AW File

What are AW files and how to open them

Are you having problems opening an AW 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 AW files.

What is an AW file?

An .AW file is a Microsoft Answer Wizard file.

Microsoft Answer Wizard files store an index used by Microsoft Office's Help system to link search terms to help topics. These files are produced by the Microsoft Answer Wizard Builder tool, which scans HTML or CHM help topics, indexes keywords and user-questions, and compiles them into a searchable index so that when a user asks a question in Office Help, relevant topics are found more efficiently.

Files are generated from an Answer Wizard project file (typically with an .AWB extension) in the Answer Wizard Builder. After adding topics and optional user questions, the project is built to create the AW file. Installing or registering AW files (e.g. copying them to users' machines and updating registry entries) enables Office applications to include the custom Help content alongside built-in topics.

Byte signatures unique to this format include the bytes 0x8A01 at offset 0 and bytes 0x000000E1080000 at offset 3.

How to open AW files

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

We have not yet verified any programs for Windows that work with this specific file format. If you know one, please use the 'Suggest a program' link below. Thanks!

Last updated: August 22, 2026

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