ASD File

What are ASD files and how to open them

Are you having problems opening an ASD 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 ASD files.

What is an ASD file?

ASD files have multiple uses, and Microsoft Word Auto-Saved Document is one of them. Read more about the other uses further down the page.

Microsoft Word Auto-Saved Document

ASD is short for Auto-Saved Document and these files are backup copies of a user's Microsoft Word documents. Microsoft Word is a feature-rich word processing application that is a part of the Microsoft Office software suite.

When a user is creating a document with the Microsoft Word application, the program will make periodic backup copies of the file using the Word software's autosave feature. When this happens, the .asd file extension is given to the backup copy that has been created. This way, if the system experiences an error while the user is working on the document, the user can restore the document using the ASD file.

The Word application will normally delete the ASD file once the user has manually saved the document using Word's save file feature.

How to open ASD files

We have identified one ASD opener that is compatible with this specific type of ASD file.

Programs that open Microsoft Word Auto-Saved Document files

Last updated: August 21, 2026

All known file formats using extension .ASD

While Microsoft Word Auto-Saved Document is a popular type of ASD-file, we know of 6 different uses of the .ASD file extension. Different software may use files with the same extension for different types of data.

Ableton Warp Analysis

Ableton Warp Analysis files are helper files created by the music software Ableton Live whenever an audio sample is imported or first used in a Live project. The file stores data about that sample's waveform, timing, pitch, and how it should be warped (time-stretched or stretched to match tempo) so Live can load, display, and play the sample efficiently. It also records settings like loop points, sample gain, pitch transposition, and default clip behavior when the sample is later reused.

These files are produced by Ableton Live. They are not audio files themselves, but metadata and analysis caches that support features such as quick waveform rendering, automatic tempo detection for longer samples, preserving warp markers, and recalling default clip settings stored via Live's Clip View Save function. If the analysis file is missing, Live can recreate the required data, though longer samples may take more processing to be analyzed again. Users can turn off the feature that generates these files in Live's Preferences under File & Folder by disabling Create Analysis Files.

In technical detail these are proprietary binary files placed alongside the original audio file, sharing its name but with an added ".asd" suffix. They include internal markers and metadata fields such as warp mode, tempo or BPM, pitch settings, loop and on-set (transient) information, sample offsets and volume, and other parameters that determine how the sample behaves in Live under various warp and clip modes. Byte signatures include characteristic strings like TIMESIGNATURENUMERATOR, SAMPLEVOLUME, WARPLOOPMODE, BEATTRACKSTATE, PITCHCOARSE among others that identify these internal fields.

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

AlgoSim Data

AlgoSim is an advanced mathematical software for numerical analysis, visualization, and physical simulation. It stores data in ASD files.

ASD opener for Windows

We have identified one ASD opener that is compatible with this specific type of ASD file.

Allways Screen Driver

Allways Screen Driver files are driver modules used by Lotus 1-2-3 for DOS, created by Funk Software (later sold to Lotus). They're part of the Allways add-on, a publication-quality extension that enhances lotus 1-2-3 with font formatting, cell shading, embedded graphs and graphical previews. The driver enables the spreadsheet display to simulate or drive high-quality screen output and printer-like visual layout when viewed or printed.

They are produced automatically when installing or selecting the Allways screen driver component of the Allways package. Once included, Lotus 1-2-3 uses them to render text and graphics in enhanced form on screen and to send styled output to printers. These files are not typical worksheet documents; they do not hold cell data or formulas, but contain display/driver‐specific code or resources that tell Lotus how to render using Allways.

Internal identification signatures include bytes 0x53 44 01 00 ("SD…"), and embedded ASCII strings such as "(C)1988 Funk Software, Inc." and "FUNk SOFTWARE, Inc." These appear at known offsets in the file header (e.g. offset 0 and offset 12).

ASD Archiever Compressed Archive File

ASD is a compression program for MS-DOS by Tobias Svensson.

Astound Presentation Document

We know that one ASD format is Astound Presentation Document. We have not yet analyzed in detail what these files contain and what they are used for. We're working on it.

Various apps that use files with this extension

These apps are known to open certain types of ASD files. Remember, different programs may use ASD 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 ASD file formats, example files, or compatible programs. Please use the links below or email us at submit@file.org to discuss further.