain the properties of these files and provide you with software that can open or handle your ALF files.

What is an ALF file?

ALF files have multiple uses, and Alf Test is one of them. Read more about the other uses further down the page.

Alf Test

We have not yet analyzed in detail what these files contain and what they are used for. We're working on it.

How to open ALF files

Important: Different programs may use files with the ALF file extension for different purposes, so unless you are sure which format your ALF file is, you may need to try a few different programs.

While we have not verified the apps ourselves yet, our users have suggested ten different ALF openers which you will find listed below.

Last updated: August 17, 2026

All known file formats using extension .ALF

While Alf Test is a popular type of ALF-file, we know of 3 different uses of the .ALF file extension. Different software may use files with the same extension for different types of data.

MSX Font

MSX Font files store the complete set of bitmap character data used by the MSX computer's built-in text and graphics modes. They hold 256 glyphs, each drawn as an 8×8 grid of pixels. This makes them useful for editing or replacing the default font the MSX system displays in text mode or when loading user-defined fonts in BASIC programs.

These files are produced and used by MSX Font Editor (MFE), a cross-platform Java application for creating or modifying MSX fonts. You edit the 8×8 pixel bitmaps for characters 0 - 255, then save the font as a raw dump of the MSX character table, which BASIC programs can load using BSAVE. Fonts are created for the MSX pattern generator table, for inheritance into screen 0 or screen 1 text modes.

Fonts contain exactly 256 characters, each encoded as 8 bytes (one per row), for a total of 2048 bytes. They represent bits directly corresponding to pixels (1 = pixel on, 0 = pixel off). Screen modes affect where the font table will be placed in video memory, but not the structure of the dumped file. BSAVE headers may or may not precede the raw data; tools may assume or strip headers as needed.

The file begins with a fixed byte signature: at offset zero the sequence FE 00 92 FF 99 00 92 00 uniquely identifies these font‐dump files.

W32Dasm Asm List File / Project

W32Dasm Asm List File / Project files are plain-text assembly listings and accompanying project metadata generated by URSoft's W32Dasm, a Windows 16-/32-bit executable disassembler and debugger. When you use the Disassembler menu command "Save Disassembly Text File and Create Project File," W32Dasm produces an ASCII listing of the disassembled code along with function imports/exports, section information, dialog/menu resources, and other module details. A second file (with extension .HPJ) serves as the project file linking the listing back to the original executable so that work can be resumed quickly.

The .ALF file holds the full disassembly text: information about the program's sections (e.g. code, data), the program entry point, exported and imported functions, object headers, and structure of dialog and menu resources. It supports cross-references (for calls, conditional & unconditional jumps), which are optional during disassembly and can be included in this listing. These files are useful for analysis and review of a program's behavior without having to re-disassemble every time.

Typical internal identifiers in the file include ASCII strings such as "Disassembly of File:" at the beginning, section headers like ".TEXT RVA", ".DATA RVA", and summary labels such as "NUMBER OF EXPORTED FUNCTIONS" or "PROGRAM ENTRY POINT". These markers distinguish the listing sections for code, imports, exports, and resources.

Various apps that use files with this extension

These apps are known to open certain types of ALF files. Remember, different programs may use ALF files for different purposes, so you may need to try out a few of them to be able to open your specific file.

Help us help others

File.org helps thousands of users every day, and we would love to hear from you if you have additional information about ALF file formats, example files, or compatible programs. Please use the links below or email us at submit@file.org to discuss further.