BAV File

What are BAV files and how to open them

Are you having problems opening a BAV 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 BAV files.

What is a BAV file?

A .BAV file is a The Bat! Antivirus Plugin file.

The Bat! Antivirus Plugin files add virus-scanning features to the The Bat! email client. They are built as antivirus plugin modules so that The Bat! can use external programs to check, filter, and potentially cure messages or attachments for malware during mail processing. The Bat! itself invokes these plugin files to perform virus checks according to user settings in email reception, sending, saving attachments, and quarantine handling.

These plugin files are written by antivirus software vendors (or third parties) using The Bat!'s plugin API. They are delivered as dynamic-link library (DLL) modules that The Bat! loads when the user enables antivirus functionality in the Preferences section under Plug-Ins → Anti-Virus. During installation or setup the user selects a *.bav file to configure which plugin module to use and can set options like whether attachments are scanned, whether virus detection prompts deletion, curing, or quarantine, etc.

The files have a standard Windows PE (portable executable) header: they start with the ASCII "MZ" signature at offset zero. They include exported function names beginning with "BAV_" such as BAV_CHECKFILE, BAV_CUREFILE, BAV_GETVERSION, and BAV_GETSTATUS, and rely on Windows core system DLLs like KERNEL32.DLL, ADVAPI32.DLL and USER32.DLL. These strings help identify the plugin module's format and confirm that it implements the required interface for The Bat!'s antivirus plugin framework.

How to open BAV files

Important: Different programs may use files with the BAV file extension for different purposes, so unless you are sure which format your BAV 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 23, 2026

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