ASZ File

What are ASZ files and how to open them

Are you having problems opening an ASZ 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 ASZ files.

What is an ASZ file?

An .ASZ file is a Balabolka Skin file.

The Balabolka Skin format is used by the Balabolka text-to-speech application for Windows to change the appearance of its user interface. These files define custom themes or skins so that the program windows, buttons, backgrounds, fonts, and other visual elements can look different from the default look. The main developer of Balabolka (Cross+A) creates these skin files and publishes them in "Skin Packs."

Such skin files are created by Balabolka itself and loaded by Balabolka when the user selects a different theme under the View → Skin menu. Skins typically consist of image files (e.g. bitmaps), configuration data that specifies where images go, and color or style settings. Balabolka's Skin Pack download (several megabytes in size) contains many different .asz files offering various visual styles.

Internally a Balabolka Skin file begins with the ASCII identifier "ASzf" at offset 0 and contains a file named Options.dat (case-insensitive) in its data. It also includes strings like "MASTER", ".BMP", "ASZF", compressed data starting at around byte 25 (often using "xDA" common in zlib compression), and references to resources such as bitmaps and style definitions.

How to open ASZ files

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

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

Last updated: August 22, 2026

Various apps that use files with this extension

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

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